Director-General’s Review of 1998–99

The National Archives works to promote the use of archives, particularly those in its own custody. There is evidence of the success of this policy in the statistics in this report. Reference numbers, whether they are measured by reference inquiries, visits to the reading rooms or visits to our website have increased by percentages ranging upwards from 40 per cent. Website increases are the least surprising as it is a developing technology – even though the figure there is closer to 500 per cent. The more modest increases of 40 odd per cent in inquiries and physical visits are probably a better indicator of what is happening. The official archives of the national government are being used far more extensively than has hitherto been the case. A great part of this must be attributed to the success of the National Archives’ own programs designed to increase public awareness of archives and its own holdings in particular and to capitalise on its central and appealing headquarters building.

During the reporting period the National Archives has forged ahead with its developmental work designed to help government agencies improve their recordkeeping practices – the same practices which were the subject of unfavourable comment in the Australian Law Reform Commission Report tabled in the Parliament on 2 July 1998. In recent years the Archives has anticipated the changing requirements of modern recordkeeping and has sought to be ready to provide the services and products suitable for agency needs in the environment in which they are now operating. This has caused the Archives itself to fundamentally rearrange the services it provides to government agencies – a process that has naturally entailed ceasing some services and enhancing or commencing others.

While not all products were ready within the reporting period, it is pleasing to note that vital new products such as the Recordkeeping Metadata Standards for Commonwealth Agencies, which will help agencies manage their electronic records, have been made available during the year.

Equally important has been the extent of collaboration with other agencies including the Office for Government Online in producing The Australian Government Locator Service Manual for Users and State Records New South Wales in a number of areas related to modern recordkeeping. The extent of collaboration between government archives in Australia has been increasing in recent years. Standardisation of practice in government archives has been an aim for many years and it now seems a more achievable goal as the Australian Standard for Records Management (AS 4390) is progressively taken up by recordkeeping units supported by the government archives throughout Australia.

As the Archives has repositioned itself and its services to agencies, it has, as mentioned in last year’s report, provided extensive training and reskilling of staff in modern recordkeeping practices. An intensive training program conducted by Monash University was successfully completed by over 100 staff of the Archives during the past year. The Archives believes this investment in training is already yielding tangible results, notably through the quality and acceptance of many of its groundbreaking standards, guidelines and advice.

The Archives focused strongly on its strategic objective of improving accessibility to its holdings this year. A comprehensive review of holdings commenced in this reporting period and is scheduled to extend over the next three years. I expect there will be significant reductions in records resulting from this review. Its main but not exclusive target is the build-up of records dating from 1960 onwards. The volume of records retained from this period suggests gross over-retentiveness. Contributing factors seem to be the wide availability of copying facilities and the marked decline in the proper performance of records management functions by agencies. The review will result in a collection which is far better documented and more accessible.

I have already referred to the extraordinary growth in reader numbers. This growth has tested our ability to meet standards of service but as the report indicates the Archives has met its own published standards on most occasions. Responses to surveys also reflect a very high level of satisfaction with services provided. If the growth in numbers continues, as we expect it will, more of the organisation’s resources will have to be allocated to this area.

The organisation has continued to maintain a strong exhibitions program, including a touring program that reaches many regional centres in Australia. There seems no doubt that high quality, professionally curated and designed exhibitions remain a very potent way of reaching larger numbers of Australians and increasing their awareness of aspects of life and society in this country.

Equally powerful is access that is achieved via the website. Access of this kind is increasingly taken for granted by growing numbers of people, not just the young. Like all similar institutions the Archives has had to direct greater resources to this area to satisfy the requirements for a high quality and highly functional website that is well maintained and holds up-to-date information. The ability to do database searches on the website has greatly improved its utility for researchers both professional and casual.

Growing demands are also being made on the organisation as a whole and the Public and Reader Services program in particular by the forthcoming centenary of Australian federation. The Archives is involved in a number of projects to celebrate the centenary and for some of these has received generous funding from the Centenary of Federation Council. Concentration on these projects will take up most of the Archives’ public program resources in the coming months. As the centenary year moves closer we also expect there will be a surge in demand from others for access to federation-related records.

The outlook overall for the National Archives is very positive. The organisation has shown in its activities during the year that it is adapting to meet the challenges posed by modern recordkeeping practices and technology. New and improved services are replacing some of the more traditional ones. There is strong growth in the use of the Archives and strong public support for the role.

Organisation Chart

Role of the Archives

The National Archives of Australia is a Commonwealth budget-funded agency, established under the Archives Act 1983. The Archives:

• plays the leading role in the management of Commonwealth records;
• makes available to the public non-exempt Commonwealth records over 30 years old;
• encourages and facilitates the use of the archival resources of the Commonwealth; and
• provides leadership in developing and coordinating the preservation and use of the archival resources of Australia.

In carrying out these responsibilities, the Archives contributes to the maintenance and understanding of political, social and cultural values in Australia particularly 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 governments.

The Archives meets its responsibilities under the Archives Act by developing policy and providing advice to government and its agencies on the management, preservation and disposal of Commonwealth records. It maintains information systems about the structure of government and those records agencies create which are part of the archival resources of the Commonwealth, and it provides public access to eligible records.

Commonwealth Records

The majority of records with which the Archives is concerned have been created or accumulated by the Commonwealth administration, encompassing public service departments and agencies, statutory authorities, government business enterprises, military units, committees and royal commissions. The Archives has responsibilities in relation to the records of the 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 National Archives’ charter covers both non-current and current records. The Archives 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 a wide range of formats, including as well as files: index cards, architectural models, photographs, films and video tapes. A significant proportion is now managed in electronic environments.

While most Commonwealth records date from 1901, significant quantities of nineteenth-century records are also in the Archives’ custody. They relate to functions such as customs and defence which were transferred to the Commonwealth on or after Federation from the Australian colonies or states.

Organisational Structure

The National Archives is an agency of the Communications, Information Technology and the Arts portfolio.

The Archives has offices in Canberra, all States and the Northern Territory.

The chief executive officer of the Archives is the Director-General, a position established under the Archives Act. The Director-General and three Assistant Directors-General, each responsible for a branch, form the Executive, which is responsible for overall management of the organisation.

Each office of the Archives outside Canberra is headed by a Director with responsibility for the effective management of the Archives and the implementation of national work programs at the state level.

An organisation chart for the National Archives, current at 30 June 1999, appears at Figure 1.

Social Justice

During the year work commenced on the Archives’ Bringing Them Home Indexing Project as part of the Commonwealth’s response to the Bringing Them Home report. The first of four annual allocations of $500 000 enabled a start to the indexing of the names of Indigenous peoples in Commonwealth records in Darwin and Canberra. Approximately 50 000 names were indexed during the year with most being entered on an online database. The index aims to help separated Indigenous peoples reunite with their families and communities.

Archives exhibitions and publications developed in previous years have continued to further understanding of social justice issues for both migrant groups and Indigenous Australians. Selling a Dream: Promoting Australia to Postwar Migrants visited Geelong, Orange, Albury and Melbourne and Between Two Worlds: The Commonwealth Government and the Removal of Aboriginal Children of Part-descent in the Northern Territory continued its extensive national tour with assistance from the Visions of Australia scheme, visiting Hobart, Ballarat and Parramatta. Healthy sales of the second printing of the book based on the exhibition confirm that this story is reaching a wide audience.

The Convict Fleet to Dragon Boat CD-ROM, about the immigration experience in Australia, was distributed to schools and public libraries last year, and has sold well.

Exhibits in the Treasures Gallery in Canberra include records relating to migrants coming to this country since World War II and military dossiers documenting the experiences of Indigenous soldiers who served in World War I. A small exhibition From Windmills to Waratahs – Dutch Migrants in NSW was developed in association with the Dutch community in Sydney.

Following consultation, the Workplace Diversity Plan was completed and the Program endorsed. The Workplace Diversity Program includes strategies to help staff develop their work skills and contribute to their maximum potential, for the Archives to recognise and use their diverse skills, cultural values and backgrounds and to provide a flexible environment for balancing work and family responsibilities. The Archives also continued to support its network of workplace harassment contact officers through training and dissemination of information.

Internal and External Scrutiny

The Archives participates in the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts program of internal audit to assure the appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency and probity of its operations.

During the year the Archives was included in the Australian National Audit Office’s performance audit program. Following a preliminary audit the Auditor-General decided, on the basis of initial findings and changes occurring within the Archives’ programs, not to continue to a full audit, and no report was produced.

During the year the Archives provided information about the status of Members’ records held by the Archives to the Committee of Privileges Inquiry into the Legal Status of Records Held by Members of the House.

The Archives received no Freedom of Information requests or applications for review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal during the year.

The Archives continued to provide agencies with Information Access Office facilities in all its offices, in accordance with section 28 of the Freedom of Information Act. The facilities include making available section 9 statements completed by agencies.

There were no complaints to, or reports or determinations by, the Privacy Commissioner about the Archives’ activities during 1998–99.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman made no reports to the Minister in relation to the Archives under the provisions of the Ombudsman Act 1976 during the year.

External Relations

The Archives provides leadership and support to the professional archives community in Australia and the Pacific region principally through assistance with training and advice.

The Director-General is an ex officio member of the Executive Committee of the Australian Council of Archives (ACA), the coordinating body for all archives in Australia. Archives staff are members of ACA subcommittees and represent the ACA itself on other committees.

The Director-General meets twice yearly with the State and Territory Archivists through the Council of Federal, State and Territory Archives (COFSTA). The Archives provides secretariat support for the Council.

The Director-General is a member of the Archives Working Group of the Cultural Ministers Council comprising Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers with responsibility for cultural policies and programs.

Within the international archives community the Archives’ principal focus is the International Council on Archives (ICA). The Director-General is the elected regional representative for Asia and Oceania on the ICA Executive Committee and attended Executive Committee meetings this year in Stockholm and Vienna. The Archives is an active member of three ICA committees: the Archival Legal Matters Committee, the Electronic and Other Records Committee and the Committee on Descriptive Standards. An Archives staff member is the Treasurer of the ICA’s Pacific Regional Branch (PARBICA).

Official visitors to the Archives from overseas in 1998–99 included:

• Dr Terry Cook, formerly of the National Archives of Canada and now an archival consultant, who lectured at the COFSTA residential school at Bungendore (NSW) and addressed a professional development seminar for Archives staff in Canberra;
• Mr Rick Barry of Barry and Associates from the USA who also visited the COFSTA school and spoke at the professional development seminar; and
• a delegation of eight senior archivists from the State Archives Bureau of China in Beijing and the Jilin Provincial Archives Administration, led by Mr Mao Fumin, Deputy Director-General of the State Archives Bureau. The delegation visited the Archives offices in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne and discussed a range of issues with senior staff.

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[contents] [corporate overview] [performance reports] [financial statements] [appendix a] [appendix b] [appendix c]
[appendix d] [appendix e] [appendix f] [appendix g] [appendix h] [advisory council] [compliance index]