Geoscape Australia has urged the government to give local councils access to the national buildings data set – an AI-driven “digital twin” of the country’s 19 million buildings.

Appearing before a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra last week, the government-owned geospatial data group’s CEO Dean Capobianco said Australia’s 538 councils could access the data at a cost to the federal budget of about $5 million a year.

“For a relatively modest investment, every council could have access to the same nationally consistent information,” he said. “This would reduce duplication, strengthen council planning and help all governments direct limited public funding to where it can make the greatest difference.

“We already have this national capability. The opportunity now is to put it to work for all 538 councils so that every community across Australia can benefit.”

The data set supports infrastructure planning, emergency management, disaster recovery and more precise assessment of building-level risks such as flooding.

Geoscape wants open access to the data for all levels of government as part of the 2026-27 federal budget.

Mr Capobianco said the world-leading location intelligence would help councils better manage buildings, critical infrastructure and growing natural hazard risks.

“A consistent, nationally standardised picture of Australia’s buildings can give every council – metropolitan, regional and remote – foundational information about where buildings are, their potential exposure to natural hazards, and where investment is most needed.

“Councils cannot make better decisions about housing, infrastructure, climate resilience and scarce resources without better information about the assets and communities they manage.”

Geoscape appeared before the Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport inquiry into local government funding and fiscal sustainability last Thursday. See its submission – number 247 – here.