Duplicate Images Are Cluttering Canberra's Digital Public Records — Here's Why Residents Should Care

A technical housekeeping problem that sounds mundane is having real consequences for Canberra residents trying to access government information online. Duplicate image files — identical or near-identical photographs and scanned documents stored multiple times across digital systems — are quietly inflating database sizes, slowing search results, and in some cases serving residents outdated or incorrect visual records when they interact with ACT government portals.

The issue has sharpened in 2026 as several ACT government digitisation programs accelerate. The ACT Digital Strategy, which the government has been rolling out through the Digital, Data and Technology Solutions directorate, involves migrating decades of physical records into searchable online formats. When that process is rushed or automated without deduplication checks, the same photograph, planning map, or property image can end up stored dozens of times under different file names — creating confusion for the staff and residents relying on those systems.

Why Gungahlin and Belconnen Residents Feel It Most

Growth suburbs bear a disproportionate share of the problem. In Gungahlin, where new residential developments along Gungahlin Drive and around the Town Centre have generated thousands of new planning documents, property photos, and subdivision maps since 2020, the volume of digitised imagery is particularly high. Community councils and residents lodging development objections through the ACT Planning portal have reported retrieving images attached to the wrong parcel of land — a direct consequence of duplicate records assigned to similar addresses during bulk uploads.

Belconnen is in a similar position. The ongoing redevelopment corridor between Emu Bank and the University of Canberra campus in Bruce has generated significant planning documentation. When the Australian National University and UC submit environmental impact imagery or site photographs as part of project applications, those files pass through multiple ACT government systems — and without automated deduplication at each handover point, redundant copies accumulate.

The ACT Land Titles Office, which operates out of Dame Pattie Mabo Building in City, maintains one of the territory's most frequently accessed public image repositories. Property boundary maps, building approval photographs, and heritage overlay images are regularly requested by conveyancers, architects, and private residents. A slow or inaccurate image retrieval system at that office has direct financial implications: settlement delays cost money, and in a Canberra property market where median house prices remain above $900,000, even a one-day administrative holdup compounds quickly.

What Deduplication Actually Fixes

Duplicate image replacement — the process of identifying redundant files, retaining the most current or highest-quality version, and removing or redirecting the rest — is not a glamorous fix. But its effects are tangible. Smaller, cleaner databases return search results faster. Staff at service centres like the Access Canberra shopfront on Callam Street in Phillip spend less time manually resolving conflicting file results. And residents using the MyACT online portal get more reliable matches when they search for a property record or planning notice image.

The ACT government's Digital Records Management Framework, updated in late 2024, explicitly requires agencies to implement deduplication protocols before migrating legacy image collections. The gap between that policy requirement and consistent agency compliance is where the practical problem lives.

For residents, the most actionable advice is straightforward. If you are interacting with an ACT government digital service and receive an image that looks inconsistent with the document it is attached to — a photograph of the wrong building, a map showing an outdated boundary, or a scanned form with a different address than your own — lodge a formal data correction request through Access Canberra rather than assuming the visual is a minor glitch. Those correction requests generate audit trails that help the Digital, Data and Technology Solutions directorate identify which systems most urgently need deduplication work.

The broader fix requires investment in automated tools that flag duplicate files before they enter live systems, not after. With the ACT budget under pressure and the public service workforce navigating another round of federal efficiency reviews, finding that funding line is the territory government's next challenge. Getting the digital record clean is not optional — it is the foundation everything else in the digitisation program sits on.