Australian Spatial Data Directory

The Australian Spatial Data Directory (ASDD) is a national initiative supported by all governments under the auspices of ANZLIC - the Spatial Information Council. The ASDD aims to improve access to Australian spatial data for industry, government, education and the general community through effective documentation, advertisement and distribution. The directory comprises government and commercial nodes in each State/Territory and spatial data agencies within the Australian Government. A key objective of the ANZLIC strategic plan is to promote the development of the Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure (ASDI) which will improve access to and availability of nationally consistent spatial datasets. The ASDD is an essential component of the ASDI and incorporates information about datasets (metadata) from all jurisdictions. The ASDD was launched in 1998 and has since steadily grown in content to become the key source of spatial information in Australia. The technology being used for the ASDD is the Z39.50 search and retrieval protocol which when combined with the World Wide Web provides a simple method of searching, discovery and retrieval of spatial data. More detail is available in the Technical Documentation which also includes instructions for establishing a node of the ASDD. Geoscience Australia maintains the gateway on behalf of ANZLIC, as part of its broader Australian Government responsibility for the Australian Spatial Data Infrustructure