Technical information to support land use mapping in Australia has been developed by Australian and state government members of the Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program (ACLUMP).
In October 2016, Version 8 of the Australian Land Use and Management (ALUM) Classification was released. The ALUM Classification provides a nationally consistent method to collect and present land use information for a wide range of users across Australia. A commodity list was also released and land use mappers are now expected to apply a commodity description to land use codes, where applicable.
Land use mapping procedures are outlined in the Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th edition and the Addendum to the Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th Edition.
The Guidelines outlines procedures and specifications for national scale and catchment scale land use mapping in Australia. Recommended specifications for land use datasets provide for attribution of the prime land use (represented by the ALUM code), multiple land use, commodity information and source information (scale, date, and reliability). Specifications also address data formatting, spatial referencing, data resolution, spatial precision and attribute accuracy. An overall attribute accuracy of greater than 80 per cent is the benchmark standard.
The Addendum provides guidance on the implementation of mapping principles and procedures outlined in the Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th edition. The aim is to ensure that catchment scale mapping is relevant, up to date and reliable for decision-making. It focuses on the goals of catchment scale land use mapping, the potential to update land use mapping using ancillary information, and methods to improve the reliability of and confidence in catchment scale land use mapping.
- The Australian Land Use and Management (ALUM) Classification Version 8, October 2016 PDF [50 KB, 114 pages]
- Addendum to the Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, 4th Edition, 2015
- Guidelines for Land Use Mapping in Australia: Principles, Procedure & Definitions - 4 Edition, 2011