Groundwater Branch Strategic Plan

Geoscience Australia is a small Federal Government agency made up of approximately 650 people responsible for provision of geoscience information, services and capability to the Australian Government, industry and the community. Geoscience Australia exists to meet the geoscience information needs of the Australian Government. Its mission is to use geoscientific information and knowledge for the economic, social and environmental benefit of Australia. The current focus of our role is in three main areas: the future energy and resource base of the economy; providing geoscience input to a range of environmental issues; and contributing to community safety through research into natural hazards and their impact on society. A major focus is the provision of pre-competitive geoscience information and the provision of advice to the Australian Government on mineral and energy resource related issues. We undertake research for application to future clean energy supplies including carbon capture & storage and geothermal energy. Groundwater research is also a major focus because of its strategic importance to a number of national issues. Geoscience Australia is also responsible for mapping, modelling and monitoring changes to the Earth and advising how these changes may affect Australian society. This work includes national observatory functions that monitor earthquakes and Earth's magnetic field and national geodetic reference frame for positioning applications. Geoscience Australia supports national scale topographic and geological mapping, earth observations from space and coastal and marine research to address the impacts of natural disasters and changes in the environment. As with most government organisations GA is faced with government and public expectations of greater access to data within the context of tightening budgets. This scenario produces a higher focus on project management within the agency and a shifting in the overall styles of projects that are run. Your traditional science project is as much about the journey as it is about achieving specific outputs. In contrast most standard projects the end outputs and the path are largely known from the start. GA has a relatively large number of personnel with higher degrees including PhDs and internationally recognised technical expertise. The nature of a highly educated, and usually articulate, work force necessitates a project management style that is far more collegiate than authoritative. The need for this style is accentuated by the increasing inter-agency collaborative nature of modern projects particularly when working with other science organisations. The presentation looks at the implications of this style of organisation and the increasing move to a more collaborative style of project management that is needed.