A Word from The Boss

Launch to Secure – Providing Essential Solutions

Welcome to our 2026 Autumn GeoSolutions News.

In this edition, we:

• Share insights into AGL Energy’s Property Portal Modernisation Project, including their upgrade to Version 7 to leverage the latest X-Info WebConnect features and workflow automation, plus the addition of X-Info Aware to seamlessly integrate real-time field and office data
• Present some more practical InFocus Tech Tips
• Showcase our Product Team members and their activities
• Provide an update on our teams’ Kamapim continuous improvement program
• Welcome several new Mipela Wantoks to the team
• And more.

Providing Essential Solutions to Australia’s Critical Infrastructure

Australia’s critical infrastructure underpins the nation’s prosperity, security, and day-to-day functioning. A range of national initiatives are actively strengthening resilience across these essential sectors.

• Australian Government Critical Infrastructure Resilience Strategy focuses on supporting critical infrastructure owners and operators with an enhanced regulatory framework and stronger national collaboration. Its aim is to help organisations better anticipate, prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from all hazards affecting the continuity of essential services.
• Department of Home Affairs – Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resilience (CIPR) initiative leverages next-generation science and technology to strengthen Australia’s capability to respond to vulnerabilities across interconnected critical infrastructure systems. It recognises the growing interdependence between sectors and the increasing complexity of natural and human-induced hazards.
• CSIRO’s Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre plays a vital role in improving the security and resilience of critical infrastructure assets. It provides guidance, tools, and support for asset owners and operators to ensure essential services remain available and dependable.
• Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) provides technical advice and non-regulatory guidance to help organisations strengthen their cyber security posture, reducing the risk of financial, operational, and reputational damage resulting from cyber incidents.

Together, these initiatives form a layered, modern framework designed to safeguard Australia’s essential services and support the stability and resilience of the nation’s economy and community.

I’m pleased to share that our Kamapim continuous improvement program continues strongly into 2026 focused on the theme of the 3 C’s, Communicate, Collaborate, Change is already off to a productive start.

We began with a powerful workshop delivered by Chris from Bulletproof Performance on “Building Strong Relationships that Last”, helping our teams further develop effective communication and collaboration skills.

Our teams have been active across the industry, attending numerous APGA events across several states. As always, it’s been excellent to reconnect with people in person. We also continued our long-standing sponsorship of the New Zealand Seminar, Golf Day and Dinner in New Plymouth, a tradition we’ve proudly upheld since its inception in 2017.

Our Service Delivery Manager, Adam Herbert, and Business Development Executive, Jacqueline Button, represented Mipela at the BYDA Utility Safety Conference in Melbourne from 4–5 March. On 5 March, I attended the APGA Pipeline Operators Group (POG) Seminar, also in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, our digital transformation journey, Race to Launch, version 8 of the X-Info Suite, continues to progress on our AWS platform, positioning us with a modern, secure, resilient, and highly efficient environment for hosting client solutions.

From all the team at Mipela GeoSolutions, thank you for your continued support.

Stay safe, and enjoy the Autumn season.

Hayden McDonald
Founder and Managing Director

AGL Property Portal modernisation project

Today AGL Energy operates Australia’s largest electricity generation portfolio within the National Electricity Market. It includes coal and gas-fired generation, renewable sources such as wind, hydro and solar, and batteries and other firming and storage technology.

Supporting this electricity generation portfolio, Mipela GeoSolutions has been providing AGL with a property management system since 2009. Over these years, change has been a common theme. As the portfolio diversifies, so has Mipela’s X-Info Suite software solution to effectively grow and develop as AGL’s asset portfolio has done the same. This flexibility is a key differentiator for Mipela’s offering and what has been an ongoing long term relationship like with AGL.

A recent modernisation of AGL’s Property Portal has seen a move to a web browser based portal, the introduction of additional workflow and automation tools to ensure the power development team work smarter, not harder. This work has focused on the power development phase of new projects where early engagement and agreement establishments are the main focus of effort.

Work was undertaken to streamline the new agreement process, focussing on the creation and management of agreements with landholders. Property parcels, assets and easements are now identified as necessary components to be linked to each agreement. The spatial representation of land parcel data, geometry and easements is managed with X-Info Suite, providing an interactive visual breakdown of each project. In addition, the mobile app solution X-Info Aware will be available for real-time data capture.

Senior Manager, Land & Property Management, Doug Hunt, said, “X-Info Suite handles the complexities of land management across our broad project pipeline. The latest updates to the system have simplified how we work, whilst managing some complex agreements.”

As these projects further progress through development phase to operations, it is intended that these enhancements and the data collated during the power development phase will continue to be available for the business, opening this information up to the broader AGL enterprise.

Written by Karen Thompson

Kamapim update

The beginning of this year has been all about planning and setting the foundation for a big year of learning and capability-building. With speakers booked in and the team gearing up, we’ve already seen strong engagement and valuable conversations emerging.

Strengthening Relationships

We kicked things off with Chris from Bulletproof Performance, who delivered a powerful follow-on session from last year’s “Building Strong Relationships that Last.” His evidence informed workshop focused on strengthening our ability to give clear, confident, and psychologically safe feedback – a skillset that matters now more than ever across our diverse teams.

We explored how to:

• Adapt communication styles
• Reduce unnecessary conflict
• Build trust intentionally and consistently
• Approach difficult conversations with confidence.

The session reinforced the message that strong relationships don’t happen by accident – they’re built through deliberate, everyday behaviours that support safety and respect.

Change Management – How we Have Progressed

We also welcomed Michael Short, who talked through Change Management, marking almost a year since our upgrade to the new change process. The conversation highlighted just how much progress has been made and where ongoing focus will help embed change more smoothly and consistently.

A lot More to Come

With two impactful sessions already delivered and more planned for the coming months, the year ahead looks to hold opportunity to build capability, share knowledge, and continue strengthening our culture across the organisation. This strong start sets the tone for what we hope will be a year of growth, connection, and continuous improvement.

Written by Jacqueline Button

In Focus – Do You Remember?

In 2025 we told you that “Your Support Experience Is Getting an Upgrade”. By now, we hope you have accepted an invitation to Mipela’s Jira Support system, where you can log and track support requests. These invitations are sent to “Authorised” persons only. If you feel you should have access, please see the Authorised person in your company. If you’re not sure who that is, please reach out to the Mipela Support team.

When something goes wrong, we know the first thing you want is a quick resolution. And we want that for you too! One of the easiest ways to speed up the process is simple: give us as much detail as possible when you log a support request.

It might not seem important but the information you provide at the start can dramatically reduce back and forth, help us diagnose the issue faster, and ultimately get you back up and running sooner.

What “Great Detail” Looks Like

• What happened?
• When did it start?
• What were you doing at the time?
• What network were you on?
• Were you on your normal PC/Mobile?
• Who is affected?
• Have you tried anything already?
• Screenshots or error messages (if available)
• A little extra information can reduce hours off the resolution time.

The more we know, the faster we can troubleshoot… think of your support request like a doctor’s visit. Saying “it hurts” isn’t enough they need symptoms, timing, and context. This all helps us pinpoint the root cause immediately, rather than spending valuable time gathering basics later.

It also helps us prioritise correctly – not all issues have the same impact. “My mouse isn’t working” and “Our whole team can’t access the system” are very different situations.

Detailed descriptions help us spot patterns AND it ensures you get the right specialist from the start…

Written by Jacqueline Button & Matthew McDonagh

Meet the Products Team

At Mipela GeoSolutions, our Products team is a powerhouse of expertise, blending technical skill with solution focused vision. Here we meet the crew behind the X-Info Suite:

Our Development Core

This group turns complex requirements into reality, whether enhancing Connect 7 or building Connect 8.

• Craig: A long-serving member of the Mipela family and our “brains trust,” Craig drives the architecture, development, and overall vision of our products.
• Chris: Having started in Support, Chris uses his foundational knowledge of user needs to turn requirements into technical specs and high-quality code.
• Matt: Our go-to Angular specialist. Matt focuses on the front-end user experience and tackles the unique challenges of modern web technology.
• Sam: As our newest team member, Sam is quickly mastering the complexities of our software and diving head-first into every development challenge.

Support, Training & BA Specialist

This role acts as the vital bridge between our software and your success, ensuring product support, documentation and processes are perfectly aligned.

• Kirsty: Another long-serving subject matter expert who has grown alongside our software. Kirsty uses her deep experience to support and share product knowledge both internally and externally.

Our Strategic Team Leader

Our leader provides the roadmap and keeps the wheels turning toward a more intuitive product experience for our clients.

• Adam: The “glue” that holds us together, Adam is a key decision-maker who is always ready to listen and provide clear guidance and focus.

What We’re Up To

Our team is dedicated to supporting the software you rely on today, while actively building the next generation of the X-Info Suite. Whether we are enhancing Connect 7 or developing Connect 8, our goal remains the same: understanding your requirements and delivering the business solutions you need.

We’re excited to keep evolving our technology to ensure you always stay connected to your most important information.

Written by Kirsty Beer

Protecting Your Data and Assets in the X-Info Suite

Protecting client data and critical infrastructure remains a core priority within the X-Info Suite. As cloud hosted platforms continue to evolve, so too do the techniques used to probe and target Internet facing applications.

To strengthen protection at the application layer, the X-Info Portal platform uses advanced web security controls including AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall), which filters and inspects incoming web requests before they reach our application servers. Managed rule sets help block common web threats such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and automated vulnerability scanning.

Recent enhancements to AWS WAF introduced during 2025 and early 2026 also provide improved automated AI traffic analysis, allowing us to identify unusual patterns such as bot driven traffic spikes or abnormal request behaviour. Suspicious activity can then be automatically rate limited or blocked to protect service availability.

Combined with hardened application servers, secure configuration standards, and continuous monitoring by our SOC team, these measures help ensure the X-Info Portal continues to safeguard the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our client data.

Written by Justin Fielke

Changes to Queensland cadastral data

The Queensland Spatial Cadastre Fabric (QSCF) is set to replace the current DCDB as part of the Cadastre and Address Modernisation (CAM) Project towards the end of May 2026.

Having looked at beta versions of the new datasets, the team @ Mipela have identified that they are significantly different to the current ones and this will have an impact on some of our Queensland clients. Mipela have already began working on how this will impact our clients and our technical team will be reaching out to those potentially impacted in the near future to initiate discussions.

Written by Karen Thompson

Staff updates

Meet Our New Support Team Leader

We’re excited to welcome Matt to the Support team. And he’s joining us with some seriously solid experience under his belt.

Matt has previously led a support crew responsible for keeping 3,500 staff across 60 sites up and running, covering everything from L1–L3 support to desktop, applications, and even medical systems. Along the way, he’s driven service transformation through smarter processes, mentoring, upskilling, and strengthening relationships. Matt’s also no stranger to IT safety and ISO 27001 compliance – so we’re all in very safe hands.

In his own words, his role at Mipela is all about guiding and motivating the team to deliver great customer service, keeping expectations clear, and stepping in when the tricky stuff lands on the desk. He’s especially excited to bring his love of learning and teaching to the team.

Outside of work, he’s basically a “Maker-in-Chief”. Think 3D printers, drones, electronics, tools everywhere, and big ideas but not enough free time. If he could instantly master any skill? He wouldn’t. Matt said he enjoys the ride, frustrations and all which probably explains his calmness.

If you are going to meet up with Matt, I hope you are wide awake because his coffee choice is a classic Doppio (double espresso).

Welcome Our New Support Specialist

We’re excited to have Grant join the team as our new Support Specialist. Grant has 4+ years of experience delivering both remote and on-site IT support. He is skilled in troubleshooting hardware, software, and network issues and is focused on clear communication with clients and great user experiences.

Grant holds a Certificate IV in Information Technology (MEGT) and is Microsoft MS-900 certified, giving him a strong technical foundation.

He loves understanding how things work and figuring out how teams can work better together. He’s all about creating a relaxed, supportive environment and making life easier for those around him. I asked Grant what his ideal mentor would be like? He said, “Someone patient and hands on because he loves that moment when everything finally clicks.”

Insider Secrets…

Favorite food: Ramen. Any kind. All kinds. Bonus points for anything tied to Japanese culture.

If he had a time machine? He’d head straight to the Jurassic era, with a love for dinosaurs since he was a kid he once dreamed of becoming a palaeontologist. (Jurassic Park remains one of his favourite films.)

Something small that makes his day: Ice cream, Mochi Ice Cream, and Ice cream.

Current passions: Sci-fi, new gadgets, new tech, and generally chasing whatever the newest gizmo on the market is.

Written by Jacqueline Button

Brissie to Bay 2026

#projectMAD Special Invitation (16th Year) – RideWithUs!

#projectMAD is an initiative aimed at bringing like-minded individuals and businesses together to Make A Difference (MAD) to those in need.

Rolling in 94 days is this year’s MS Queensland’s Brissie to the Bay which marks a very special day in our calendar each year that we get to ride with an AMAZING group of people.

Mipela GeoSolutions in partnership with Fortian, MC Global, Powered, Sentanil Systems and our Community of awesome fundraisers have chosen to again support “the ride to fight MS”. So whatever stage you’re at in your – obsession you can be part of the “Mipela GeoSolutions Social Cycling Team”, pedalling for good and aiming to raise $15,000 for MS Qld in 2026, making a difference to the lives of those Queenslanders with multiple sclerosis.

https://www.brissietothebay.com.au/fundraisers/MipelaGeoSolutionsSocialCyclingTeam/brissie-to-the-bay-2026

Written by Hayden McDonald