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Ms Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, |
The Archives delivered strong results in its dual role as the Commonwealth's adviser on recordkeeping and as a national cultural organisation managing a visible, accessible and known collection.
Improving recordkeeping
The Archives strengthened its relationships with the Australian National Audit Office (assisting with audits of recordkeeping) and the Australian Public Service Commission (advising on questions about recordkeeping for inclusion in the State of the Service questionnaire) to promote awareness of the importance of recordkeeping as part of good corporate governance.
Under the e-permanence banner the Archives provides a suite of standards, guidelines and advice for government agencies on how to create, manage and dispose of records. Additional and updated advice and material was prepared for this suite. As it has been two years since the launch of the e-permanence products, formal evaluation of the suite is needed. Consequently, a survey was developed for circulation to all Commonwealth agencies early in 2002–03. The survey will obtain feedback about, and gaps in, the Archives' existing set of products and services, and about the state of recordkeeping in the Commonwealth.
Preserving the collection
Preservation work on the collection was augmented significantly with the allocation in the 2001 Budget of ongoing funding of $15 million per annum. In this first year of preservation funding, a framework for strong management was established (including finalising a 5-year National Preservation Plan, letting contracts and training in project management).
In this first year of funding 160 000 items have received preservation treatment, including repair, copying, repackaging or other specialised work. This includes 70 000 immigration records, which have been repackaged and documented, and 5 000 Boer War service dossiers, which have been repackaged and digitised. Several thousand large-format maps and plans are being encapsulated and digitised so that the fragile originals can be withdrawn from use. Valuable photographic collections in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne have been repackaged and 20 900 audiovisual items have been treated in some way (eg repaired, re-canned, copied).
Building the collection
Some 800 000 of the records of the one million Australians who served in World War II were received from the Department of Defence during the year. The remainder will be received by October 2002. The service dossiers constitute the single largest transfer to the Archives and are expected to become the most highly used records in the collection.
Making the collection visible, accessible and known
In order to make the collection accessible to all Australians regardless of where they live, the Archives launched, in April 2001, a digitisation on demand service. Requested images are provided without cost in low-resolution digital form on the Archives website, www.naa.gov.au. Over 1.2 million images have been digitised and are accessible on the website – a most significant achievement.
Evidence of the organisation's success in making the collection visible, accessible and known is well documented in this report. Visitors to the Archives' travelling exhibitions, and to those in Canberra, numbered in excess of 150 000. Over 2 million unique visits were made to the Archives website. This is an average of 166 600 per month – last year the monthly average was 75 000. The number of collection items documented on the Archives web-enabled database, RecordSearch, increased by 33 per cent and the total number of public inquiries increased by 49 per cent.
Communication with researchers, and the peak bodies representing them, was augmented and improved through consultative committees in Brisbane, Hobart and Perth, and preparatory work is under way to establish a committee in Sydney.
Improving facilities
Implementation of the Archives' property strategy, to relocate from ageing premises to improved and more efficient facilities, continued. The first in the sequence of phased moves was in Adelaide. The Archives' public facilities, collection and staff moved to Angas Street in the central business district. A major refurbishment of the Archives facilities in Darwin was completed in April 2002.
The Archives has readied for a move of its public facilities, collection and staff from Rosny Park to Macquarie Street in the central business district of Hobart. The move is scheduled for the first quarter of 2002–03. Planning of, and preparation for, major refurbishment of facilities in Brisbane has commenced.
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The Hon. Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, opened the Angas Street premises in Adelaide on 29 April 2002, continuing a family involvement in such events as his father opened the Archives Collinswood repository 30 years ago. Left to right: Graham Hawker, Director, Adelaide, the Hon. Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, Acting Director-General and historian Ms Pat Sumerling. |
Financial outcome
While on the face statement the Archives shows an operating surplus of $76.985 million, there is in fact an underlying loss of $7.033 million after taking into account a capital use charge of $84.018 million. Under current Australian Accounting Standards, the capital use charge is not shown on the operating statement, but on the equity note.
A revaluation of all asset classes, except the collection and software, was finalised this year. A major contributor to the underlying loss is the revaluation decrement of $5.014 million on the shelving asset class. As the Archives has no accumulated asset revaluation reserves, accounting standards dictate that this decrease in value be recorded as an expense. An asset revaluation reserve of $0.935 million was created as a result of the revaluation increment in some other asset classes.
A decrease in net equity in 2001–02 has thus resulted. Net equity decreased $6.098 million, or 0.8 per cent, due to the underlying loss of $7.033 million and the partial offset effect of the $0.935 million asset revaluation reserve.
The Archives received an unqualified audit report on 26 August 2002. Its financial management is sound and the financial position reflects this.
Community support for the Archives
The Archives receives assistance or sponsorship in a variety of ways. This is valuable, not only because it increases the capacity of the organisation, but also because it fosters relations with the community. Examples of this support include:
- assistance from volunteers who help to make the collection more accessible. Appendix A recognises, in a small way, their contribution;
- two pilot projects, one in Perth and one in Melbourne, established under the auspices of the Work for the Dole scheme. The projects aim to make the collection more accessible. Participants in Perth began work in May 2002 indexing names from the inward passenger lists to Fremantle. To date the team has indexed 30 000 names. The project in Melbourne, repackaging and documenting alien registration records, began in the first week of June 2002. Since its inception 2 800 records have been repackaged and 2 100 items documented; and
- a grant from the Gordon Darling Foundation which enabled the publication of a catalogue to the exhibition A Vision Splendid: How the Griffins Imagined Australia's Capital. This booklet ensures that the Griffin drawings will continue to be available once the exhibition concludes.
Staff
International and national regard for the work of the Archives is high. The triennial survey of public awareness of, and satisfaction with, the role of the Archives indicated an increase in awareness about the organisation amongst Australians. The number of invitations to speak, requests to provide advice and to collaborate, and the number of overseas delegations visiting the Archives are also testimony to its reputation.
The organisation's achievements and standing, professionally and in the community, are a tribute to the motivation and work of its staff.
Outlook
The overall outlook for the National Archives is positive. Growing demands on the organisation as a whole, coupled with curbs on operational expenditure, will challenge the Archives to continue to adapt and innovate. It is in a strong position to do so.
Role of the Archives
The National Archives of Australia was established as an Executive Agency in February 2001. The functions of the Archives were confirmed to be primarily as prescribed by the Archives Act 1983. The Archives' responsibilities are:
- to play the leading role in the management of Commonwealth records;
- to make available to the public non-exempt Commonwealth records over 30 years old;
- to encourage and facilitate the use of the archival resources of the Commonwealth; and
- to provide leadership in developing and coordinating the preservation and use of the archival resources of Australia.
The National Archives of Australia contributes to the maintenance and understanding of political, social and cultural values in Australia by:
- promoting the role of records as evidence in supporting the rule of law;
- supporting the effectiveness and accountability of government administration; and
- preserving and providing access to documentation of the interaction between the Australian people and their government.
The Archives meets its responsibilities under the Archives Act by providing public access to official records and by developing policy and providing advice to government and its agencies on the creation, management, preservation and disposal of Commonwealth records. It maintains information about the structure of government and those records agencies create which are part of the archival resources of the Commonwealth.
Commonwealth records
The majority of records with which the National Archives is concerned have been created or accumulated by the Commonwealth government, encompassing public service departments and agencies, statutory authorities, government business enterprises, military units, committees of inquiry and royal commissions. The Archives has responsibilities in relation to the records of Parliament and the courts. Private records of Governors-General, Ministers and senior Commonwealth officials have also been deposited with the Archives to complement the official record.
The Archives charter covers both non-current and current records. It is concerned not only to preserve those records forming part of the archival resources of the Commonwealth, but also to promote the efficient and economical management of all Commonwealth records for government and public purposes.
The records covered by the Archives Act occur in all the different formats that government agencies have used over time to record information and transact business. These include traditional formats such as files and index cards, models, photographs and films. Today, however, the Archives is also concerned with records created electronically that can be stored or migrated to different formats such as magnetic tape and computer disk.
While most Commonwealth records date from 1901, significant quantities of nineteenth-century records are also in the custody of the National Archives. They relate to functions such as customs and defence that were transferred to the Commonwealth on or after Federation from the Australian colonies or States.
Responsible Minister
The Minister responsible for the National Archives is Senator the Hon. Rod Kemp, Minister for the Arts and Sport.
Under the Archives Act 1983 the Minister may give directions, not inconsistent with the Act, to the Director-General in relation to the exercise of his powers and the performance of his duties under the Act.
