Corporate management
Corporate management services are provided in support of the organisation’s outcome and outputs. Management support in 2002–03 was provided by six functional areas, with the following responsibilities:
| Coordination, corporate accountability, and development and management of external relationships |
|
| 2. Staffing |
Human resource management policies and services |
| 3. Finance |
Financial management policies and services |
| 4. Facilities |
Property planning and management, and services |
| Information technology infrastructure and services |
|
| Information management and services |
1 – Coordination, corporate accountability, and development and management of external relationships
| Measure: |
Corporate and operational planning and associated performance reporting targets met |
| Measure: |
Parliament, Minister, Advisory Council and Department satisfied |
| Measure: |
Archives community in Australia and overseas supported |
| Measure: |
Directors supported |
Coordination
The Archives replied to 11 inquiries sent to the Minister. All information was supplied in a timely manner.
Departmental requests for information were provided in a timely manner, with all input provided within prescribed deadlines or negotiated time frames. No complaints were received.
Secretariat services
The Archives provided secretariat services to the Advisory Council and the Council of Federal, State and Territory Archives (COFSTA), including coordinating the preparation and distribution of agenda papers, minuting of meetings, financial administration, coordination of a residential school and other support as required.
Corporate accountability
The Archives responded to three requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
The Advisory Council was provided with reports from the Collection Management Branch, the Government Recordkeeping Branch and the Public and Reader Services Branch at each of its meetings. In addition, special reports were prepared for each meeting on topics of current significance. These included the Department of Veterans’ Affairs individual case records, the Archives’ education and publications programs and proposed amendments to the Archives Act 1983.
Between meetings the Council was kept informed of the Archives’ activities through a report to members.
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 2002–03, Archives’ staff were sponsored to participate in the annual conferences of the Australian Society of Archivists held in Sydney in August 2002 and the Records Management Association of Australasia held in Adelaide in September 2002.
The Archives provides administrative support for staff who hold office in professional organisations. These office holders are listed in Appendix F.
The Archives continued to provide Treasury support to the Pacific Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (PARBICA).
2 – Human resource management policies and services
| Measure: |
New Certified Agreement in place by June 2003 |
| Measure: |
Compliance with general staff-related legislation and policy, including the recommendations and advice of the Public Service and Merit Protection Commission and Department of Employment and Workplace Relations |
| Measure: |
Compliance with OH&S legislation and government policies, including implementation of Comcare’s audit report recommendations |
| Measure: |
Compliance with workplace diversity principles |
Measure: |
Performance in implementing the Commonwealth Disability Strategy, and compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 |
Measure: |
Staff training and development undertaken and its effectiveness in achieving Archives’ objectives |
Human resources
In 2002–03 the Archives paid the equivalent of 419.47 full-time staff. At 30 June 2003 staff employed numbered 467 and included 319 ongoing full-time, 28 ongoing part-time and 120 non-ongoing staff.
Table 16 – Staff distribution by office as at 30 June 2003 |
|||
| Office |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
| Canberra |
276 |
314 |
361 |
| Sydney |
38 |
39 |
32 |
| Melbourne |
34 |
33 |
29 |
| Brisbane |
13 |
18 |
14 |
| Adelaide |
9 |
8 |
8 |
| Hobart |
8 |
8 |
6 |
| Perth |
9 |
10 |
9 |
| Darwin |
12 |
5 |
8 |
| Total |
399 |
435 |
467 |
| Full-time equivalent (average over financial year) |
367.99 |
388.79 |
419.47 |
Figure 5 – Employment classification by gender as at 30 June 2003
Note: DG – Director-General, a position created under the Governor-General’s Order to Establish the National Archives of Australia as an Executive Agency in February 2001.
Human resource management
Investors in People (IiP) continues to underpin people development initiatives. It involves a comprehensive project plan that draws together projects such as the development of a supervisor’s and manager’s handbook, work competencies and a coaching and mentoring scheme. The integration of IiP projects into broader human resources and management development activities, together with the development of an organisational learning strategy, will provide a more comprehensive strategic approach to people management.
Workforce planning
The success of the graduate recruitment program continues with high quality candidates being attracted to the Archives. The Conservator-in-Training scheme has been successful in attracting future conservation staff. However, following the curtailment of the Materials Conservation program at the University of Canberra, the Archives is considering modifications to the scheme in order to attract staff from alternative sources.
The Archives’ use of Australian Workplace Agreements to attract and retain employees with highly sought after skills continues to be successful. The Archives has increasingly used the flexibility provided by the Public Service Act 1999 and associated Regulations to engage a number of non-ongoing employees to cover staff absences, short term workload peaks and projects or work with limited funding. As funding arrangements for a number of activities evolve, it is expected that some of the non-ongoing workforce will become ongoing.
Workforce movements
During 2002–03, the Archives’ ongoing workforce decreased by a net amount of one full-time employee. Ongoing movements into the Archives totalled 25 and consisted of 21 new engagements, one promotion from another agency and three transfers from other agencies. Ongoing movements out of the Archives totalled 26 and consisted of 16 resignations, five promotions to other agencies, two transfers to other agencies, two retirements and one invalidity retirement.
Productivity gains
The finalisation of the National Archives of Australia Certified Agreement 2003–04 was supported by a number of productivity initiatives including the streamlining of the agreement-making process itself. Refinements continue to be made to the online Employee Self Service (ESS) system. The system enables staff to complete many transactions associated with leave and their personal details electronically. Contract arrangements with human resources systems and payroll services providers were renewed for 12 months to facilitate market testing in 2003–04.
Non-salary benefits
A range of non-salary benefits is offered to staff. These include sacrificing salary for a motor vehicle, additional superannuation, laptop computer and/or mobile phone through the Archives Salary Packaging scheme; leave (paid or unpaid) and financial support for study through the Archives’ Studybank scheme; cash-out of a week’s Recreation Leave per year; and the ability to purchase up to an additional four weeks leave per year.
Training
The induction package for new employees was refined in 2002–03 and will be formally reviewed in 2003–04. Work continued on the development of a more strategic approach to people management, including leadership, learning and development strategies as part of the Investors in People process, and proposals for a comprehensive supervisor’s and manager’s handbook and a coaching and mentoring scheme.
All employees have access to an Australia-wide training database, the Australian Training Register, and key internal training has also been offered. During the year $453,174 was spent on Studybank and fees for staff to attend external staff training and development courses, seminars and conferences.
Professional development seminars
The Archives conducts a program of professional development seminars for its staff. Seminars are held monthly and cover a wide range of topics. In 2002–03 presenters included visiting overseas speakers, representatives of various service provider organisations, and a number of Archives’ staff who discussed special projects in which they have been involved.
Compliance with staffing-related legislation and government policies
The Australian Public Service Commission and Department of Employment and Workplace Relations advices to agencies issued from time to time are actioned as appropriate to ensure continuing compliance with legislation and government policies.
Occupational health and safety
The Archives has an occupational health and safety (OH&S) policy in place, in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment Act) 1991. The Archives Occupational Health and Safety Agreement 1999–2001 was reviewed and is expected to be finalised early in 2003–04. All Archives’ offices have an OH&S representative on site and deal with OH&S matters either through a committee or, where not required due to the size of the office, through staff meetings.
During 2002–03 the Archives continued to implement an action plan developed in response to a Planned Investigation Program carried out by Comcare. Occupational Health and Safety Awareness training was provided to a number of staff including new OH&S Representatives, and manual handling training was provided to areas with specific requirements.
There were no incidents reported to Comcare under section 68 of the Occupational Health and Safety (Commonwealth Employment) Act 1991 during 2002–03. There were no directions given to the Archives under section 45 of the Act and no notices were given to the Archives under sections 29, 46 and 47.
Certified Agreement
A new Certified Agreement was finalised to replace the National Archives of Australia Certified Agreement 2001–03 which expired on 30 June 2003. The new agreement is expected to be certified by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in early July 2003.
The new agreement will have a duration of 12 months and continues all employment conditions unchanged. This strategy was agreed in order to maintain a stable employment framework during a period in which other business uncertainties would be addressed.
The Performance Management Scheme continues to operate with pay point progression available to employees who achieve a satisfactory rating during the performance cycle. Individual performance bonuses were not paid during 2002–03.
The Archives Certified Agreement applies to 459 staff. Eight staff, including six non-SES, are covered by comprehensive Australian Workplace Agreements and more are to be offered. The salary ranges available to staff as at 30 June 2003 are shown in the following table.
Table 17 – National Archives’ salary ranges at 30 June 2003 |
||
| Local designation |
Minimum annual salary ($) |
Maximum annual salary ($) |
| Australian Public Service 1–2 |
28 119 |
36 398 |
3 – Financial management policies, and services
| Measure: |
E-commerce successfully implemented |
| Measure: |
Budget targets met |
| Measure: |
Compliance with Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 |
| Measure: |
Compliance with core purchasing policies and principles |
Measure: |
Development of all required Chief Executive Instructions and compliance with them |
E-commerce
The Archives continues to promote payments and receipts by electronic means. The e-commerce facility on the website allows electronic payment of all invoices for publications.
Budget
The budget allocation for 2002–03 was completed in mid July 2002. There was no Additional Estimates Statement for 2002–03 for the Archives. The mid-year review for 2002–03 was completed in late January 2003.
The National Archives’ Budget for 2003–04 was completed by the Department of Finance and Administration’s time frame in April 2003. The budget allocation for 2003–04 commenced in early May 2003 and was completed in July 2003.
Compliance with Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997
The Archives received no report from the internal auditor (KPMG) or the Australian National Audit Office on non-compliance with the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.
Chief Executive Instructions
The full set of 58 interim Chief Executive Instructions and the supplementary Administrative Procedures were progressively reviewed in 2002–03.
4 – Property planning and management, and services
| Measure: |
Business interests supported through property management, within budget |
| Measure: |
Effective management of building performance |
| Measure: |
Effective management of assets and asset life-cycle planning |
| Measure: |
Compliance with section 516A of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 through effective energy management and environmental performance |
Measure: |
Relocation or refurbishment of State office facilities on schedule according to project plan at year’s commencement |
Property management
The Archives has entered into a comprehensive facility management contract with a service provider for the Archives’ sites in Canberra. The outsourcing of this contract provides a number of value added services, efficiencies and savings and allows the Archives to concentrate more closely on core business activities. The transition of property management responsibilities to the contractor is progressing well. The Building Condition Index (BCI), which quantifies the condition level of a building, has been developed for the Parkes, Mitchell and Greenway sites in Canberra and for the Adelaide site. The BCI will be used as one of the key performance indicators (KPIs) of the contract.
A contract was signed with a new service provider for the provision of new voice and data services nationally.
 The Archives’ new premises at 85 Macquarie Street, Hobart. |
 Senator the Hon. Paul Calvert, President of the Senate, speaking at the opening of the Hobart office in September 2002. |
Security
The access control and monitoring network continues to be upgraded and three more sites were connected during the reporting period.
Commercialisation of Australian government property
Canberra
Following sale of the Special Purpose Estate Property at Greenway, a lease was signed with the new owners.
Perth
A new lease agreement was signed to extend the occupancy period at the East Victoria Park repository in Perth.
Building Performance Management Strategy
The Archives’ buildings in Darwin and Hobart were included in the Building Performance Strategy 2002–03, which uses a Building Condition Index (BCI) to quantify the condition level of a building. Six of the Archives’ sites are now included in the strategy and other Archives’ buildings will follow in subsequent years.
Strategic life cycle planning for building assets
Strategic life cycle plans were completed for nearly all Archives’ sites. Only the plans for the Cannon Hill repository in Sydney and the East Victoria Park repository in Perth remain to be completed. The process was assisted by the implementation of specifically designed software to facilitate more accurate long-term forecasting of funding needs for the Archives’ property portfolio.
Energy management
The application of energy reduction techniques using specialised energy management software contributed to identifiable savings in the reporting period. Further reductions in energy usage were achieved despite an increase in operating functions and staff numbers.
 Darwin radio and television journalist Ms Vicki Nangala-Tippett (left) with Ms Phyllis Williams, Director of the Darwin office, at the reopening of the refurbished facilities in Darwin in September 2002. |
Energy consumption of the property portfolio is continually monitored using the latest technology and benchmarks to accurately measure performance. The system balances energy usage with the need to maintain optimum environmental conditions in climate-controlled storage on a full time basis. The implementation of efficiency measures enabled the Archives to meet the energy targets of the Australian Government and all reporting requirements were fulfilled.
Refurbishments
Melbourne
Work commenced on a new open plan preservation laboratory at the East Burwood repository in Victoria. New work stations, height adjustable benches and storage will be installed and associated works carried out to create a more appropriate and useable space.
Brisbane
A lease was signed for Building 3 at the Cannon Hill repository in Brisbane. The site was cleared of fittings and shelving in preparation for the commencement of refurbishment work.
Hobart
In September 2002, the Archives occupied newly refurbished premises at 85 Macquarie Street, Hobart, following the sale of the Special Purpose Estate Property at Rosny. The new location provides visitors and researchers with better access to Archives’ resources. A portion of the Rosny Annexe was leased from the new owners, the Tasmanian Department of Tourism, Parks Heritage and the Arts.
Darwin
The Acting Director-General, Ms Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, officially opened the refurbished Darwin office facilities on 4 September 2002.
Sydney
The Sydney office has long been the centre of expertise for audiovisual records within the Archives. The office provides services relating to these formats to all of the Archives’ offices.
In 2002–03 the Archives completed upgrades of the Film Preservation area and the Sound Preservation Studio.
Film and Video Preservation area
The Film Preservation area at the Chester Hill repository in Sydney was inadequate and lacked a video studio facility. As part of an upgrade, the Film Preservation area was extended and a film-sound suite and video studio was constructed. This improved the Archives’ capability to undertake preservation treatment and copying of moving image recordings. The Film and Video Preservation area now has specialised facilities allowing preservation work to be undertaken at a professional standard.
Sound Preservation Studio
The sound studio dated back to the 1970s and reflected outdated practices. The upgrade included dividing the original studio into two inter-linked but separately functioning studios to house professional quality digital recording equipment. Electrical, voice and data facilities were upgraded, and sound attenuation and acoustics were enhanced.
Proposed Film Isolation Vault
Documentation for the proposed Film Isolation Vault was completed and sent out to tender in June 2003. The vault will provide a stable low temperature and relative humidity environment for acetate film suffering from vinegar syndrome. This storage will slow the rate of deterioration and extend the life of the film, allowing time for planning and prioritisation of conservation work, which may include copying to more stable media.
The vault is expected to house approximately 40,000 film cans in purpose-designed mobile shelving and more than 200 linear metres of static storage, capable of housing more than 250,000 photographic negatives.
5 – Information technology infrastructure and services
| Measure: |
Implementation of sub-projects according to Archives Business Applications Strategic Plan |
| Measure: |
At least 99 per cent availability of internal systems as required |
| Measure: |
Support services rated satisfactory by all users |
Development of RecordSearch
The text retrieval engine for RecordSearch was radically improved to provide stable and reliable search access for members of staff and the public through the Archives’ website.
A prototype ‘remote’ electronic data loading interface, the Electronic Load Mechanism, was developed as part of the loading of World War II defence service records information and data gathered by Work for the Dole projects onto the RecordSearch database. The interface will be perfected and put into production for widespread use to enable electronic transactions with Australian government agencies during the coming year.
Work has commenced on the Reference and Access module of RecordSearch, which is designed as a workflow system for tracking the progress of reference cases and access applications.
Substantial progress was made towards the completion of the Disposal module of RecordSearch. The Disposal module will be an electronic register to store and manage information about the records disposal decisions the Archives makes under the Archives Act 1983.
The implementation of the Prince 2 project management methodology has improved the control and tracking of RecordSearch module development and infrastructure replacement projects.
Access to the Archives’ websites and RecordSearch has improved since the Archives connected to the Australian Academic Research Network (AARNET) in November 2002. This has provided faster and cheaper web connectivity for students, academics and members of the public.
The Archives has joined the Grid and Next Generation Network initiative (GrangeNet) to assist in designing and building the next generation internet interfaces for the Archives’ researcher clients.
Availability of systems
The Archives’ protective measures for ensuring data integrity, recovery from hardware failure and interception of viruses were successful during 2002–03. All systems except the Search and Retrieve module of RecordSearch operated at greater than 99 per cent availability. An extensive hardware and software infrastructure upgrade undertaken during the year and completed in June 2003 means that next year the availability of this module will increase from 98 per cent to greater than 99.9 per cent.
6 – Information management and services
| Measure: |
Internal information network enabling all staff to access required corporate information easily, all the time |
| Measure: |
Tools and processes for management of information at the electronic desktop that meet business and individual staff needs |
| Measure: |
Electronic recordkeeping system that all staff understand and use successfully |
Information Management Strategic Framework
The Archives recognises that information is a key corporate asset in supporting the performance of its functions. An Information Management Strategic Framework was developed during the year, which is aimed at improving the collection, use and management of information in the Archives. By implementing the framework the Archives expects to:
- improve the quality of service provided to its key audiences – the public and the government;
- improve its efficiency and productivity;
- reduce risks associated with the poor delivery of information;
- ensure compliance with statutory requirements; and
- support its standard setting role as a lead agency by being an exemplar site of best practice.
Recordkeeping
The Archives’ internal Recordkeeping Policy was reviewed during the year to ensure that recordkeeping practices that meet its business needs, accountability requirements and stakeholder expectations are established and maintained. The policy covers all records created to support all business activities, and all business applications used to create records, and outlines the responsibilities of managers and staff in creating and maintaining these records. The policy was developed following guidelines issued to Australian government agencies by the Government Recordkeeping Branch of the Archives in 2002.
The Archives continued with its DIRKS project commenced last year. Step H, a review of the implementation of the recordkeeping system between 1998 and 2002 was completed and work on Steps A to C, which will provide an intellectual framework for the records and identify recordkeeping requirements, began this year. Step A was completed and approved in early 2003.
The electronic recordkeeping system used to capture the Archives’ corporate records, which is available to all staff across the organisation, captured 67 357 records this year. An active training program continued in 2002–03, focusing on developing good recordkeeping practices and teaching staff how to use the electronic system. A total of 119 staff, located in both the national office and State offices, attended the training sessions delivered in this period. There was a major revision of the training program during the year which took into account difficulties noted by staff in the internal recordkeeping practices survey undertaken in 2001–02.
Internal information network
The Archives’ intranet provides a corporate information network for staff. Following a major review of the site, an Intranet Policy was developed for the Archives which defines the scope, content management approach, responsibilities and key accessibility features of the Intranet.
Library management
The National Archives Library is a distributed library with sites in the national office and every State. The Library supports the work of the organisation and the professional development of staff. There is a high use of the Library collection with loans totalling 882 for the year.
During the year, the Library Collection Development Policy was reviewed to improve the development and management of the library collection, and guidelines were established for the selection, preservation and rationalisation of library resources.
Knowledge management
An 11-week program designed to facilitate knowledge sharing in the Archives, called ‘Knowledge NAA’, was implemented this year and received strong support from staff. Knowledge is recognised as a fundamental requirement for effective organisational performance. In the Archives, as in many other organisations, large accumulations of knowledge rest with a small number of individuals. The program was designed so that these people could share their knowledge, expertise, experience and ‘know-how’ with other staff.