National Archives of Australia

The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages access to important Commonwealth government records.[3]

National Archives of Australia
Agency overview
FormedMarch 1961
Preceding agencies
  • Commonwealth Archives Office (part of the NLA)
  • Australian Archives
JurisdictionGovernment of Australia
HeadquartersKings Avenue, Parkes, ACT
35°18′18″S 149°07′50″E
Employees404[1]
Annual budgetA$82.733 million (2018–19)[2]
Minister responsible
  • Tony Burke, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for the Arts
Agency executive
  • Simon Froude, Director-General
Parent agencyAttorney-General's Department
Key document
  • Archives Act 1983
Websitenaa.gov.au
The National Archives of Australia national office on Queen Victoria Terrace in Canberra.

Established under and governed by the Archives Act 1983, its main roles are "to collect and preserve Australia's most valuable government records and encourage their use by the public, and to promote good information management by Commonwealth government agencies, especially in meeting the challenges of the digital age". The NAA also develops exhibitions, publishes books and guides to the collection, and delivers educational programs.

Eastern facade of the current home of the NAA, 2009.

History

After World War I the Commonwealth National Library (later National Library of Australia) was responsible for collecting Australian Government records. The library appointed its first archives officer in 1944.

In March 1961 the Commonwealth Archives Office formally separated from the National Library of Australia and was renamed as the Australian Archives in 1975.

In 1966, Peter Scott of the Commonwealth Archives Office developed the Australian Series System (aka Commonwealth Records Series System).[4][5] This system represented a change in traditional archival theories of provenance, and it caters for changes of name and provides a flexible framework to arrange records across the different agencies which share the same organisational content.[6]

The Archives Act 1983 gave legislative protection to Commonwealth government records for the first time, with the Australian Archives responsible for their preservation.

The agency was renamed the National Archives of Australia in February 1998.

Function

Under the Act, the National Archives has two main roles:[7]

  • to collect and preserve Australia's most valuable government records and encourage their use by the public
  • to promote good information management by Commonwealth government agencies, especially in meeting the challenges of the digital age.

Facilities

The Archives' National Office is in Canberra.

In 1998 the Canberra reading room, galleries and public areas of National Archives moved into a heritage-listed building known as "East Block" in the Parliamentary Triangle. The building, one of the national capital's original offices, was built in 1926 beside the Provisional Parliament House. Over the years East Block housed various government departments and served as Canberra's first post office and telephone exchange.

Peter Durack in 1948

On Friday, 9 June 2017 (International Archives Day), the National Archives of Australia officially opened the new, purpose-built National Archives Preservation Facility in Canberra, separate from the National Office which houses the reading room and galleries. The building is 17,000 m2 (180,000 sq ft), and added storage for more than 100 km (62 mi) of paper and audio-visual records.[8] On 21 September 2018, the National Archives Preservation Facility was officially renamed the Peter Durack Building after the Hon Peter Durack QC, who introduced the bill creating Australia's National Archives in 1983.[9]

In addition to the National Office of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the National Archives has offices and reading rooms in the capital city of each state and the Northern Territory:[10]

Collections

The National Archives of Australia's collection of 40 million items covers records pertaining to the government of Australia, including Federation, Governors-General, Prime Ministers, Cabinet and Ministers.

Among the most popular with the public are defence service and immigration records which often contain valuable family history.

The Archives' repositories are not open to the public but items can be requested for digitisation or for viewing in reading rooms. Most records over 26 years old (gradually reducing to 20 years) are released for public access on request. However some have certain information exempted from access. These exemptions may include documents relating to defence and security and sensitive personal information.

Cabinet notebooks have a longer closed period, gradually decreasing from 50 to 30 years by 2021. Access to items of cultural sensitivity to Indigenous Australians may also be restricted.

William James (Jack) Mildenhall photographed in 1927

There are several notable collections held by the National Archives of Australia, including:

Recent modernisation efforts and collaborations

"Discovering Anzacs" digital partnership

In 2014, the National Archives of Australia, in partnership with Archives New Zealand, created the digital repository Discovering Anzacs to commemorate the centenary of World War I and each nation's role in the war effort at home and abroad. The repository features the complete and fully digitised service records of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). Service records are also displayed geographically on a map of the world to indicate each individual's place of birth, enlistment, death and burial. Users are encouraged to transcribe the official records to improve access and add personal comments, photos and stories to give greater context to each record.[11]

Diversity initiatives

In 2014, the National Archives of Australia announced its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) to foster better relations with its Indigenous population, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The RAP is a multifaceted approach to drawing attention to the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, engaging and illustrating their culture respectfully, and providing improved access to their historical records. A main feature of this initiative is the Bringing Them Home name index, which leverages the National Archives' collection of records to facilitate genealogical research for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The National Archives also seeks to have 3 percent of their workforce as Indigenous.[12][13]

Digital Continuity 2020

On 27 October 2015, the National Archives of Australia announced its Digital Continuity 2020 program to modernise the information management practices of the government for the digital age. The policies of Digital Continuity 2020 issued by the authority of the National Archives apply to the whole of the Australian Government and seek to improve efficiency and access of all services.[14]

Deadline 2025

"Deadline 2025" is a collaboration between the National Archives of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archive to prioritise digitisation of valuable audio-visual media stored on magnetic tape which may deteriorate to the point of being unusable by 2025.[15]

In March 2021, a review of the National Archives commissioned by the government found that only six per cent of the collection would be able to be digitised by 2025 with the current resource levels, and recommended that the government spend A$67.7 million on a program to digitise the content most at risk of deterioration within the following seven years. The footage includes recordings from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, ASIO surveillance, film taken on early Australian Antarctic research expeditions,[16] recordings of John Curtin's war-time speeches, and tapes of the Stolen Generation inquiry. The NAA started a fundraising campaign after the government initially failed to commit to funding the project, but in June 2021 announced that the full amount would be provided, in order to digitise the at-risk collection by hiring additional archivists and enhancing its cybersecurity. The pledge of the full amount allows for a faster schedule to digitise the at-risk material, with a completion date of four years away rather than seven.[17]

Governance

As ruled in the Archives Act 1983, the National Archives reports to its Minister, the Attorney-General. Like all government agencies, it is accountable to the Australian Parliament. The National Archives of Australia Advisory Council provides advice to the Minister responsible for the Archives and the Director-General.

National Directors
  • 1944–68 – Ian MacLean, Chief Archivist
  • 1968–70 – Keith Penny, Chief Archivist
  • 1970–71 – Keith Pearson, Director, Commonwealth Archives Office
  • 1971–75 – John Dunner, Director, Commonwealth Archives Office
  • 1975–84 – Robert Neale, Director-General, Australian Archives
  • 1984–89 – Brian Cox, Director-General, Australian Archives
  • 1990–2000 – George Nichols, Director-General, Australian Archives/National Archives of Australia
  • 2000–03 – Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, acting Director-General, National Archives of Australia
  • 2003–11 – Ross Gibbs, Director-General, National Archives of Australia
  • 2011–Jan 2012 – Stephen Ellis, acting Director-General, National Archives of Australia
  • 2012–2021 – David Fricker, Director-General, National Archives of Australia
  • 2022–present – Simon Froude, Director-General, National Archives of Australia

2020–2021

See also

References
  1. "National Archives of Australia National Archives of Australia Advisory Council Annual Report 2017–18". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  2. "Portfolio Budget Statement 2018-2019 National Archives of Australia" (PDF). Australian Government Attorney-General's Department. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  3. "About Us". National Archives of Australia. 17 October 2018.
  4. "Organising our holdings". www.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  5. Scott, Peter (October 1966). "The Record Group Concept: A Case for Abandonment". The American Archivist. 29 (4): 493–504. doi:10.17723/aarc.29.4.y886054240174401. JSTOR 40290645.
  6. Cook, Terry (Spring 1997). "What is Past is Prologue: A History of Archival Ideas Since 1898, and the Future Paradigm Shift". Archivaria. 43: 17–63.
  7. "Selecting National Archives". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  8. "Safeguarding the nation's memory". National Archives of Australia. 9 June 2017.
  9. "National Archives facility named in honour of former Attorney-General Peter Durack QC". National Archives of Australia. 21 September 2018.
  10. "Locations and opening hours". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  11. "About". Discovering Anzacs. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  12. Fricker, David (1 July 2014). "Reconciliation Action Plan 2014-15". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  13. "Annual Report 2017-18" (PDF). National Archives of Australia. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  14. "Digital continuity 2020 the future of e-government" (PDF). National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  15. "Annual Report 2017-18" (PDF). National Archives of Australia. 12 September 2018. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  16. Travers, Penny; Tregenza, Holly (26 April 2021). "National Archives of Australia warns historical recordings, films and images could soon be lost". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  17. Christian, Kate (1 July 2021). "National Archives of Australia says funding is a 'game-changer' in race to preserve priceless national memories". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
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