Australia's National Local Government Newspaper Online

Technology to reduce time spent on property queries

The City of Melbourne and Land Victoria have collaborated on a pilot project to fast track the collection of property information required for vendor statements.

Once in place the Vendor Statement Online Project will save City of Melbourne staff many hours currently spent searching for information. It is hoped other Councils will contribute when the pilot is complete.

Currently, property information, including details of titles, rates, building permits, planning, water authority and other requirements affecting property transactions, may be held by up to 100 different authorities. Under the Vendor Statement Online Project all this information will be integrated into a single database and available on the internet.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Peter Costigan said the project would benefit everybody involved in buying or selling property. "This project is investigating the necessary tools for online vendor statements, with the aim of slashing the time taken to gather this information," he said.

"Once fully implemented the service will be a win win situation for everybody. People will not only save time, but money. The City of Melbourne will also save by reducing administration costs. "Although this is a City of Melbourne and Land Victoria initiative, we hope other Councils will become involved to broaden the benefits to more people."

Land Victoria Executive Director, Elizabeth O'Keefe, said by 2002 it is envisaged that citizens will be able to point to a piece of land on a map and have all information relevant to that piece of land at their fingertips without having to contact individual authorities.

"The Vendor Statement Online Project is an important step in the development of a comprehensive online land information service offering planning, mapping and surveying information, land sale, and infrastructure information all at the click of a button," she said.

"The project is also an excellent example of how State and Local Government property information can be linked to construct a statewide land information network." The project is expected to be complete by October.

For further information contact Manager Electronic Business Paul Bunker, telephone (03) 9658 9138

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