Australian geography and geographic information systems

In Australian universities geography has had traditional links with geology, environmental science and the social sciences. Human geographers' pursuit of links into the humanities has distracted many of them from understanding the implications of the increasing interest shown by computer science, geomatics and other disciplines in geography. The emergence of a dialogue overseas between the humanities and the geographic information systems community is an important development which may result in this new grouping colonising some of the traditional disciplinary areas of human geography. It is clear that although this emerging cross-disciplinary linkage has not had any influence on the current phase of mergers and cross-disciplinary linkages in Australia, it will undoubtedly become important locally in the future.