National Archives of Australia and National Archives of Australia Advisory Council Annual Reports

215 Pages·2008·7.25 MB·English

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naa.gov.au
National Archives of Australia
and National Archives of Australia Advisory Council
Annual Reports 2007–08
Published by the National Archives of Australia
© Commonwealth of Australia 2008
ISSN 1440-8961
ISBN 978-1-920807-70-2
This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce the material in an unaltered form only (retaining
this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted
under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests for further authorisation should be directed to the
Publications Manager, National Archives of Australia, PO Box 7425, Canberra Business Centre, ACT 2610.
Prepared by the Governance, Risk and Compliance Section and the Communications and Marketing Section
Photographs by Imaging Services Section (except pages 13 and 182)
Contact offi cer
Requests and inquiries concerning the content of these reports should be directed to:
Annual Report Coordinator
National Archives of Australia
PO Box 7425
Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
The cover features the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (front cover) and the Royal Commission
of Assent signed by Queen Victoria (back cover), which are permanently displayed in the Federation Gallery of the
National Archives of Australia.
Our reference: 2008/2311
5 September 2008
Senator the Hon John Faulkner
Special Minister of State
and Cabinet Secretary
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Minister
We have pleasure in forwarding to you the annual reports on the operations of the
National Archives of Australia and the National Archives of Australia Advisory Council
for the year ended 30 June 2008.
The reports are submitted in accordance with subsections 68(1) and 68(2) of the
Archives Act 1983, which require the Archives and the Advisory Council to furnish you
with reports of their operations and proceedings during the preceding 12 months as soon
as practicable after 30 June each year.
The Archives’ annual report is also made under section 70 of the Public Service Act 1999.
Subsection 70(1) of the Public Service Act requires the report to be given to you for
presentation to Parliament. The report has been prepared in accordance with the
guidelines approved on behalf of Parliament by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts
and Audit as required by subsection 70(2) of the Public Service Act.
Yours sincerely
Ross Gibbs Paul Santamaria
Director-General Chairman
Advisory Council
Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes ACT 2600 • PO Box 7425, Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610
tel [phone] fax [phone] email [email protected] website naa.gov.au
Contents
National Archives of Australia
Annual Report 2007–08 1
Director-General’s review of 2007–08 3
Overview of the National Archives of Australia 9
Establishment and role 9
Outcome and output structure 10
Governance and organisational structure 13
Report on performance 19
Outcome 1 19
Output 1.1 20
Outcome 2 29
Output 2.1 30
Output 2.2 41
Management accountability 63
Corporate governance 63
Risk management 65
External scrutiny 69
Information technology and management 71
Human resources management 74
Assets management 79
Procurement 80
Financial management 81
Financial statements and supporting notes for the
year ended 30 June 2008 83
Contents v
Appendixes
Appendix A National Archives of Australia addresses and
contact numbers 134
Appendix B Publications produced 136
Appendix C Records Authorities approved 140
Appendix D Selected records transferred and described 141
Appendix E Volunteers and Work for the Dole scheme 147
Appendix F Performance against the National Archives of Australia
Service Charter standards 148
Appendix G Exhibitions program 149
Appendix H Discretionary grants 152
Appendix I Consultancies, advertising and market research 154
Appendix J Occupational health and safety 156
Appendix K Freedom of information 158
Appendix L Professional engagement 162
Appendix M International engagement 167
Appendix N Ecologically sustainable development and
environmental performance 172
National Archives of Australia Advisory Council
Annual Report 2007–08 179
Glossary and indexes 189
Glossary of terms and acronyms 190
Compliance index 192
Figures and tables index 195
Index 198
vi Annual Report 2007–08
National Archives of Australia
Annual Report 2007–08
Australian Constitution
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 is
permanently displayed in the Archives’ Federation Gallery.
The Archives holds many records documenting the creation
and evolution of the Australian Constitution. The Constitution
established the legal and political structures that continue to
shape the lives of all Australians. It is a living charter providing
the power for the government to make and implement laws.
In 2008 the Archives joined four other agencies under the
The Commonwealth of Australia Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio in an Integrity Agencies
Constitution Act 1900.
Group, all with common interests in accountability and integrity.
Edmund Barton, Prime Minister, 1901–03. The importance of good records management in supporting
NAA: A1200, L16929
good governance as well as accountable and effi cient public
administration continue to be key priorities.
2 Annual Report 2007–08
Director-General’s
H
e review of 2007–08
id
e
S
m
ith
The new Administrative Arrangement Orders following the
Ross Gibbs PSM
Director-General November 2007 general election were highly signifi cant for the
National Archives of Australia. Initially, we were moved from the
cultural agencies portfolio to become part of the Finance and
Deregulation portfolio, but on 1 May 2008, new Administrative
Arrangement Orders moved the Archives to the Prime Minister
and Cabinet portfolio. Senator Faulkner, as Cabinet Secretary,
was identifi ed as the Minister with responsibility for the Archives.
The Archives joined other agencies under the Prime Minister
and Cabinet portfolio in an Integrity Agencies Group, each sharing
Senator Faulkner as Minister and all with common interests
in accountability and integrity. The other members of the
Group include the Australian Public Service Commission, the
Australian National Audit Offi ce, the Ombudsman and the Privacy
Commissioner.
The advent of the Integrity Agencies Group model in Australia
caused interest in the international archives community. It makes
concrete the message I have been delivering in a number
of international forums about the importance of archives
seeking out ‘natural allies’ to reinforce the importance of good
records management in the public sector as an enabler
of good governance.
Director-General’s review of 2007–08 3
Records management across public sector agencies was also
in the spotlight in 2007–08 with the release of the Australian
Government Management Advisory Committee’s Note for File:
A Report on Recordkeeping in the Australian Public Service.
The Archives responded with a suite of new recordkeeping
products, including a streamlined process for obtaining a Records
Authority and the release of Check-up, an interactive recordkeeping
self-assessment tool for Australian Government agencies.
Check-up has proven popular with agencies and has been
nominated for an Australian Society of Archivists’ Mander Jones
Award and the Australian Government Information Management
Offi ce’s Excellence in e-Government Award. Check-up has also
generated substantial interest among the international archives
community.
The year saw further emphasis on the importance of managing
and preserving digital records. The Archives received transfers
of digital records for long-term preservation, including from
several commissions of inquiry. As noted in previous annual
reports, the Archives has developed a prototype digital archive
that demonstrates the viability of our approach to preserving the
electronic business records of government. The Archives is now
focused on establishing a whole-of-government digital archive.
The Archives also achieved some signifi cant landmarks in providing
public access to its collection in 2007–08. This was the fi rst full year
of the National Digitisation Service. We now have more than
19.8 million individual pages from our collection available
in a digital format on our online database, RecordSearch. We are
also focusing on digitising our extensive holdings of immigration
records as part of the Making Australia Home project. We anticipate
that this project may be as popular with the Australian public as
A Gift to the Nation, the 376,000 World War I service records that
became accessible online in 2007.
4 Annual Report 2007–08