Corporate management

Corporate management services are provided in support of the organisation’s outcome and outputs. Management support in 2000–01 was provided by six functional areas with the following responsibilities:

1 – Secretariat

Coordination

The Order to establish the National Archives as an Executive Agency under the Public Service Act 1999 was published on 22 February 2001. The National Archives replied to a number of inquiries sent to the Minister regarding the sale of the purpose-built estate previously leased by the Archives from the Commonwealth, and regarding the processes involved in reviewing the Archives collection. All information was supplied in a timely manner.

Departmental requests for information were provided in a timely manner, with no complaints received.

Corporate accountability

The Advisory Council was provided with Branch reports from the Public and Reader Services Branch, the Collections Management Branch and the Government Recordkeeping Branch at each of its meetings. In addition, a special report was prepared for each meeting on a topic of current significance, for example ‘Digitisation of Records’, and ‘Promoting Best Practice Recordkeeping in the Federal Public Sector’.

Between meetings the Council was kept informed of activities at the Archives through a newsletter to members. This was an initiative commencing after the Council’s November 2000 meeting.

All actions arising from the meetings, including specific requests for additional information, have been, or are currently being, dealt with.

Development and management of external relationships

During 2000–01, Archives staff were sponsored to participate in the ASA Conference held in Melbourne, Victoria, from 17 to 19 August 2000, and the Records Management Association of Australia (RMAA) conference in Sydney from 3 to 6 December 2000.

The Archives provides administrative support for staff who hold office in professional organisations.

A number of senior staff, including the Director-General as the elected Asia and Oceania representative, were sponsored to attend the ICA’s International Archives Congress in Seville, Spain, in September 2000.

The Archives continued to provide Treasury support to PARBICA.

2 – Staffing

Certified Agreement

The Archives’ 2000–01 Agreement was certified by the AIRC on 10 October 2000. The following changes to conditions of employment have been implemented through the Archives’ pay system:

• changes to overtime and restriction duty (clauses 15 and 19)
• recreation and personal leave daily accruals (29 and 32)
• new Motor Vehicle Allowance rates (40)
• new Darwin Allowance rates (43)
• new salary rates backdated to 22 June 2000 (53)

The payment of accrued Darwin fares allowances on abolition (44) has been completed.

Darwin conditions (30) and the Performance Management Scheme (65) have been reviewed in conjunction with the negotiations for the next Certified Agreement.

The only implementation issue that remains outstanding is the review of the Archives’ Studybank policy (63). A first draft has been prepared and will be forwarded to the Workplace Relations Committee (WRC) once it has been finalised and endorsed by the Executive.

Consultation has commenced with the Community and Public Sector Union, Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, and staff representatives of the WRC on the next Certified Agreement. All staff are being consulted through meetings conducted by the management and staff representatives of the WRC as well as meetings held by the unions.

Compliance with staffing-related legislation and government policies

An action plan for implementing Comcare’s OH&S audit recommendations has been developed to ensure compliance with the OH&S legislation. Work has commenced on implementing the plan. The Public Service and Merit Protection Commission and Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business advices to agencies issued from time to time are actioned as appropriate to ensure continuing compliance with other legislation and government policies.

All the Archives’ employment policies, procedures and practices comply with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Potential applicants can obtain written recruitment information by request using email, phone, facsimile or mail, and TTY is available if required. All recruitment information is also made available on the Archives website. Archives’ training and development programs take into account any special needs of employees.

As an employer the National Archives is cognisant of the needs of employees from all linguistic and cultural backgrounds and is developing strategies to ensure that all employees have the opportunity to achieve their potential and participate fully in the workplace.

3 – Finance

E-commerce

Over 70 per cent of Archives’ payments were paid by electronic means at June 2001, with the aim of close to 100 per cent by the target date of 31 December 2001. Training and in-house system investigations are currently underway with a target implementation date of December 2001.

Budget

The budget allocation for 2000–01 was completed as scheduled in mid July 2000. The Additional Estimates Statement for 2000–01 was completed by the Department of Finance and Administration’s timeframe in mid November 2000. The Mid-year Review for 2000–01 was completed as scheduled in mid January 2001.

The Budget for 2001–02 was completed by the Department of Finance and Administration’s timeframe in April 2001. The budget allocation for 2001–02 commenced in mid April 2001 and was completed in June 2001 as scheduled.

Compliance with Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997

The Archives received no report from the internal auditor (KPMG) or the ANAO on non-compliance with the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.

Chief Executive Instructions

The full set of 58 interim Chief Executive Instructions were signed off by the Director-General on 1 July 2000 as planned. The interim set, including the supplementary Administrative Procedures, has been prioritised and is being reviewed progressively over two financial years, ie 2000–02.

Ten Chief Executive Instructions and Administrative Procedures were reviewed between July 2000 and June 2001. Five of these have been approved by the acting Director-General, while the remainder are still awaiting approval. Nine further Chief Executive Instructions are currently under review.

4 – Facilities

Property management

Lease negotiations for all nine of the National Archives’ Special Purpose Estate properties were finalised between July 2000 and June 2001.

Management responsibility for the national building in Canberra, the Heritage-registered East Block, was transferred to the Archives on 1 March 2001 with the signing of a new lease on more favourable terms to the Archives.

Commercialisation of Commonwealth property

No threats to the Archives’ business interests occurred during 2000–01 through the process involved in commercialisation of Commonwealth property.

Building Performance Management Strategy

The Archives is implementing a Performance Management Strategy which involves rating facilities to determine a ‘Building Condition Index’ (BCI) and benchmarking this rating both internally and externally. To assist in implementing the strategy, Facilities engaged the services of a specialist facilities management consultant with eight years experience with buildings within the Parliamentary Triangle.

The BCI will be extended to all Archives facilities, and by June 2001, three facilities had been measured against the benchmark rating of 90 per cent.

The East Block building in Parkes, ACT, has a BCI of 90 per cent, which compares favourably to buildings within the Parliamentary Triangle and other significant peer cultural buildings, which rate from 65 to 87 per cent. The East Burwood Repository in Victoria has a BCI of 89 per cent, and is performing appropriately. The Mitchell Repository in ACT has a BCI of 82 per cent, and while some areas are very good, the strategy has identified issues that need to be addressed.

Strategic life-cycle planning

In 2000–01, Facilities commenced a program to identify the long-term funding needs of the Archives’ property portfolio. An Asset Renewal Plan is being prepared for each major Archives facility to identify the expected life spans of building elements, their current condition, and their estimated replacement cost. The Asset Renewal Plans will provide the Archives with a long-term view of the funding requirements.

Energy management

Facilities has initiated processes to further manage and reduce energy consumption. Archives facilities in East Block and Mitchell in the ACT, East Burwood in Victoria, and Chester Hill in NSW, have been fitted with energy data loggers linked to the central Building Management System. The energy usage of each site is continually monitored so that inefficient energy use is identified and corrective measures can be taken. Energy usage is benchmarked for comparison within the Archives and against comparable buildings.

The Archives has achieved significant energy cost savings by actively benchmarking energy costs on offer by the licensed providers. The Archives continues to manage energy consumption by conducting regular energy audits to assess energy usage and continuously developing and refining the Building Management System software to reduce energy consumption.

A conscious decision has been taken to lease smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles, and energy considerations are taken into account when considering building works and fitout projects.

Major refurbishment at Mitchell

Major refurbishment at the Mitchell, ACT, building was carried out during 2000–01 to convert some repository space into office accommodation for approximately fifty-five staff, and to convert former computer accommodation into storage space to house the World War I and World War II service dossiers.

State office relocation program

In August 2001, the Archives will open a new facility in Angas Street in central Adelaide, SA, offering improved facilities for researchers and the records. This is the first move in an Archives’ strategy to relocate a number of its current State operations from large repositories to smaller, centrally located premises, or to downsize and upgrade existing premises. This strategy will also enable the Archives to consolidate the bulk storage of records, improving management processes and reducing the long-term property costs.

In Darwin, the existing repository will be refurbished to better suit the Archives’ requirements, and to allow for the surrender of surplus space. Preliminary investigations, including community consultation, are underway to assess options for the relocation or upgrading of the Hobart and Brisbane facilities.

5 – Business systems

Systems Development Project plan

A key component of the strategy adopted by the Archives in 1994 for providing services electronically was realised in April 2001 with the introduction of the digitisation-on-demand service. This key extension to RecordSearch enables the Archives to match, and in many aspects exceed, world best practice in the provision of archival services and provides greatly enhanced access for rural and regional Australia.

During 2001–02, the Archives will continue to develop the provision of electronic services. The RecordSearch module designed to enable electronic transactions with Commonwealth agencies is scheduled for implementation in early 2002. The complexities of finalising the module specifications have delayed this sub-project. At 30 June 2001, the Systems Development Project was running approximately six months behind the schedule planned at the beginning of the financial year.

Availability of systems

The Archives’ strategies for protection against hardware failure, data corruption and computer viruses have proved successful during 2000–01. All systems were available in excess of 99 per cent during the reporting period.

6 – Information management

Internal information network

An internal information network (Infonet) was available to staff with computer access. Information on Infonet was updated within 48 hours of receipt. Redevelopment of the Infonet has commenced and will be completed during 2001–02.

Management of information

The Electronic Recordkeeping System implementation was finalised and made available to staff for management and storage of corporate records. Access to other corporate information is available via the Infonet and Library systems. Training has been provided to most permanent staff. To date, 350 staff have been trained in the operation of the Electronic Recordkeeping System. An online training package is under development and will be completed during 2001–02.