Consultancies

NMI's expertise is the foundation for the extensive services offered to government agencies and the private sector. It is used to solve measurement problems and to transfer technology throughout Australia's measurement community. Some of the NMI’s work depends on specialised metrology facilities that are unique in Australia and may be relevant to solving problems for clients. In addition to calibration and measurement services, NMI will work with clients to provide solutions to problems in chemical and biological analysis and physical measurement.

Such consultancy arrangements are tailored to meet the needs of clients.  They may include training for staff to ensure effective transfer of technology. NMI will also engage in research projects to address client specific measurement issues.

Contract Research

NMI undertakes contract research projects and programs to address client-specific measurement problems, to develop new measurement techniques and to improve the quality of measurement. For example we:

• have extensive experience in the development and validation of analytical methods; this expertise has been used to validate methods for detection of drugs in human urine and plasma for the pharmaceutical industry and to validate a method for detection of animal-derived DNA in stockfeed using real-time PCR with funding assistance from Meat and Livestock Australia
• assess commercially available test kits for detecting genetically modified organisms on behalf of government and industry clients
• are currently engaged in several contracts for Australian and international clients to produce and certify specific reference materials, both of the pure-substance type and for analytes in a specific matrix
• are working with the International Bureau of Weights and Measures to build two calculable capacitors to be maintained in Paris and NMI; these instruments will provide a secure foundation for realising the ohm over the next three decades and more

Consultation Arrangements

When developing new policy we are frequently required to engage in public consultation. We maintain a list of consultations on our website (www.measurement.gov.au/consultation) and our consultation process generally consists of the following steps:

• interested parties are mailed/emailed details of the consultation and are asked to make a submission
• consultation details are advertised under News on our website and linked to from the relevant web page
• the consultation paper is available as a free download from our website
• after the closing date all submissions are listed and linked to on our website (apart from confidential submissions which are not linked to)
• when appropriate, NMI's responses to submissions are published on our website

Consultation has recently been sought on:

• point of sale systems (May 2011) to discuss an appropriate method for the pattern approval of point of sale systems.
• accuracy classes for weighing instruments (April 2011) to discuss the minimum accuracy classes of weighing instruments to be used for various trade purposes
• electricity meters (November 2010) to discuss the impact of lifting the exemption for some categories of electricity meter and the appropriate classes of electricity meters for which the exemption should be lifted
• trade measurement legislation (November 2010) to discuss:
  • specifying accuracy classes for particular trade applications
  • specifying the use of measuring instruments with maximum scale intervals for particular trade transactions
  • reverification periods
  • extension of sale of beer and specific alcohol provisions 
• sphygmomanometers (August 2010) to seek comment on OIML R 16-1
• compressed gaseous fuel measuring systems for vehicles (July 2010) to seek comment on OIML R 139