Management of a Public Register Land Titles Presented by Barbara Flett Registrar of Titles and Director of Land Registry Department of Sustainability and Environment

Why am I here? Challenges in managing large public record system How we try to overcome these challenges

Short History of the “Titles Office” TORRENS SYSTEM INTRODUCED DEEDS SYSTEM RECORDS TRANSPORTE D TO BEECHWORTH AS SAFEGUARD AGAINST AIR RAIDS FIRST COMPUTER SYSTEM MOVE TO 570 BOURKE STREET VICTORIAN ONLINE TITLES SYSTEM TITLES OFFICE BUILDIN COMPLETED

The Torrens System Vendor Passes Title Deeds Purchaser passes money Purchaser lodges Instrument outlining transaction Title passes at the moment of registration by the State

William Henry Archer - “Information Manager” Arrived in Melbourne in1852 as a 27-year-old statistician Acting Registrar-General, Births, Deaths & Marriages Registrar-General 1858 Introduced the Land Transfer Act of 1862 Registrar of Titles 1868 Head of Lands Dept 1872

Importance of William Henry Archer as an “Information Manager” Understood that data could be collected and used for more than one purpose Used innovative data collection methods Aware of challenges of managing voluminous data and records Enlisted and effectively used the latest technology

Public Registers United Nations “All industrialised nations with a market economy maintain some sort of land register that fulfils the following requirements - security of tenure is essential for effective housing policy certainty of legal status of land is essential for efficient agricultural production investors in a market economy require a formal structure of land and property rights, and sustainable development is dependent upon the State having overall responsibility for managing information about ownership, value and use of land”. Land A land titles register (and its supporting legislation and practices) are vital for wealth creation and social harmony Births, Deaths and Marriages Record of entitlements - to citizenship, aged related privileges (school entry, drivers licences, pension etc), inheritance, and Demographic data base - linked to Australian Bureau of Statistics

Public Registers Aim - to provide public trust and confidence, through high integrity and high reliability information systems Essential ‘soft’ infrastructure Consist of combination of record keeping together with legislation and regulatory regimes

Public Registers - Process and Operational Attributes Well established data collection and data management infrastructure High standards of electronic data collection and data accuracy High standards of security and privacy Ability to link with other relevant processes and data systems Ability to provide real time information and real time transactions A range of data distribution avenues Audits to substantiate data integrity

Land Registry Size and scope – 320 staff – $200m revenue, –$52m expenditure Key statistics – 800,000 land dealings registered each year –1.6 million title searches (90% online) – 2.9 million freehold titles – 8,000 subdivisions registered pa Value of privately owned property in Victoria in 2004 was $780 billion

Land Registry

William Henry Archer - Information Manager Used innovative data collection methods Understood that data could be collected and used for more than one purpose data reuse

Challenges in Managing Volume Deeds registration - not closed until 1999 Records kept as individual folios Records with all information in one document

Deeds Registration (General Law) Purchaser passes money Purchaser lodges deed Vendor passes Title Deeds Deed is recorded /registered

Effective use of the latest technology

Technological Impacts on Public Registers Titles Automation Project - $92 million to achieve a fully automated register which is updated in real time and with real time public access to titles search capacity Electronic conveyancing - using the web to allow solicitors, conveyancers and the banks to conduct property transactions and exchange funds SPEAR - web based planning applications and referrals

The Future - E Government The four not so easy steps to e government (Economist March 2000) 1) Governments posting information about themselves 2) two information exchange 3) exchange of quantifiable value - or transaction (eg tax return) 4) portal which integrates government functions based on citizens needs not on organisational boundaries

Questions?