The High Court’s decision of 29 May has given the National Archives of Australia the opportunity to examine and publicly release the historic Palace Letters.



To ensure the records are released in accordance with the Archives Act 1983 they are required to go through a declassification process which may take up to 90 business days.



As a pro-disclosure organisation the National Archives is working hard to ensure this process is undertaken as quickly as possible.



This requires a thorough examination of the records in consultation with relevant government agencies, to ready them for public release.



The National Archives takes the responsible release of records seriously. We set out to release all Commonwealth records that are in the open access period however exemptions under section 33 of the Act may apply.



The National Archives is proud to function as the memory of the nation and exists to preserve and provide historical commonwealth records to the public. As such, the documents will be digitised for public release as part of the access process.