Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report to the Minister 2006–2007 Published by Public Record Office Victoria 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne VIC 3051 Tel (03) 9348 5600 Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report to the Minister 2006–2007 September 2007 © Copyright State of Victoria 2007 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Also published on www.prov.vic.gov.au. ISSN: 1320-8225 Printed by Ellikon Fine Printers on 50% recycled paper. Cover photo: A 1954 petition concerning the proposed closure of the Ferntree Gully to Gembrook railway line (VPRS 3253/P0 Original Papers Tabled in the Legislative Assembly, unit 1195). 1 Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report to the Minister 2006–2007 A report from the Keeper of Public Records as required under section 21 of the Public Records Act 1973 2 The Hon. Lynne Kosky, MP Minister for the Arts The Honourable Lynne Kosky, MP Minister for the Arts Parliament House Melbourne VIC 3002 Dear Minister I am pleased to present a report on the carrying out of my functions under the Public Records Act for the year ending 30 June 2007. Yours sincerely Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records 30 June 2007 Contents 3 5 Public Record Office Victoria 6 Purpose and Objectives 7 Message from the Director 8 Highlights 2006–2007 12 Public Records Advisory Council 14 Overview 14 Administration 15 Contacts 16 Organisational structure 18 Output measures 2006–2007 19 Leadership – records management 19 Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards 20 Records Management Network 21 Archives and Records Management Week 21 Collaboration and presentations 22 Leadership – community 22 Local History Grants Program 22 Archival Support Program 22 CHHA Family History Expo 23 Operations 24 Services to government 24 Standards and policy 25 Compliance 25 Authorised disposal 26 Archives created: records transferred to PROV 27 VERS: managing digital records 28 Training 29 Approved Public Record Office Storage Suppliers (APROSS) 30 Access to records 30 Reading rooms 31 Reference services 32 Koorie records 33 Collection management, storage and issuing of records 34 Digital Archive and online catalogue 34 Regional archives 35 Places of Deposit (PODs) 36 Volunteers program 38 Public programs 38 Exhibitions and displays 39 Online projects 40 Publications 40 Seminars, tours and events 41 Appendices 42 Appendix 1: Assets and Financial statement 43 Appendix 2: Publications 46 Appendix 3: Current Public Record Office Victoria standards and authorities 52 Appendix 4: Approved Public Record Office Victoria Storage Suppliers (APROSS) 54 Appendix 5: Approved Places of Deposit for temporary records of local rather than state significance 60 Appendix 6: List of guides and advices 63 Appendix 7: VERS-compliant products 64 Appendix 8: VERS consultancy services 66 Glossary 4 Koroit Botanic Gardens Landscape Plan, 1880 The site for the Koroit Botanic Gardens was set aside in 1857 and the first plantings took place in the late 1860s. In 1879, the Koroit local council arranged for William Guilfoyle, then Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, to tour the site. He drew up plans and designed the layout of the gardens. However, even though he was the designer of the Koroit Botanic Gardens, William Guilfoyle’s name does not appear on the plan. The 1880 Guilfoyle landscape plan was transferred to PROV by Moyne Shire Council in March 2007 (VPRS 16020/P1, unit 1). 5 Public Record Office Victoria 6 Purpose and Objectives Our purpose To support the effective management and use of the public records of the state of Victoria, in order that the government is accountable to the community and its historical memory is preserved, secure and accessible. What we do Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is established under the Public Records Act 1973, which provides the legal framework in which we operate. PROV’s core functions are to: • provide best-practice records management and archiving advice, standards and specifications to the Victorian public sector • advise and assist agencies in achieving compliance with issued standards • preserve public records of permanent value as the state’s archives • ensure the archives are accessible to the people and government of Victoria Our objectives • Records in PROV’s custody are more visible, accessible and secure. • Best-practice records management is implemented across the whole of Victorian government. • PROV’s services are better promoted to the community and government. • Staff knowledge and commitment are utilised and valued. • Excellent customer service is provided to clients. • The Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) introduces a coherent, effective and consistent whole-of-Victorian-government system for the preservation and management of electronic records. Message from the Director 7 The machinery of government changes following the 2006 state election saw PROV move from the Department for Victorian Communities to Arts Victoria, within the Department of Premier and Cabinet. This move has placed PROV with other cultural institutions including the State Library of Victoria and Museum Victoria, and will allow us to work more effectively with these organisations. The move also saw responsibility for PROV pass between ministers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Hon. John Thwaites, MP, for his strong support of PROV and advocacy for projects such as the Digital Archive and Local History Grants Program during his time as Minister for Victorian Communities. I look forward to a positive and successful relationship with our new minister, the Hon. Lynne Kosky, MP. I congratulate our staff and volunteers for handling these changes with remarkable ease and seamlessly continuing a high level of service. The numerous highlights for the year, outlined over the following pages, are testament to this. The year saw something of a ‘changing of the guard’ within the Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC). Former Victorian Government Solicitor Ron Beazley retired from Council after three years as President, while Bill Russell closed another chapter in a distinguished almost forty-year history with PROV – including as staff member, department Director-General and PROV historian – with his retirement from Council. Ron’s legal expertise and Bill’s knowledge of PROV and government have contributed a great deal to both PRAC and PROV – I thank them both, and very much hope their relationship with us will continue. I would also like to thank Peter Mansfield, who represented local government on Council for six years, and who retired from his role as CEO of Geelong Regional Library during the year. We were very fortunate, however, to have Peter Harmsworth, formerly one of Victoria’s most senior public servants, agree to take over the PRAC presidency. Peter spent more than forty years working in government, including stints as Secretary of both the Department of Justice and the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development, a wealth of experience from which both PRAC and PROV will no doubt benefit greatly. I was also very pleased to welcome back Jim Berg during the year. Jim previously spent twelve years on Council, including three years as President, and has always been a great supporter of PROV. Thanks also to John Watson, nominee of the Department for Victorian Communities, whose position on PRAC has been transferred to Penny Hutchinson of Arts Victoria. And of course, thank you to all members of PRAC for your efforts throughout the year. Finally I would like to thank our clients for your continued support. As Director, it is always a pleasure for me to hear acknowledgement of the efforts of PROV’s staff and volunteers, while your suggestions and feedback enable us to continually enhance our services. Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records 8 Highlights 2006–2007 New authority for disposal of administrative records Victorian Auditor-General Des Pearson launched the new General Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Common Administrative Functions in May. The authority will be used across government to identify records to be kept as state archives and authorise the disposal of those that are not required. Six other retention and disposal authorities were also issued during the year. For more information on disposal of records, see page 25. Online access to wills and probate files In a boon for family historians, wills from the 1840s to 1925 can now be accessed through PROV’s website, and probate files from the same period are progressively being added. Volunteers from the Genealogical Society of Utah continued their 2004–2009 digitisation project, with more than one million pages copied during the year. With the assistance of Workforce Participation Partnership Program trainees (see below) PROV began converting these images into ‘VERS encapsulated objects’, which enables their long-term secure storage. Some 237,000 wills (VPRS 7591) and probate (VPRS 28) images were stored in PROV’s Digital Archive and can now be searched and viewed online at www.access.prov.vic.gov.au. Wills and probate files are among the most heavily used series at PROV. The digitisation of these records will ensure the original documents are preserved, while facilitating greater access. Advice on criminal destruction of records A new advice to agencies regarding the Crimes (Document Destruction) Act 2006 was issued in May. The legislation made it a crime to destroy records that may be used in evidence, and the advice provides guidance to public sector agencies on the recordkeeping implications of this new provision. See page 24 for more information. Local History Grants Program PROV’s new minister, Lynne Kosky, made her first visit to the Victorian Archives Centre in May to present small grants for fifty community group projects under the Local History Grants Program. Minister Kosky (right) is pictured with Cynthia Troup, who collected a grant for Myrtleford Historical Society’s project to record memories of Italian- language cinema shows for new migrants in the 1950s and 1960s.