Surveyor (NSW) | Job Guide

Surveyor (NSW/ACT)

Education and Training:

To become a surveyor you usually have to study surveying, spatial science, geographic or geospatial information systems or geomatics at university. To get into these courses you usually need to gain your HSC/ACT Year 12. Prerequisite subjects, or assumed knowledge, in one or more of English, physics, physical sciences and mathematics are normally required. A number of universities in Australia offer degrees in these areas. Universities have different prerequisites and some have flexible entry requirements or offer external study. Contact the universities you are interested in for more information as requirements may change.

Additional Information:

Graduates can be registered as a land surveyor or a mine surveyor by the Board of Surveying and Spatial Information NSW (which also covers the ACT). Candidate surveyors are required to complete at least 24 months of supervised experience in surveying and to complete an exam set by the board. Once registered, surveyors need to meet continuing requirements for professional development.

All states and territories of Australia and New Zealand have mutual recognition arrangements whereby registration as a surveyor in any one area automatically allows for registration anywhere else in these zones, on payment of the appropriate fees and provided that minimum statutory requirements are met.

Related Courses:

While the following courses are related to this occupation, they may not necessarily lead directly to employment, nor provide the most direct pathway to the occupation. Courses which provide preliminary or informal training, as well as those which provide additional job skills following initial qualifications may also be listed.

*Course is offered by more than one institution. Click link for details.

Employment Opportunities:

Surveyors are employed in engineering firms, mining and construction companies, government departments and private practices.

Licensed surveyors may work for larger survey firms or may practise as partners in small firms. Large firms have greater scope for specialisation.

Nearly all mine surveyors are employed in the mining industry, with most being based in regional centres. It is possible, with further study, to move to administrative or engineering positions, which may be based in capital cities.

The introduction of new technology such as satellite-positioning systems, electronic-distance and angle-measuring equipment, land and geographic information systems, remote-sensing equipment and the use of computers and computer graphics, has reduced the time required for surveying fieldwork.