MEDIA RELEASE
28 February 2011	Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra Time)	25/2011

In a new, experimental product released today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) invites decision-makers and the community to fly over the Great Barrier Reef catchment regions to view detailed information about small areas - from single urban city blocks to agricultural and forested land parcels.

This detailed land account integrates social, economic and environmental data with a spatial dimension, powered by Google Earth®, covering:

• Boundary information, population and business counts
• Rateable value and land use
• Dynamic land cover
• Fire, temperature and rainfall

"I encourage the community to explore the product, especially the Google Earth® images which demonstrate an exciting new way of viewing statistical data", said Mark Lound, Director of the ABS Land and Industry Statistics.

"The most exciting feature of this collection is how closely we can now zoom in to the Great Barrier Reef catchments, we can inform planning decisions for small spatial areas, rather than relying on more general information at aggregate levels."

Information from the Land Account can be used to inform debate and decision-making on a wide range of issues, including population settlement; land management; measuring the health of the environment and the sustainable production of goods and services.

Data illustrating the changes in land cover from pre-European settlement in 1750 to the present day is also included.

"This one-stop-shop is a result of a massive collaborative effort from several government agencies to provide a range of information on land use, land value and land cover", said Mr Lound.

The ESRI® Geodatabase and Mapinfo versions can be downloaded from the ABS website and used as a socio-economic layer in a GIS system.