The New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association is currently making use of the Sydney Observatory astrograph for cometary astrometry. Astrometric plates (16 × 16 cm) of P/Halley are being taken at a plate scale of 116 arcsec/mm with a field of 5 × 5 degrees. Plate measuring is accomplished by means of a mechanical single screw Hilger measuring machine. Plate reduction utilises the program supplied by the International Halley Watch organisation. Measurement and reduction is facilitated by the machine readable catalogue and plotting routines supplied by the United States Naval Observatory. Currently the BAA observing team is working towards achieving a 24 hr turnaround for plate reductions. This will enable useful contributions to be made during the critical pre-encounter periods.