Posthumous honour for Jonathan

Former owner of Gippsland Licensed Surveyors Jonathan Neilson has been posthumously named "National Surveyor of the Year" at the recent Excellence in Surveying and Spatial Information (EISSI) awards.

Following his death in June 2025, staff at Gippsland Licensed Surveyors (GLS) nominated Jonathan for 'Surveyor of the Year' at the Victorian edition of the EISSI awards in Melbourne in October last year.The judging panel's criteria included excellence in service, professional development commitment and what makes the individual stand out amongst their peers. The judging panel found Jonathan worthy of the award because of his tireless efforts in upholding and promoting best practice initiatives within the surveying and cadastral industry in Victoria.
In attendance at the Victorian awards on Jonathan's behalf was his wife Jayne and son Jesse, as well as his parents Geoff and Kaye, and brother Simon. There was not a dry eye in the house when Jesse accepted the award on behalf of "his dad Jono".
His Victorian win automatically qualified him for consideration for the national award.
GLS employees Josh King, Matt King and Rob Graham attended the national awards ceremony on Jonathon's behalf.
Matt, Josh and Rob attended the National awards on behalf of Jonathan, acknowledging "...we and his family are grateful and humbled that his endeavour throughout his working life has been acknowledged. On behalf of Jonathan, Jonathan's wife Jayne, their three young children Jesse, Ashlyn, and Heidi, the broader Neilson family and all the staff at Gippsland Licensed Surveyors thank you for this recognition of Jonathan."
Jonathan grew up in Alberton, the second eldest of seven children to Geoff and Kaye Neilson. He excelled in sports, music and academics, with an interest in history and geography, and upon completion of high school was accepted into Melbourne University's surveying and engineering program where he graduated with a Bachelor of Geometrics/Engineering with Honours in 2004.Jonathan worked in large corporate firms and smaller family-owned businesses and like any diligent employee, was observant and sought to learn and improve.
He always believed he could do things better and as part of his professional journey, he became registered as a licensed surveyor in 2012.
Jonathan took over Christopher Morris' business in Queen St, Warragul in 2016 and expanded it in a rural community. People who engaged his services were not seen as just clients; it was more important to Jonathan that he fostered relationships.
Many of Jonathan's clients sought his assistance after experiencing challenges and limited success when engaging with local government authorities. Jonathan was more than willing to lead his clients into challenges against councils or referral authorities when their requirements were deemed to be excessive or burdensome.
Jonathan grew Gippsland Licensed Surveyors to a staff of more than 10, with a client base that extended from two lot subdivisions to large estate subdivisions, to heavy industry engineering works for Gippsland Water, Hazelwood Power Station and Yallourn Energy.
Many of Jonathan's clients may not have been aware of his advocacy and how highly he was regarded within the industry. This included sitting on the board of Institute of Surveyors Victoria (ISV) as the Gippsland branch president.
He would often be seen at seminars all around the state, seeking to improve his knowledge and raise his ideas for the betterment of all. His high regard within the industry (and wider community) was evidenced by the large attendance of surveying professionals from across the state at his funeral.