Establishment of Technical Committees – Expressions of Interest
The Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) in association with the New Zealand Geotechnical Society (NZGS) is undertaking a review and update of the AGS Landslide Risk Management Guidelines (AGS2007).
The AGS guidelines represent current best practice for landslide risk management in Australia. They are comprised of key components:
- A National Landslide Risk Management Framework for Australia
- AGS 2007a and AGS 2007b – Guideline for Landslide Susceptibility, Hazard and Risk Zoning for Land Use Planning and commentary.
- AGS2007c and AGS 2007d – Practice note guidelines for landslide risk management and commentary.
- Australian Geoguides.
All these documents are available for download below.
Approval to undertake the review was provided by the AGS in October 2023 and a steering committee was formed in December 2023 to set terms of reference and provide overall management of the project. There is an intention to form a number of technical committees to assist with the development of various components of the guidelines. Expressions of interest are sought from suitably experienced and qualified persons to contribute to the following technical committees.
We expect that involvement will generally be on a voluntary basis, however the project has received some funding which is intended to cover expenses and to provide reimbursement for select contributors and activities . Four technical committees are proposed as subsequently described.
1. Landslide Risk Management – Global Practice
This committee will research global state of the art practices and trends in landslide risk management. The information gathered by this committee will be vital to inform the work of the other technical committees. Members of this committee will:
- Undertake research and form a repository of guidelines and papers pertaining to global landslide management processes.
- Review and challenge the work of other technical committees with a view to ensuring their outputs align with best practice.
Persons on this committee will have a broad, ideally global experience in landslide risk assessment, and familiarity with systems used elsewhere. They will be experienced in research, literature review and peer review.
2. Principles of Landslide Risk Management
This committee will focus on review and update of the information provided in AGS2007a which presents a framework for landslide risk management in Australia. This will be the entry point to the documents and is intended for use by a broad audience including geotechnical practitioners, regulators and the public. This committee will consider topics including:
- Purpose of landslide risk management.
- What landslides are, types of landslides, why they are a hazard and why management is required.
- What landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk zoning is and how it can be used for planning and landslide risk management.
- What landslide risk assessment is and how it can be used for landslide management.
- Examples of planning and management of landslide hazards.
- Communication of landslide risk management concepts to stakeholders and the public.
- Persons on this committee will ideally have experience with developing and implementing planning controls or landslide risk management programs. They will have experience in public communication and public science communication.
3. Landslide Mapping, Zoning and Planning
This committee will review AGS2007a and b which are the Guideline and Commentary for Landslide Susceptibility, Hazard and Risk Zoning for Land Use Planning.
It is envisaged that this technical committee may as a minimum, review and assess various themes including:
- Context for landslide zoning and land use planning
- Terminology and definitions
- Importance of Landslide Inventory,
- Landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk mapping techniques and methodology
- Procedures for collecting information to inform landslide mapping and hazard zoning
- Use of GIS, AI and new technology in landslide assessment
- Translation of technical maps into planning controls
- Examples in practice
As such, we now seek expression of interest from our broader industry community to assist in this review and the potential formulation of new documentation which we envisage will provide enhanced clarity and guidance on methods for landslide zoning and mapping.
Persons on this committee will have experience in developing and working with maps for landslide zoning and land use planning and will be familiar with state of the art practice in this area.
4. Landslide Risk Assessment
The technical committee for landslide risk assessment will focus on review of the information set out in AGS 2007c and 2007d, the guideline and commentary for landslide risk assessment, including:
- Identifying and understanding landslide mechanisms.
- Techniques for collecting information to perform risk assessment.
- Methods for qualitative risk assessment.
- Methods of quantitative risk assessment.
- Application of risk assessment methods to different scenarios, including residential, walking tracks, roads and railways.
- Risk evaluation.
The guidance produced will be primarily technical and will be intended for use by geotechnical practitioners engaged in landslide risk assessment activities.
Persons on this committee will have experience in risk assessment, risk engineering and probability theory.
Questions
Expressions of Interest have now closed. If you have questions about the Establishment of Technical Committees or the process of reviewing and updating the AGS Landslide Risk Management Guidelines (AGS2007), you can use the contact form below.
Landslide Risk Management Guidelines
AGS 2007a – Guideline for Landslide Susceptibility, Hazard and Risk Zoning for Land Use Planning
There are a number of natural hazards which are relevant to urban, residential, rural and undeveloped property throughout Australia. These include flooding, bushfire, coastal processes and landslides. This guideline addresses landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk zoning for land use planning.
AGS 2007b – Commentary on Guideline for Landslide Susceptibility, Hazard and Risk Zoning for Land Use Planning
The definitions in the Guideline are consistent with International Landslides and Geotechnical Engineering practice. Some practitioners in Australia have used the term hazard without including the frequency of landsliding in the definition.
AGS 2007c – Practice Note Guidelines for Landslide Risk Management 2007
Slope instability occurs in many parts of urban and rural Australia and often impacts on housing, roads, railways and other development. This has been recognised by many local government authorities, and others, and has led to the requirement by many local government councils for stability assessments prior to allowing building development.
AGS 2007d – Commentary on Practice Note Guidelines for Landslide Risk Management 2007
In 2000 the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) published Landslide Risk Management Concepts and Guidelines (AGS 2000). In 2002 the content and application of AGS (2000) were demonstrated around Australia by the Risky Roadshow which was sponsored by Emergency Management Australia and AGS.
AGS 2007e – The Australian GeoGuides for Slope Management and Maintenance
The Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) presents on the following pages a guideline on slope management and?maintenance, as part of the landslide risk management guidelines developed under the National Disaster Funding Program (NDMP).