Vale Bruce Thompson

October 29, 2021

DCS Spatial Services Executive Director Bruce Thompson was farewelled by family, friends and colleagues at Bathurst Cemetery. Bruce passed away on Sunday 10 October 2021 and is survived by his wife, Susan.

There have been many tributes to Bruce published over the last two weeks – most of these have referred to Bruce as a visionary, a leader, a collaborator and an innovator. He was no doubt all of these and a leading contributor to our sector over many years, and we are diminished by his passing.

Bruce worked for more than 30 years in the spatial sector, working for the Queensland government, then moving to Victoria and, for the latter part of his career, working for New South Wales. For a number of years he served as Chair of the Australia New Zealand Land Information Council (ANZLIC).

Bruce was a special person and has contributed to industry in many ways. In areas in which I am most familiar, I recall the pleasure of working with him in the early 2000s helping establish the Victorian Spatial Council, reforming policies for the custodianship of geospatial data in the State, broadening stakeholder use of the Vicmap suite of foundation products, and establishing the Coordinated Imagery Program, Vicmap Position – GPSnet, the Victorian Mapping and Address Service, Victoria’s Emergency Mapping Contract and many other initiatives.

Importantly, Bruce recognised the fundamental interdependence of Government, academia and the private sector for the achievement of these goals and worked extensively and in partnership with Victoria’s private sector. Successful initiatives such as the NewTech series of regional forums, the Victorian Spatial Excellence Awards and well as the publication of the Landmark magazine showcasing the State’s achievements were developed during his tenure.

And of course, in New South Wales, he achieved much more.

Bruce will always be remembered as considered, approachable and generous, and he will be greatly missed by many.

—Glenn Cockerton, Managing Director

First published in SIBA|GITA Insite Newsletter (October 2021).