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About emergency services maps

Emergency services across the state of Victoria have free access to Vicmap Topographic maps. This includes emergency service management, first responders and volunteers.

Topographic maps show important features that help emergency services to navigate in a natural disaster, for post-emergency planning or search and rescue. They also help to plan maintenance activities that improve the safety, access and enjoyment of our natural environment.

Features include:

  • Accurate display of tracks, gates, bridges, landmarks and water courses for navigation.
  • Clear marking of administrative boundaries, for example, public and private land.
  • Contours and topography that help in emergency management planning and operations. For example, predicting how a fire might travel, or the flow of floodwaters.
  • Location of important infrastructure such as communications towers, railways and buildings.
  • The naming of features, such as roads, parks, reserves and watercourses.
  • Consistent use of symbols between digital and hard copy maps, and across all map scales and services. This includes Vicmap Viewer, eMap and Vicmap Topographic Maps Online.

Vicmap Topographic maps are created and maintained using the state’s authoritative Vicmap foundation datasets.

Read more in about Vicmap.

What is available ?

There are more than 10,000 Victorian topographic maps available covering the entire state of Victoria in four different scales.

Emergency response is often conducted in very challenging conditions, which can include limited or no internet access.

To ensure maps can always be accessed, Vicmap Topographic maps are available in two different formats:

  • Hardcopy
  • Digital (GeoPDF)

You can download GeoPDFs to your mobile device via Vicmap Viewer enabling map access in remote areas without connectivity as well as the ability to geolocate using third-party apps.

We also produce high-resolution aerial imagery of the state through our Coordinated Imagery Program (CIP). Used together with a map, aerial imagery can provide further detail to better understand an area in an emergency.

Read more on Aerial imagery.

How do I access a map?

Vicmap topographic maps can be accessed a few ways:

Read more and find stockists in how to order a map.

You can download GeoPDFs to your mobile device using a specialised mapping app. GeoPDFs have enhanced mapping performance so you can track your location, without the need for internet.

Try the Vicmap Viewer or other mapping app.

Maps come in four different scales. You can select the best scale depending on the requirements for planning, operations and the extent of the emergency.

Read more about specifications and publishing in the products and publishing schedule.

Update cycle

Vicmap topographic maps are constantly updated. Each map series has its own update schedule as is released to Vicmap topographic maps online and Vicmap Viewer at the same time.

The cycle for publication for each map is:

  • GeoPDF every 18months
  • Hardcopy every 4-5 years
  • Web mapping service every 12 months. This update is completed in October, before the fire season.

Read more about scheduled updates in our products and publishing schedule.

How to get help?

Vicmap customers can contact the Vicmap Helpdesk for product information and support.

Page last updated: 16/08/24