Professional associations

Inauguration of the Queensland Institute of Surveyors

Prior to 1876, surveyors in Queensland were not represented by a professional body. However, on 1 January 1876, the Brisbane Courier reported that a meeting of licensed surveyors was held at Lennon's Hotel, George Street. Here they decided that they should form an association to look after ‘the status and interests of the profession in Queensland.’ (Brisbane Courier 1st January 1876)

This meeting was followed by another on 4 July 1876. It was decided by 20 surveyors to form the Queensland Institute of Surveyors. Surveyor GT Weale said at the meeting:

‘It had been thought by some that their institute was to partake of the character of a trade union, but such was very far from their intention. The institute had simply been started for the purpose of raising the profession from its present low state. The examination upon which persons were at present admitted to the profession was such as could be passed by any Grammar School boy.’ (Brisbane Courier 5th July 1876)

The officers elected at that first meeting were:

President: AC Gregory
Vice President: GT Weale
Secretary and Treasurer: J Warner
Committee: JR Atkinson, JC Warner, RD Graham and WP Townson.

By 1877 the Institute of Surveyors had 60 members. (The Week, 6 January 1877)

Ups and downs of the institute

The activities of the newly formed institution were reported in the Queensland press for a few years. After 1880, it appears that its activities were no longer reported and the institute ceased.

At the same time, surveyors in North Queensland formed their own branch of the institute in Townsville, but it appears to have ceased soon after. This could be due to the fact that surveyors spent long periods away from home and meeting attendance would be very spasmodic.

Surveyors, engineers and architects shared a lot of common ground in colonial Australia, and in 1887 a new Institution of Surveyors and Engineers was formed in Brisbane. AC Gregory was elected first president and the famous railway engineer HC Stanley first Vice President. (The Builder and Contractors' News, 2 July 1887)

Like its predecessor, this organisation appears to have only lasted a few years. This was due to a lack of membership leading to irregular meetings coupled with the state of the economy.

In 1899, a new institution representing land surveyors in Queensland was formed and A McDowall, Surveyor General, was elected as its first President. This time there was no failure, although prevailing economic conditions and the intervention of two world wars resulted in a fluctuating membership.

In the early 1900s, the institute had a strong membership as shown by the attendance at the first annual dinner held at the Rose Cafe in Brisbane, 1909.

Individual state institutions unite

In 1952, all the individual state institutions united to become one federal body: the Institution of Surveyors, Australia.

Many years after the southern states had formed divisions within the institution, Queensland was created as a division in 1962.

Papua New Guinea was initially included in the Queensland Division but was later included under the responsibilities of the ACT Division.

Name and structure change

The Institution of Surveyors was renamed and reconstituted in 2003 to become the Spatial Science Institute (SSI). In July 2009, the Institution of Surveyors Australia (ISA) and the Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI) were merged into the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute to create a not-for-profit, unified national authority in Australia.

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