John Smith wrote: > 2009/9/27 terryc <ter...@woa.com.au>: >> The problem is that everything the government says and does has legal >> implications. so the information they publish has to be as accurate as >> possible, hint millimetre acccuracy. > > ABS postcode boundaries are out by 1+ km in some places so I think it > depends on the data set/use of the data.
That just simply illustrates my point. In the OSM view "the data is wrong", whereas in government, the metadata (data about the data) will tell you if it is wrong and if so, how it came to be. However, "ABS Postcode Boundaries" are an inherent contradiction. Postcodes are an administrative tool created by the Post Master General (I'm confident they are that old) to allow for the mechanised sorting of mail. AFAIk, they can be changed on the whim of executives in Australia Post. Much the same as, but far easier than electoral boundaries are changed by the various "electoral commissions". OTOH, their use within the ABS was probably seen initially as a convenient method of area/population/data delinitation. For statistical comparison reasons, the ABS might continue to use a historical set of postcode boundaries. This is all effectively summarised here; http://www.auspost.com.au/BCP/0,1467,CH4200%257EMO19,00.html Further reading suggests that Australia Post never created a definitive set of spatial data and that various government and commercial bodies are responsible. > >> Essentially government is about land. Property boundaries are basically >> the foundation upon which all government rests. Everything else relates >> to those property boundaries. > > This is getting off topic, but I disagree that OSM couldn't be used, > you just need some suitable queries to extract the information. No, OSM data has no credibility under law. Anyone can register and change data, then create a false map intended to decieve. OSM is a great community mapping system that anyone can contribute to. OSM can show property bondaries just as it can show any other data, but it will be for nothing more than illustrative purposes. Trying to make OSM something else is going to cripple it. Goverment data has a lot of people with professional training (4yr+) and certification behind it. -- Terry Collins {:-)}}}}} Bicycles, Appropriate Technology, Natural Environment, Welding \][plfgh';lj _______________________________________________ Talk-au mailing list Talk-au@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-au
