SIBA presents a national, united industry voice to all governments and relevant forums and organisations at every level. It also:
- Leads the drive to ensure that the core spatial data governments gather for national, state and regional purposes is readily accessible and available at the cost of transfer so that the community can benefit from other value-adding activities.
- Raises the community’s awareness about how valuable the spatial industry is to our national development.
- Plays a leading role in developing industry skills and education by belonging to and participating in national educational bodies and by presenting its own national and state excellence awards.
- Is an active and participating supporter of one of the World's top spatial information research body, the Co-operative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI) in Australia.
In the past few years, SIBA has made valuable contributions to key issues such as Australia's national and regional water policy, climate change, national security, privacy, emergency management, transport and space industry policy, major infrastructure development, the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, the National Digital Elevation Framework and to developing industry skills. It will continue to contribute to these and other key issues in the years ahead. In New Zealand, where the Association has only recently been established, the industry is working closely with government to establish its credentials through contribution to public debate on key issues. SIBA New Zealand has already achieved remarkable succees with government moving quickly to ensure that New Zealand is a leader in the spatial field.