Technical Advice to Government

ŮŮÊÓƵhas provided technical advice to Government on mineral and energy resources, exploration, industry developments, land use and related environmental issues since the formation of the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics in 1946.

This advice supports decision making and assists the development of policies and programs related to resources and energy, in particular by contributing to:

• more effective use of geoscientific information in decision making, leading to improved resource management and the sustainable development of mineral resources, and,
• enhanced global attractiveness of Australia's exploration and development investment opportunities through increased knowledge of identified mineral resources.

Publications and Resources

Geoscience Australia’s resources advice function provides, and draws on, a range of publications and digital resources. The most important are:

• Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources
  An annual national assessment of mineral resources.
• 
  An annual national assessment of exploration activity.
• 
  An annual map of operating mines, mines on care and maintenance and developing mines in Australia for all major and some minor commodities. See also the accompanying .
• Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources (AECR) 2023
  A stocktake of Australia’s non-renewable energy commodity resources – gas, oil, uranium and thorium, and coal – and an evaluation of the potential for carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen production in Australia.
• 
  A data discovery and analysis portal for geoscience data from all of Australia's state, territory and federal governments. Includes mines, mineral deposits and mineral resources data from Geoscience Australia's OZMIN database, as well mineral tenement boundaries, infrastructure, geophysical and geological data.

Whole of Government

ŮŮÊÓƵalso provides technical advice to Government for other purposes, on both a regular and ad hoc basis. Examples include:

• the site identification process
• development of the
• the Australian Government’s submission to the
• submissions to various Senate and Parliamentary inquiries such as and the
• advice to in relation to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Imposition Fees Act 2015
• advice on proposed mining developments to the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science pertaining to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Australian Government Representation

ŮŮÊÓƵrepresents the Australian Government at a range of international and domestic forums including:

• Geoscience Working Group
• , including development of the Red Book, a biennial publication listing the world’s uranium resources
• member of the Technical Advisory Group
• providing technical advice on seabed mineral resource assessment.

Australian Legislative Obligations

ŮŮÊÓƵprovides technical advice contributing to the administration of the following legislation and agreements: