Department of Lands (GA35)

The Lands and Survey Department was amalgamated with the short-lived Irrigation and Drainage Department on 20 November 1930. The change of title ot Lands Department reflected the continuing decline in the importance of surveying, compared to the management of land tenure, irrigation areas and the control of vermin. The title of the administrative head of the Department was changed from Secretary for Lands to Director of Lands.

It changed again, in 1976, to Director-General of Lands. Some of the staff and functions of the Irrigation Branch (formerly Irrigation and Drainage Department) were transferred to the Engineering and Water Supply Department in 1931. The South-Eastern Drainage Board was established in that year and remained part of the Lands Department until 1977, when it also was transferred to the E & WS Department, as was responsibility for the Riverland and Lower Murray in July 1978. (The SEDB remained in Lands during its most active phase because of the close relationship between the drainage works it undertook and the occupation and use of reclaimed agricultural land.)

In a bold departure from previous practise, and anticipation of plans to settle returning war servicemen on the land, the Land Development Executive was established in 1945 to clear land and provide basic improvements, including housing, fencing and water supply, before the land was allotted to the selected applicants. By 1960 its name had become the Lands Development Branch and it was beginning to wind down, there being very little suitable virgin land to develop.
The War Service Land Settlement Agreement between the Commonwealth and State Governments in 1945 gave birth to the War Service Settlement Branch. This absorbed the remaining work of the Soldier Settlement Branch created after the First World War.

The formation of the Photogrammetry Section in 1947 marked the beginning of rapid technological change that is still going on. During the financial year 1965-1966 the Department was re-organised into divisions and reshaping of the branches was begun.

By 1970 the following structure had been created:

The Correspondence, Stores and Vermin Branches and the Land Office were gathered into the Administrative Division, which then consisted of a Secretariat, the Land Office, Standards and Stores Branch and Vermin Control Branch.

The Accounts Branch became the Finance Division. The Surveyor-General's and Photolithographic Branches and Photogrammetry Section became the Survey Division, arranged as Survey, Mapping, Drafting and Photolithographic Branches. The Inspectors, Irrigation, War Service Settlement and Lands Development Branches were gathered into the Land Settlement Division, which had a Head Office, Superintendent Dry Lands, Superintendent Irrigation Areas, District Inspectors and District Offices. The Land, Pastoral, and South-Eastern Drainage Boards continued with their supporting staff.

Another major change took place in 1976 when the Registrar-General's and Valuation Departments were merged with the Department of Lands, and the title Director of Lands was changed to Director-General of Lands. It was changed back to Director of Lands in 1983. Responsibility for drought relief and rural assistance was vested in the Lands Department, following the discontinuation of the Primary Producers Assistance Department in February 1954. It developed into the Rural Industries Assistance Branch, administering a range of State legislation and Commonwealth/State agreements. In September 1977 it was transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. (In January that year the South Australian Land Commission had been transferred to the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs.)

In its Annual Report for 1980-81, the Lands Department described its function in broad terms as the implementation of the Government's land management policies and associated legislation, coupled with the provision of related services. Specifically, amongst the myriad of functions it performs, the Lands Department and its subordinate agencies are responsible for: management of Crown Lands; maintenance of information systems for registration of land ownership and occupation; property valuations used by State and Local Governments in management of revenue raising systems; land survey and mapping.