Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report 2022–23 A report from the Keeper of Public Records as required under section 21 (1) of the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic)
Published by Public Record Office Victoria 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne VIC 3051 Tel (03) 9348 5600 Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report 2022–23 September 2023 © Copyright State of Victoria through Public Record Office Victoria 2023
Except for any logos, emblems, and trademarks, this work (Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report 2022–23) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia license, to the extent that it is protected by Copyright. Authorship of this work must be attributed to Public Record Office Victoria. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/. Published on http://www.prov.vic.gov.au. ISSN: 1320-8225
Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report 2022–23 A report from the Keeper of Public Records as required under section 21 (1) of the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic)
Public Record Office Victoria acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands across Victoria, and their continuing connections to land, culture and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and emerging, and extend that respect to all First Nations people.
Gabrielle Williams MP Minister for Government Services Level 22, 50 Lonsdale Street Melbourne VIC 3000 Dear Minister I am pleased to present a report on the carrying out of my functions under section 21(1) of the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic) for the year ending 30 June 2023. Yours sincerely
Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records
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Contents Message from the Director 7 Message from the Public Records Advisory Council President 8 About Public Record Office Victoria 9 Strategic Plan 10 Overview 11 Organisational Structure 13 Public Records Advisory Council 14 Values 15 Highlights 16 Report on Performance Management Preservation Utilisation An efficient and effective organisation Output Measures 2022–23
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Appendices 36 Appendix 1: Assets 36 Appendix 2: Financial Statement 36 Appendix 3: Workforce Data 37 Appendix 4: Standards and Advice 38 Appendix 5: Recordkeeping Standards Framework Documents Issued 2022–23 38 Appendix 6: Retention and Disposal Authority (RDA) Documents Issued or Varied 2022–23 38 Appendix 7: Approved Public Record Office Victoria Storage Suppliers (APROSS) 40 Appendix 8: Staff Achievements 40 Appendix 9: Victorian Community History Award Winners 42 Appendix 10: Local History Grant Recipients 43 Glossary
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Ned Kelly’s page in the Central Register of Male Prisoners. Penal and Gaols Branch, Chief Secretary’s Department, 1873. PROV, VPRS 515/P1, Item 17, No 10926.
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Message from the Director The pages of this year’s Annual Report feature some of the most iconic records of our collection in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Public Record Office Victoria and the Public Records Act 1973. 50th anniversary Just over 50 years ago, the State Library’s Senior Archivist Harry Wilfred Nunn was appointed the first Keeper of Public Records after the passing of the Public Records Act. By the time the Act was passed in April 1973, there were around 24 kilometres of Victorian public records, many unprocessed, across five State Library locations. On 10 May 1973, Nunn sent a memo to the Under-Secretary with recommendations for PROV as a separate office. He wanted new positions to be created and separate accommodation from the Library to bring all the public records together. Now, fifty years later, PROV has 61 staff, holds more than 100km of public records at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne, hosts a regional centre in Ballarat, and more than 100 appointed Places of Deposit (PODs) across the State. We celebrated these achievements between April and June 2023 with a talk and exhibition in Bendigo, a published history on our website, digitisation of new Ned Kelly records, and events including our first Hamer Awards in five years – all of which we detail in this report. Transfer program Since the completion of our Digital Archive in the last financial year, our transfer program has gained momentum with significant transfers from Land Use Victoria, Monash Health, the Legislative Assembly and Council, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Bendigo Health Care Group, Office of the Auditor-General, Kilmore District Health, National Gallery of Victoria, Smythesdale Cemetery Trust, Borough of Wonthaggi, City of Moreland, Department of Health, Supreme Court of Victoria, and the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel in 2022–23. Highlights from these transfer projects will be detailed in this report. In particular, the wealth of health records from across the State now in our collection is of great benefit for researchers of health trends, women’s health and disease. We have already digitised some records of most interest including the 1918–19 diaries of Nurse Susie Cone who worked in the Spanish Flu quarantine station for returning WWI soldiers, providing a fascinating insight into that pandemic. Strategic planning With the completion of our Corporate Plan last financial year, we are now well into a new strategy that provides the basis for our reporting this financial year. Our 2022–26 strategy reaffirms our vision: public records, publicly available. Achievements and acknowledgements This past year has been one of significant achievement and milestones for staff of PROV and I thank them for all their work to provide leadership and advice to government about recordkeeping and in ensuring Victoria’s memory endures and is accessible. I would also like to thank the volunteers who have returned to the Victorian Archives Centre after a few years of remote contribution. It is wonderful to see so many people back at PROV. Lastly, thank you again to Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC) members for your continued assistance and advice throughout the year.
Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records
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Message from the Public Records Advisory Council President I was pleased to continue to serve as President of the Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC) in 2022–23 for another year, alongside council members Rachel Cowling, David Brous, Belinda Ensor, Deidre Missingham, Prof. Keir Reeves, Bonnie Chew, Jodie Quilliam, Steve Stefanopolous OAM and Diane Gardiner AM. I would like to thank all PRAC members as well as the Keeper of Public Records, Justine Heazlewood, and PRAC secretary Rebecca Young, for another successful year – the 50th year in the history of PROV, the Public Records Act and PRAC. PRAC was established to provide advice to PROV and the Minister on administration of the Act and promote cooperation with other government agencies. The inaugural meeting took place on the 12th of December 1973 and we are privileged to carry on the work of those very first members. In the 2022–23 financial year I was pleased to again present awards to Victorian Community History Award winners including the 2022 Premier’s History Award winner Janet McCalman for her incredible work, the acclaimed Vandemonians. I was also honoured to MC the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards in May 2023. The Hamer Awards are an initiative of PRAC, established in 1998 to recognise excellence and innovation in records management within the public sector. It was wonderful to see the work being done across government and celebrate two bodies in particular: The University of Melbourne for their digital preservation and records management projects, and the Department of Justice and Community Safety for the recordkeeping processes established as part of their industry engagement and enforcement operation in response to COVID-19. Also throughout the year, PRAC supported PROV on the review of the Public Records Act 1973 and relaunched our regional outreach program with a visit to Ballarat in June. I’d like to thank retiring member Belinda Ensor for her seven years of service. She was instrumental in PROV and the Royal Historical Society of Victoria’s continued efforts to advance and refresh the Victorian Community History Awards program with her advice and judging of the Digital Storytelling Award. It was also Jodie Quilliam’s last year with us, whose advice on the Council has been invaluable. Another big thank you to Rachel Cowling who has represented the Department of Premier and Cabinet on the Council. As PROV has now moved across to the Department of Government Services, we look forward to working with the new Department in 2023–24.
Judy Maddigan President, Public Records Advisory Council
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About Public Record Office Victoria
Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is the archive of the State and local government of Victoria. We hold around 100kms of hard copy records and 600,000 digital records dating from 1836 to the present day. Purpose To support the effective management and use of the public records of the State of Victoria, to ensure that the Government is accountable to the community and that its historical memory is preserved, secure and accessible.
Daily Operations PROV was established under section 3 of the Public Records Act 1973 (the Act) ‘for the better preservation, management and utilisation of the public records of the State.’ The Act provides the legal framework within which PROV operates, and specifies the core functions of PROV and the Keeper of Public Records with respect to government records. These functions, pursuant to sections 7, 11 and 12 of the Act, include: • establish standards for the efficient management of public records, including creation, maintenance, security, selection of those worthy of preservation, transfer for archiving, and segregation or disposal of those not worthy of preservation • assist public officers to apply these standards to records under their control • take public records into custody, preserve archives and provide security • classify records and publish indexes and guides to facilitate access • provide facilities for viewing, and make records in custody accessible • duplicate or reproduce and authenticate public records.
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Strategic Plan PROV’s Strategic Plan provides the direction for the period 2022–23 to 2025–26. Detailed information about our activities under each of the outcomes of our Strategic Plan can be found in the Performance section of this report.
VISION Public records, publicly available
MISSION We set the rules for government recordkeeping and provide leadership to foster compliance. We ensure the historical memory of government in Victoria endures and is accessible.
OUTCOMES Management Preservation Utilisation An efficient and effective organisation
STRATEGIES Deliver and promote programs designed to increase public office compliance with recordkeeping obligations. Sustain and enhance our digital preservation knowledge, systems and practices to meet the needs of digital government. Enhance the value of the State’s archival data asset by leveraging system capability and improving data quality. Transfer the remaining priority physical records held across government. Review and improve the way we present, promote and provide access to public records. Expand our partnership and engagement approaches to leverage new or untapped audiences. Grow our people’s capability and enhance our culture. Leverage and continually improve our systems. Improve governance and processes.
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Overview Executive
Public interest disclosure
Headed by Justine Heazlewood, Director and Keeper of Public Records, the executive team is located at 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; phone (03) 9348 5600.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 (Vic) encourages and facilitates making disclosures of improper conduct by public bodies or public sector employees and protects persons who make those disclosures.
Act administered: Public Records Act 1973 (Vic) PROV’s operations are governed by the Public Records Act 1973, which defines the role of both the Keeper of Public Records and the organisation. The Act is available for inspection on the PROV website www.prov.vic.gov.au and at our North Melbourne and Ballarat offices. Regulations made and administered Regulations are made under section 23 of the Public Records Act 1973 and are known as the Public Records Regulations 2013. The Regulations prescribe fees for making and supplying copies of public records and set out conditions for the inspection of public records and use of facilities provided by PROV. All Regulations are available for inspection on our website www.prov.vic.gov.au/ about-us.
PROV is committed to the aims and objectives of the Act. PROV does not tolerate improper conduct by its staff or reprisals against those who come forward to disclose such conduct. The procedures for protecting people who make protected disclosures under the Public Interest Disclosure Act are available on our website www.prov.vic.gov.au/ about-us/legislation-and-governance. Public Record Office Victoria standards and authorities PROV issues standards for records management and authorities for retention and disposal under section 12 of the Public Records Act 1973. A full list of current standards and authorities is provided on our website at www.prov.vic.gov.au/government and at our North Melbourne and Ballarat offices.
Portfolio responsibility The Department of Premier and Cabinet had portfolio responsibility for PROV until December 2022. The Department of Government Services has had responsibility for PROV since January 2023. PROV is an administrative office under the Public Administration Act 2004. Freedom of information The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) gives members of the public a right to access documents held by Victorian Government agencies, including PROV. For the 12 months ending 30 June 2023, PROV received one Freedom of Information application. FOI requests for PROV agency documents should be addressed to: Freedom of Information Officer Public Record Office Victoria PO Box 2100 North Melbourne 3051
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As at 30 June 2023, PROV operated two public reading rooms and had 56.5 staff members (FTE) with a headcount of 61. Access Services The goal of Access Services is to ensure that our unique collection is widely known and accessible to the people and Government of Victoria. This is achieved by: • a program of digitisation to improve access to our collection and services through our website • the provision of public reading room services and online access to PROV’s collection and research tools • managing the State archival collection in a purpose built repository and in partnership with Class A Places of Deposit • preserving archives within their region of origin, ensuring equality of access for communities in regional Victoria • providing culturally appropriate services, procedures and tools that enhance access by the Koorie community • transmitting information to clients about the collection • issuing records in a manner that meets government needs and community expectations
Government Services Government Services issues standards to regulate the management, disposal and preservation of public records and provides recordkeeping advice and services to all Victorian public sector agencies. We do this by: • developing mandatory standards and specifications, associated advice and guidance products • appraising government functions and their associated records to specify the records required as state archives and to authorise the disposal of records not required as archives • managing the PROV Archival Control Model so that public records and their context are described within a systematic framework to ensure their original purpose and evidence of government administration is preserved • describing permanent value records and transferring them to PROV in collaboration with agencies • managing and promoting the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) to support digital recordkeeping by agencies • developing and providing advice, guidelines, case studies, online learning and tools to support good recordkeeping by agencies
• a program of exhibitions, publications, educational resources and outreach activities.
• engaging in committees and partnering with organisations on projects and initiatives designed to improve recordkeeping
Corporate Services
• delivering a program of recordkeeping awareness and recognition events
Corporate Services supports staff across PROV through the provision of the following services: • budgeting, financial management and reporting • risk management • environmental planning and reporting • strategic planning and reporting • communications and online engagement • information communication technology • information management • human resource management • organisational development.
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• investigating and reporting on recordkeeping in Victoria, including the challenges and issues.
Organisational Structure
Minister for Government Services
Secretary Department of Government Services
Deputy Secretary Department of Government Services
Director and Keeper of Public Records Public Record Office Victoria
Public Records Advisory Council
Government Services
Access Services
Corporate Services
Standards and Policy
Digital Projects
Finance and Risk Management
Government Recordkeeping
Collection Management
Facilities
Community Engagement
Communications, Programs and Online Engagement
Technical Services
People and Culture
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Public Records Advisory Council Establishment and Functions The Public Records Advisory Council was established under section 4 (1) of the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic). The functions of the Council, as specified in section 5 of the Act, require that it: (a) In consultation with the Keeper of Public Records, shall promote cooperation between Public Record Office Victoria and public offices. (b) May report and make recommendations to the Minister on any matter relating to the administration of the Act. PROV provides support to the Council by preparing Council agenda papers, coordinating the scheduling of Council meetings, assisting with the appointment of new Council members, and providing assistance and administrative support for Council subcommittees.
Some of our PRAC members with PROV executives in Ballarat. L-R Justine Heazlewood, Prof. Keir Reeves, David Taylor, Diane Gardiner AM, Judy Maddigan, Rebecca Young and Mark Gazic.
Council membership
• 20 July 2022, Victorian Archives Centre and video conference
Section 4 (1A) of the Act requires that the Council consist of not more than ten members with knowledge and experience in such areas as public administration, local government, records management, business administration, historical research, Indigenous heritage and genealogical research. The 2022–23 Council was comprised of:
Summary of Activities The Council met on seven occasions in 2022–23:
• 7 September 2022, Victorian Archives Centre and video conference • 26 October 2022, Victorian Archives Centre and video conference
• Judy Maddigan, President
• 7 December 2022, Melbourne Immigration Museum
• Rachel Cowling, Department of Premier and Cabinet
• 22 February 2023, Victorian Archives Centre and video conference
• David Brous, Public administration
• 19 April 2023, Victorian Archives Centre and video conference
• Belinda Ensor, Historical research (public history) retiring member • Deidre Missingham, Finance and business administration • Prof. Keir Reeves, Historical research (academic history) • Bonnie Chew, Indigenous heritage • Jodie Quilliam, Information management retiring member • Steve Stefanopoulos OAM, Local Government • Diane Gardiner AM, Family history and genealogy • Rebecca Young, Secretary
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• 21 June 2023, Eureka Centre, Ballarat Council meetings The Council would like to thank the Director and Keeper of Public Records, Justine Heazlewood, and Council Secretary, Rebecca Young for their continued support throughout the year.
Values The Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic) requires that public sector employees demonstrate public service values as outlined in the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees. Public Record Office Victoria actively implements, promotes and supports these values. PROV, as a public sector body, has developed the following set of values which are based on and consistent with the Code of Conduct: Responsiveness
Leadership
• We will demonstrate and deliver best-practice recordkeeping across Government and our community.
• We will proactively promote and share our unique capability widely.
• We will maintain the highest levels of quality and accuracy in our advice and service to our colleagues and clients. • We will celebrate innovation, ideas and challenge, where it is positive and constructive. Integrity • We will show courage in giving feedback, making requests and offering ideas. • We will share knowledge, information and results willingly and openly.
• We will seek opportunities to enhance and improve our programs, processes and products. • We will show leadership through demonstrating our values and unique behaviours at all times. Human Rights • We will consider Human Rights in all our plans, decisions, advice and interactions and abide by all relevant legislation. • We will observe zero tolerance for harassment, bullying or discrimination.
• We will consider the security of our records and historical memory in our decisions.
• We will facilitate the preservation and expression of the diversity of Victoria’s cultural heritage through our work.
Impartiality
Collaboration
• We will invite, encourage and value the views, contribution and capabilities of all colleagues.
• We will seek to engage and consult with internal and external stakeholders as ‘partners’ with shared objectives.
• We will provide objective and impartial advice to all stakeholders. • We will account for all activities and results with honesty and transparency. Accountability
• We will seek opportunities to support and assist each other. • We will consult and engage through direct communication where possible.
• We will accept both personal and shared responsibility for all actions and ‘follow through’ to ensure agreed outcomes. • We will consider the public good and the public purse in all activities and decisions. Respect • We will show professional and personal respect, courtesy and positivity to all colleagues and clients. • We will be thoughtful and generous with praise and acknowledge a job well done. • We will treat all colleagues, clients, stakeholders and actions fairly, objectively and without bias.
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Highlights Celebrating 50 years The 17th of April 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Public Records Act 1973. The Act: • established PROV, the Keeper of Public Records, and PRAC • defined a public record, and the government entities to which the Act applied, including a definition of what constituted a public office • granted the Keeper powers to establish recordkeeping standards and provide advice to agencies • assigned heads of agencies the responsibility for records management in accordance with these standards as well as ensuring full and accurate records are made and kept • and established provisions for the Minister to appoint Places of Deposit (PODs) which has allowed records of local significance to be housed in regional centres. Fifty years later Public Record Office Victoria holds more than 100km of public records at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne under the leadership of the Keeper of Public Records and advice of PRAC; has a regional centre in Ballarat, and more than 100 appointed PODs across the State including at Bendigo and Geelong. The Public Records Act 1973 has ensured that records of Victoria’s past are kept, managed and preserved for generations to come. Public Record Office Victoria owes its existence to the Act and to those hard-working librarians, historians, archivists and politicians who fought for the Act’s creation and a place to store the public records of Victoria now and into the future. A review of the Public Records Act is currently underway.
Registrar-General’s Office transfer project Each year at PROV we transfer records of significant value and historical interest into our custody, to preserve them and make them available to the Victorian community. This past year has been no different, with the completion of the transfer of a sizeable collection of records from the RegistrarGeneral’s Office library, transferred by Land Use Victoria (LUV).
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The Registrar-General’s Office (RGO) was responsible for registering land under the 1862 Transfer of Land Act (known as the Torrens system of land ownership), and bringing land alienated from the Crown under the General Law system into the Torrens system. The collection contains some of Victoria’s earliest written land records, primarily documenting the old General Law system. PROV has a large number of land records in custody already, and these new records have further enriched the archival collection that is available for researchers. Land records are some of the most commonly viewed record types in the Reading Room at North Melbourne, and with this transfer the history of a plot of land can be more easily traced all the way back to the original Crown Grant. These records had been on our transfer radar for a number of years, so once LUV was ready to prepare the records for transfer this project became a high priority. It was not a small job, with some series transferred numbering upwards of 50,000 physical items. A great deal of work was put in by both LUV and PROV to ensure that the records are welldescribed to make access as easy as possible for researchers - despite the somewhat cumbersome nineteenth-century recordkeeping systems. A major highlight of this collection is the Memorial Books for General Law deeds. These are regularly use by researchers to track the history of land ownership according to the General Law system through registered copies of the original deeds. Other significant records included in this transfer include Registers of Crown Grants, General Law Plans of Subdivision, and Application Examiner’s Notes for General Law land conversions.
New additions to our Kelly collection In addition to our transfers from agencies throughout the year, we were also pleased to receive some public records from private hands. Most significantly, Ned Kelly documents relating to Ned’s imprisonment following his 1871 conviction for receiving a stolen horse have been added to our collection, digitised and published to our website. The records include:
Prisoner record sheet for Edward Kelly, registered number 10926, 1873, VPRS 19472/C1.
• a memo by Pentridge Gaol Superintendent Gardiner to the Acting Superintendent of the Hulk ‘Sacramento’ noting that Kelly should be ‘kept well under observation’ as directed by the Inspector General for Penal Establishments • three medical certificates sent to the Inspector General from either the ‘Sacramento’ or the Penal Establishment in Williamstown, and • a prisoner record sheet for Kelly which might have followed him as he passed between various penal establishments. These records can now be viewed on our website via the Ned Kelly Historical Collection topic page.
Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards This year saw the return of the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards after a five year hiatus. Significant government projects that capture and preserve public records were awarded at a ceremony at the Victorian Archives Centre on the 25th of May 2023.
The Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards is an initiative of PRAC recognising recent Victorian and local government projects that reflect excellence, innovation and dedication to best practice recordkeeping and preservation of records of permanent value. The Awards are named after Sir Rupert Hamer, Premier when the Public Records Act was passed and PROV established in 1973. Sir Hamer was a continued supporter of the Archives until his passing. PRAC President Judy Maddigan hosted the proceedings which included a keynote address by Yoorrook Justice Commissioner Maggie Walter and speech by Anthony Cianflone MP representing Minister Danny Pearson who was unable to attend. Anthony Cianflone MP assisted Judy in presenting the awards. The University of Melbourne won two awards for their digital preservation and records management projects which saw the organisation upgrade recordkeeping and records management systems,
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and the Department of Justice and Community Safety won an award for recordkeeping processes established as part of their industry engagement and enforcement operation in response to COVID-19. Commendations included Cardinia Shire Council for their Microsoft 365 records management migration project, South West TAFE for their new beginning project implementing and embedding a new records management strategy, and the Department of Education and Training for their 150 years of public education project which saw the collection, digitisation and promotion of records of Victoria’s education history. The most valuable transfer award was presented to Monash Health for transfer of Queen Victoria Hospital records to PROV ensuring the ongoing preservation of records of women’s 19th and 20th century history.
The winners of the 2023 Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards with Anthony Cianflone MP and Victorian Information Commissioner Sven Bluemmel.
More information about all of these projects can be found on our website.
Ballarat offsite storage project In 2022–23 PROV relocated just under 10 linear kilometres (around 53,000 boxes) of its collection from the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne to the State Library of Victoria’s Ballarat Off Site Storage (BOSS) facility. The space made available by this relocation is critical to enable us to accept new transfers of permanent physical records from agencies into the future. The 10 linear kilometres represents around 10 per cent of the PROV collection of hard copy records. Between November 2022 and May 2023, the box relocation project required around 60 business days of packing, checking, transporting and shelving. The process of selecting records for relocation provided the opportunity to identify and resolve issues relating to records preservation, data and shelf locations. The records selected for storage at BOSS have been the most infrequently used records in the collection, according to data maintained by PROV since 2002. They continue to be accessible to the public, who can place orders for the records to be made available at the Victorian Archives Centre.
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Relocating 53,000 boxes one truckload at a time.
Report on Performance Management Appraisal program PROV is responsible for the establishment of standards for the management of public records under Section 12 of the Public Records Act 1973. This includes the issuing of retention and disposal authorities (RDAs) to authorise the disposal of public records. Disposal is a key component of good information practice and mitigates the risk of security breaches. Regular and managed disposal reduces information management overhead, storage costs and aids the discovery of reliable, relevant, and accurate information. During 2022–23 PROV issued a new RDA, PROS 22/06, for records created within primary and secondary schools, developed in collaboration with the Department of Education and Training. The RDA development project was one of several projects to celebrate the 150th anniversary of free, secular, and compulsory education in Victoria. The new RDA applies to all of Victoria’s 1500+ government schools. It aims to preserve a concise record of each school as State Archives, to meet both the business needs of schools and the personal needs of students and to reach a sustainable preservation outcome for the State and community. It is a significant update on its predecessor PROS 01/01 incorporating not only changes in legislation, regulations and internal business practices, but also changed community expectations about the long-term availability of certain records about individuals. The findings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse were central to the appraisal process and the extension of minimum retention periods. Nongovernment schools must also meet the PROV specified minimum retention periods for records relevant to child safety and wellbeing, excluding the transfer obligation, to comply with the Child Safe Standards Ministerial Order No. 1359. The new RDA was developed over several years and was informed by extensive consultation with government schools. Other stakeholders including regulators, education experts, professional historians and the Australian Society of Archivists’ School Archivists Special Interest Group were also consulted. The public was also provided an opportunity to comment prior to submission to our
Advisory Council for endorsement and issue by the Keeper. In light of the well-publicised information security breaches in Australia during 2022, PROV released PROS 21/05 for identity documentation provided by persons to public offices which do not use the Service Victoria infrastructure and processes to verify identity of individuals. Public offices are encouraged to destroy documents supplied to verify personal identity as soon as the records are no longer required for identity verification to reduce the risk of personal data privacy breaches. Concurrently with the RDA, PROV released advice about the intersection of recordkeeping obligations and privacy on our website. Finally, a new RDA was released for the Office of the Governor, PROS 22/08, to cover the constitutional and ceremonial responsibilities of the Governor and the custodianship of Government House. Although many records of the Governor are held in PROV custody, the Office of the Governor had not been covered previously by a continuing disposal authority. PROV is pleased to have the new RDA in place to specify records for permanent preservation as State Archives and provide a framework for the records transfer program. Standards, specifications and policies Under the Public Records Act 1973, the Keeper of Public Records is responsible for issuing mandatory standards for Victorian public offices. Specifications detailing technical requirements and policies clarifying PROV’s position on complex issues are also issued. In 2022–23, PROV reviewed and revised the Strategic Management Standard with the assistance of the Government Services Stakeholder Advisory Group. This Standard sets out the principles and requirements that Victorian public offices must comply with in relation to the establishment, governance and strategic management of the records management program. This was accompanied by a revised Implementation Guideline. The Keeper of Public Records also issued the Managing Records in Business Systems Policy which provides PROV’s position on managing records in business systems, regardless of whether they are designed to be records management systems. A review was undertaken of the expired PROV
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recordkeeping policies and the required set was identified for development over the next three years. Recordkeeping analysis and reporting As part of our work to improve the state of recordkeeping across the Victorian Government, PROV released two reports in 2022–23. The Recordkeeping issues across government report was released in May 2023 and the Information Management Maturity Assessment Program (IMMAP) report was published in June 2023. These reports look at the state of recordkeeping and information management maturity across government, with recommendations on how agencies can improve practices ensuring records of Victoria’s past are captured and preserved. In the Recordkeeping issues across government report, PROV analysed 11 years of investigative and performance reports by Victorian integrity and oversight agencies and found that within the time period assessed, recordkeeping was a significant concern of Victoria’s integrity system. More than half of all the 501 reports assessed identified recordkeeping issues and/or made recommendations in relation to recordkeeping. The most common themes around recordkeeping involved the creation and capture of records, and the general quality of information and data being poor and unreliable. Our recommendations included public offices ensure that recordkeeping is appropriately resourced and prioritised and that PROV tools and guidance be used in meeting obligations. IMMAP takes place every two years, requiring departments and key agencies to undertake a survey assessment of their information management practices. Eleven organisations participated in the latest round of the program, each addressing 17 questions regarding information and data management maturity. High scores were achieved by organisations who were sufficiently resourced, had visible information and data management specialists engaged across the organisation, had active implementation programs, and who were aware of their gaps and strengths through strong compliance monitoring programs. Lower scores were held by organisations with little or no government committees or structures, ad hoc reactive implementations with insufficient resources to undertake required work, lacking visibility, collaboration, and active engagement, and no compliance or monitoring programs.
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IMMAP responses also reflected how COVID-19, the introduction of Microsoft 365, and machinery of government changes have impacted the way we work. Both reports can be found on the PROV website. Digital Victoria collaboration In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Victorian public offices were required to create, receive, and manage a range of new record types. To specify minimum retention periods and authorise disposal of COVID-19 related records we updated the relevant retention and disposal authorities (RDAs) and promoted their revised provisions through our website. We then collaborated with the Digital Victoria Cyber Security Branch on a joint activity to help agencies manage, store, and dispose of COVID related data to comply with requirements, support good practice and reduce security risk. In scope were records of all formats, systems, and storage environments. We met with the priority agencies to track records and data sets that were created to manage the COVID response, and to ensure the records are managed, stored, and disposed of correctly. Records Management Network The Records Management Network (RMN) provides a forum for knowledge exchange and discussion of issues affecting records management within the VPS. We held one RMN event in 2023 online via Microsoft Teams. Our first RMN of the year was scheduled as an inperson event in November 2022. Unfortunately, on the morning of the event, we received information about multiple confirmed positive cases of COVID-19. For the safety of all attendees, speakers, and our staff we made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel the event. Communications were sent out as quickly as possible to lessen the impact of this decision. A rescheduled event took place in March 2023. This was conducted online with a timely presentation on cyber security from the Department of Justice and Community Safety. It also featured an insight into Victoria Police’s approach to information management maturity. The focus then shifted to developing a records culture presented by Development Victoria, detailing a multi-pronged approach helping non-records people to fulfil
records requirements. Our final speaker from Monash University had a fresh take on upskilling ‘hardcore’ IT in records management with the use of podcasts. 173 people tuned in for the event with an additional 1,014 watching it online afterwards. Digital e-learning In May 2023, PROV launched a companion course to the existing online Recordkeeping Essentials training for Victorian Public Sector and local government agencies. The new Digital Recordkeeping e-learning module looks at responsibilities in relation to keeping digital records, why we need to keep these records, and how to do so lawfully and in accordance with PROV standards. The course is broken up into five parts: 1. Obligations and requirements – where users can learn what a digital record is, the legislation and standards that we must abide by in relation to these records, data security, and strategies and tools to assist with recordkeeping. 2. Managing digital information – a deep dive into specific digital record examples such as emails, chats, messaging, and social media as well as personal devices and other considerations like Microsoft 365. 3. Trusting the record – where users learn how to ensure the authenticity and accuracy of records including minimum specifications of metadata required. 4. Storing information securely - a look at the different types of storage available, from onpremise to cloud hosting. 5. Disposal and retention – where users learn about disposal in a digital environment and the process to transfer permanent records to PROV. Since its launch in May, modules in the Digital Recordkeeping course have been completed by 83 participants, while the Recordkeeping Essentials module has been completed by 674 people across the year with an estimated 4,641 people undertaking the training in agencies supplied with the modules by PROV.
A Victorian Government employee does the digital records e-learning module.
Preservation Physical records transfers We continued to take on significant physical records transfers this year after recommencing last year with the availability of our new systems, transferring a total of 170,527 physical records in 2022–23. This year saw the continuation of significant transfers of historic hospital records. Transfers of records of the former Prince Henry’s Hospital from Monash Health, extensive records from the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) in-house archives including records of RMH and its predecessor hospitals dating from 1844, and records from Bendigo Health Care Group have been added to our valuable collection of records documenting the history of Victoria’s hospital system. Highlights of these collections include ward books, patient records, reports, manuals of medical care, and nurse diaries. In recognition of the importance of these types of records, last year’s transfer of records of Queen Victoria Hospital records from Monash Health was awarded Most Valuable Transfer at the Hamer Awards in May 2023. The transfer of records of the Geological Survey of Victoria (GSV) progressed significantly, with more than 23,000 records described and re-housed for ongoing storage. Records include historical maps and plans dating from 1851 onwards, as well as 20th century records of mining and boring activities containing valuable geological data. The transfer of records from the GSV Drill Core Library in Werribee commenced May 2022, with the project expected to be completed in September 2023. This transfer
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project, undertaken by PROV, has been commissioned by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Change (previously the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions). This year also saw the completion of several transfers of historic land records from Land Use Victoria, highlighted earlier on in this report. These included records from the Registrar-General’s Office, which primarily document General Law land alienated from the Crown prior to 1862, as well as six new consignments of Plans of Subdivision. These are valuable additions to PROV that complement the land records already in custody. The records date from 1838 to 1998. Other notable transfers this year included the transfer of bill and legislative drafting files dating 1886 to 2018 from the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and the last consignment of probate files in physical form from the Probate Office dating from 2019–20 with later dated probate files expected to be transferred to PROV in digital format. Digital records transfers Digital Cabinet Office and Departmental Cabinet working records for the 2021–22 period were transferred shortly after the 2022 Victorian state election, in accordance with the Cabinet caretaker conventions. Records for the previous years had already been transferred as part of the annual Cabinet record transfer program. Permanent records of the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry were also transferred in 2023. In a first for PROV, two websites - the Victorian Treaty Advancement Commission Deadly and Proud and Deadly Questions campaign pages - have been successfully converted to a long-term preservation format in preparation for permanent storage in the PROV digital archive.
Utilisation Digitisation program Throughout 2022–23 we collaborated with both the Departments of Education (DET) and Health (DH) to publish copies of records that they have digitised to our website. We also worked with our volunteers to publish copies of other historically interesting records in our collection, and with the Robert O’Hara Burke Memorial Museum in Beechworth to list and digitise the public records they hold.
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Betty Constance Lawson’s diary alongside Nurse Cone’s, VPRS 19296 and 19295 C1.
As part of the celebration of 150 years of public education in Victoria, DET copied selected records of public schools across Victoria and used those to create a richer story of school life as an ongoing resource for historians and those interested in delving into the history of their school. We have published the digitised images they created as part of this project, making them accessible through our online collection of photographic images. In another addition to our online photographic collection, we published photographic records documenting the Port of Melbourne and the lower reaches of the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers that were originally captured by the Melbourne Harbour
Trust and have been digitised over the last few years by our volunteers. Records now available on our website include black and white negatives maintained by the Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioners and photographs from the albums of Chief Engineer J.B. Hosking. We have also been working with DH to publish digital copies of open records that were originally captured to support the work of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Publishing these records, where appropriate, makes them easier to access and protects fragile originals. We are looking to continue these collaborations for other ongoing and future events and enquiries. Another highlight for the digitisation program in 2022–23 was a continued collaboration with the Robert O’Hara Burke Memorial Museum. Over the last few years PROV has worked with the Museum in Beechworth to list and digitise the public records they hold as a Place of Deposit. That project is now nearly complete with digital copies of more than 250 records in 52 series published to our website, covering gold mining in the area, rate records, court records and council records. In addition, we digitised 6,020 records as part of our copy request program. Website This year the website enjoyed a facelift with a new homepage and master menu design released in response to several ongoing navigation issues experienced by users. A prominent search field is now front and centre of the homepage with suggestive text identifying the difference between catalogue data and article content. In addition, each page now includes a miniature magnifying glass icon positioned at the top right to enable an advanced search option from anywhere on the website. Researchers can navigate directly to the ten most popular subject search pages from the home page, and the master menu has been streamlined to enable faster navigation to landing pages. Additional improvements were also made to the ordering functionality to reduce the number of steps, and confusion, being experienced by researchers. Our website attracted 988,877 visitors in 2022–23. Also in 2022–23 we launched our public PROV API query builder. An Application Program Interface (API) is the way in which a website or application
University of Melbourne architecture students watch on as PROV’s Michael Anson shares records from our collection.
makes its data available to the rest of the world. The new PROV API query builder, launched on our website in June 2023, allows users to access raw search data by simply filling in our API web form with a keyword and date range. Map Warper The PROV Map Warper is an online tool for digitally aligning (‘rectifying’) historical maps and plans from PROV’s collections to match today’s precise maps. In 2022–23, 47 maps were uploaded to Map Warper, making a total of 12,137 maps now available through the tool for users to rectify. More than 9,000 have now been rectified by 1,450 public users since the service launched in 2019, with more than 1,600 completed in the 2022–23 financial year. University outreach Now in its fifth year, the University Outreach Program continues to offer course-specific presentations to tertiary students across Victoria, helping them with the fundamentals of archival research and navigating PROV records. After three years of delivering presentations solely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we now offer universities a choice of online or in-person workshops. Lecturers have been especially keen to book archive tours again, and it’s been a pleasure to welcome student groups back to the Victorian Archives Centre. In 2023 we focused on new subject areas, in particular reaching out to architecture schools, resulting in a number of lecturers now incorporating PROV’s land and property records into their coursework.
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Volunteer program PROV thanks all volunteers who have been part of our volunteer program this year. In July 2022, volunteers returned to the Victorian Archives Centre, resuming work on projects that make our records more accessible for researchers. Projects range from data capture, re-packing and digitising items in our collection. Volunteers work half or whole-day sessions, either weekly or fortnightly. There are currently 85 volunteers rostered to the program, ranging in age from 19 to 85 years. In 2022–23 our main volunteer project involved listing items contained in VPRS 794 Education Department Inwards Registered Correspondence. Volunteers contributed 6,000 hours to list 94,000 letters or one-third of this series. Work will continue on this project for the next 9 to 12 months. When this data is published to our online catalogue, researchers will be able to more easily access records relating to particular schools, teachers, places, school subjects, and other educationrelated topics. PROV looks forward to welcoming more volunteers into our program in 2023–24.
85 volunteers
6,000 hours 24
94,000 letters
Records from the Bendigo Health transfer, VPRS 18808 Box 1, Bendigo Benevolent Home Annual Reports.
Places of deposit program PROV works with a range of organisations across the State to support community access to collections. Our Places of Deposit (POD) program encompasses regional archives which manage and provide access to public records held in local communities. Class A PODs may hold permanent and temporary public records while Class B PODs can only hold temporary records. As part of this program, we continued our close relationship with the Bendigo Regional Archives Centre (BRAC), a Class A POD, run in partnership with the City of Greater Bendigo and the Goldfields Library Corporation. Throughout 2022–23, BRAC hosted 15 events and 10 school tours, attended by 562 people, ranging from land research presentations to finding your ancestors in the archives. They also curated three exhibition displays including a 160-year history of the Bendigo Railways, 50-year anniversary of PROV and the Throwing Stones exhibition, in addition to interviews with the Look history in the eye podcast, ABC radio, and local newspapers about the collection and history of the region. Speaking to first year La Trobe University history students over Zoom about what BRAC is and does, and how to use public records was also a key event for the Centre. Most significantly, this year saw the transfer of Bendigo Health records to their collection. The transfer includes annual reports, meeting minutes, correspondence, and patient records from as early as 1854 through to 2017. Permanent public records are also held in other Class A PODs at Beechworth’s Robert O’Hara Burke Museum, the Geelong Heritage Centre and
University of Melbourne Archives. All class A PODs are working on a long-term plan to integrate their respective record listings into PROV’s catalogue to aid researchers accessing their collection materials. In June 2023, the Yarrawonga Mulwala and Eltham District Historical Societies were appointed Class B PODs by the Minister for Government Services, the Honourable Danny Pearson MP. This brings the total number of Class B PODs to 111 giving excellent access to local records across the State. Koorie Records Unit The Koorie Records Unit (KRU) promotes awareness of Victorian Government records about Aboriginal Victorians within the PROV collection and aims to improve accessibility of these records to First Peoples in appropriate and culturally respectful ways. The KRU provides dedicated services and support for First Peoples, including Stolen Generations survivors and their families, wishing to access historic Victorian Government records relating to themselves and their families. This includes a Koorie Reference Service in collaboration with the National Archives of Australia’s Victorian office, as Victorian Aboriginal Affairs records are held in both collections. Throughout the year we provided advice and assistance to support a broad range of requests from individuals, organisations and service providers relating to family and community history research, with eligible clients receiving free copies of relevant records. We have continued working with our volunteer program to complete a transcription project to increase accessibility of a volume of correspondence relating to Coranderrk (1898– 1924). This year the KRU has started to welcome back groups of Aboriginal family history researchers and Stolen Generations agency workers into the Victorian Archives Centre to learn about our collection, view records, join in tours of the repository, and participate in training and family history workshops. A two-day workshop was held in collaboration with the National Archives of Australia for the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and Bringing Them Home workers across Victoria, on accessing
Victorian Government records for family history work. The KRU also provided support, advice and guidance into external programs and initiatives during the year: the Victorian Government response to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, Gunakurnai Land and Waters Corporation Cultural Hub, the Victorian Stolen Generations Reparations Package, and the Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities (CAARA) First Nations Special Interest Group. PROV is committed to increasing the rights of people in relation to public records and has established a Rights in Records Working Group to review current actions, identify future possibilities and commence initial consultation, with a focus on increasing rights in records for First Peoples and people who have experienced out-of-home care. Provenance Provenance is PROV’s free online journal published annually at prov.vic.gov.au. In December 2022 we published our 20th issue of the journal, featuring one refereed and three forum articles. In his peer reviewed article, The two fishery inspectors: managing the Victorian fishery, 1885–1894, David Harris highlights a relatively understudied area in the history of the management of Victoria’s environmental resources: government oversight of the colony’s fisheries in the late nineteenth century. Harris examines the priorities and focus of two successive fishery administrators through close examination of a key extant source of government activity relating to Victoria’s fisheries from this period: Outward Letter Book, Inspector of Fisheries and Game, 1885–1894. Harris’s article helps trace debates and concerns about the sustainable management and legislative protection of Victoria’s fisheries to the earliest decades of the colonisation of Victoria. Sebastian Gurciullo’s article, Reclaiming the slums: the Housing Commission of Victoria’s plans for inner Melbourne, draws on his research of the PROV collection that focuses on planned urban infrastructure projects that did not eventuate, or that were significantly adapted in response to community lobbying. Gurciullo’s article contrasts two aspects of the Housing Commission of Victoria’s (HCV) far-reaching plans for the revitalisation and transformation of the inner suburbs of Melbourne
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during the 1960s and 1970s: the construction of high-rise towers to house lower-income residents, and the proposed demolition and redevelopment of large parts of the inner city considered as slums. As Gurciullo demonstrates through case studies of Debney Meadows Estate in Flemington and the proposed Carlton Redevelopment Zone, records of the HCV reveal the thinking behind its responses to concerns about substandard housing, homelessness, and the social and economic conditions of lower-income families. However, while the construction of high-rise towers met the housing needs of thousands of people, large-scale suburban reconstruction was not in tune with the feelings of an already changing demographic, which had begun the process of small-scale regeneration of these inner-city neighbourhoods alongside the HCV’s public housing initiatives. Lucinda Horrocks’ article, Discovering an archive, provides a fascinating window into what happened after a significant collection of records documenting the history of the Mission to Seafarers was discovered underneath a stage in its heritage-listed building in Flinders Street, Melbourne, in 2007. Horrocks became aware of the archive in 2018 when the Mission to Seafarers commissioned her film company, Wind & Sky Productions, to produce a short documentary film about the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild (LHLG), a group of women who fundraised and organised social events and activities in support of sailors’ and seafarers’ welfare. Within the boxes was a collection of photographs and documents related to the activities of the LHLG from its foundation in 1906 through to the 1960s when it ceased to operate. Through this experience, Horrocks witnessed the ongoing work of volunteers and staff in the mission community to document, digitise and catalogue the archive, and in so doing learnt more about the significance of the work of this group of remarkable women. Meaghan McKee revisits the case of Sarah Hanks, who died in the small goldmining settlement of Walhalla during a smallpox outbreak in Victoria in 1868–1869. Her article, The story of Mrs H, case number 35: a victim of smallpox or fear?, brings together research covering a wide range of sources to investigate Sarah’s experience in the context of recent renewed local interest in her story, including questions about the possible location of her gravesite.
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This issue would not have been possible without the work of editor Tsari Anderson, assistant editor Sebastian Gurciullo, and copyeditor Rani Kerin, alongside the 2022 editorial board: • Dr David ‘Fred’ Cahir, Associate Professor of Aboriginal History, Federation University Australia • Dr Adrian Jones OAM, Associate Professor of History, La Trobe University • Dr Mike Jones, Postdoctoral Fellow, Indigenous and Colonial Histories, University of Tasmania • Dr Seamus O’Hanlon, Associate Professor of History, Monash University • Katherine Sheedy, Professional Historians Association (Vic) Inc. • Dr Judith Smart, Adjunct Professor, RMIT University; Principal Fellow, University of Melbourne • Dr Rachel Standfield, Lecturer, Indigenous Studies, University of Melbourne Events and partnerships It’s been a big year of public programming with more than 800 people attending our physical and online events in 2022–23. Our behind-the-scenes tours for Open House Melbourne 2022 booked out fast, and were voted by Open House Melbourne visitors, through their post-event visitor survey, as one of the top 10 most loved experiences of the festival. We also had successful partnerships with Melbourne Writers Festival (with a talk by Jonathan Butler about his book The Boy in the Dress) and Melbourne Design Week (with the talk Heritage Beyond the Façade by Peter Andrew Barrett). Other highlights were Barbara Minchinton’s talk about Madame Brussels for International Women’s Day 2023 and Anna Kyi’s Activism on the Goldfields: Chinese Petitions and Perspectives which included a display of original petitions dating back to the 1850s, sourced from PROV’s collection. With 2023 marking 50 years of the Public Records Act 1973, PROV celebrated with a special International Archives Day event, Finding Fanny Finch. Blending history, theatre and live music, this sold-out performance explored the life and legacy of the first known woman to cast a vote in an Australian election.
Finding Fanny Finch performance at the Victorian Archives Centre.
Events in Ballarat in 2022–23 focused on finding the history of your home with each session well attended by local researchers keen to delve deeper into land records held by PROV at the Ballarat Archives Centre. The highlight of our online events program this year was a 2022 NAIDOC Week talk with filmmakers Tiriki Onus and Alec Morgan. Their documentary, Ablaze, received the Victorian Premier’s History Award in 2021. In the talk, Tiriki and Alec discussed what was involved in making the documentary, which tells the story of Indigenous cultural leader and Aboriginal filmmaker William (Bill) Onus. More than 170 viewers tuned in to watch the talk live, and a further 145 watching afterwards through our YouTube channel. We were also pleased to host Hazel Edwards’ writing class for another year. This partnership with Hazel sees new writers introduced to our collection as they work on their non-fiction books and family histories. In 2022–23, many past and current participants completed and published their works including George Kyriakou who wrote about seven generations of migrant family history and his life in the shoe industry for his book If The Shoe Fits, Lorraine Stokes who wrote Bellarine Women and the 1891 Suffrage Petition, and Jan Harkin who completed Older Drivers: Mobility, Ageing and Fitness to Drive.
Yves Rees and Jonathan Butler for the Melbourne Writer’s Festival.
PROV’s Leigh Kinrade hands over records loaned to Eureka Centre’s Sarah van de Wouw for their Ballarat Heritage Festival event City on Fire Examining Primary Resources.
Exhibitions To celebrate 150 years of public education in Victoria, PROV hosted the exhibition Tech School in the VAC Gallery from August to October 2022. Utilising images from our education and public building photographic collections, the exhibition
shone a spotlight on the institutions that have provided young people with vocational training and hands-on learning since the late 19th century. From boot making to cyborg physiology, we delved into the fascinating history of technical education
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The 2022 Victorian Community History Award winners with Royal Historical Society of Victoria President Richard Broome.
across Melbourne and the regions. The stories included an architect on a mission to banish darkness from the classroom, the domestic studies college seeking to elevate the art of folding laundry and love letters thrown across the divide known as ‘no man’s land’ at Preston Tech. Alongside the photographic prints, original documents and handpainted building plans were also on display. Records from our collection also continued to appear in the Old Treasury Building Lost Jobs, Protest Melbourne, Yarra, First Peoples and the Gold Rush, A Nation Divided and Melbourne Foundations of a City displays visited by 30,620 people. In addition to our own exhibitions and existing partnerships, we also offer a loan service that provides other museums with the opportunity to display public records from our collection as part of their own exhibition programs. As part of this service, Eureka records were loaned to the Eureka Centre for the Ballarat Heritage Festival, and the Ballarat Reform League Charter was displayed at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House in Canberra.
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Grants and awards PROV’s Local History Grants and Victorian Community History Awards programs were funded by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund in 2022–23. The Local History Grants Program supports community, arts and local history organisations to capture Victoria’s diverse history, making it more accessible for generations to come. In July 2022, 39 projects were selected to share in $350,000 funding, including Nagambie Historical Society which received $11,250 to upgrade the Nagambie Museum. The works included the installation of modern display cases and furnishings to better preserve and display items and help to ensure the future of the museum and its important role in the community. Other successful grant recipients included ILBIJERRI Theatre Company for their Bold, Black and Brilliant project archiving their 30-year history. The Central Highlands Broadcasting Inc received support to interview pioneers of women’s football in Victoria on the establishment and growth of the
Melbourne. Her book recounts the lives of 200 convicts transported to Port Phillip in the 1800s, helping to shine a light on Australia’s complex colonial past. The judges praised the book for telling “poignant and personal stories with wit and irony” and for its demonstration of excellent research and writing to uncover the collective biographies of the prisoners. Other projects honoured at the awards included projects on the histories of Greater Geelong, Red Cliffs, Moreland, Melton, La Trobe Valley, Melbourne’s Little Lonsdale Street, Women’s Walking Club, as well as the stories of Australian women artists and extinct wildlife. Projects reflecting LGBTIQA+ histories of Melbourne, including the Queer-ways self-guided tour of Fitzroy and Collingwood and an article about gender non-conformity in historical records, were also celebrated. See Appendix 9 for the full list of winners. Mainstream media
Other successful projects are helping Victoria’s history reach more people in the community through e-books, videos, translations and oral histories.
Throughout 2022–23, PROV, our records, programs and events appeared in the media approximately 268 times. Coverage ranged from industry e-newsletters to online news and videos, newspapers, magazines, television, radio and podcasting mediums. Highlights included approximately 71 pieces of coverage for Victorian Community History Award winners and Local History Grant recipients, as well as call for entries, across local newspapers, radio programs, history websites and e-newsletters; what’s on features and radio interviews for our events and exhibitions; prison registers, inquests, bushranger and Section 9 crime stories featured in Queerstralia, Herald Sun’s In Black and White, Traces Magazine, Ancestor Magazine, True Crime News, ABC Online, Senior Magazine, Daily Advertiser, Courier and local newspapers; 15 items for new transfers; and more than 50 items related to the Hamers, 50th anniversary, and other recordkeeping news throughout the year.
See Appendix 10 for a full list of recipients.
Social media
The Victorian Community History Awards were presented in partnership with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria in History Month in October.
In 2022–23 we grew our online community from 28,888 in June 2022 to 29,029 in June 2023, across Facebook, multiple Twitter channels, Instagram, Linked In and YouTube. Content across our two main Facebook and Twitter channels resulted in more than 95,000 engagements (comments, shares and likes). Content related to suburbs of Melbourne,
Premier’s History Award winner Janet McCalman.
Victorian Women’s Football League across its 30year history. The Australian Queer Archives received funding for their digitisation project to capture the experiences of Victoria’s queer community in 1970s to 1990s press clippings. A number of historical sites across Victoria also received funding to install interpretative signage, including the Fire Services Museum in East Melbourne, the Chiltern Athenaeum Museum, Golden Square Pool, the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum, Sandy Point Community Group and the Mornington Lifesaving Club.
Janet McCalman was awarded the Victorian Premier’s History Award for her book Vandemonians: The Repressed History of Colonial Victoria at a ceremony at the Arts Centre
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program. The new systems enabled more secure and efficient management of digital and physical records, improved physical records accessibility and tracking, and more efficient warehouse utilisation.
media clips
3,718
podcast downloads
29,029
social media followers trains and trams, and new transfers to our collection proved particularly popular with our Facebook and Twitter audiences. We also continued to expand our Instagram output with archival snapshot, event and behind the scenes focused posts, reels and stories. This activity saw our Instagram audience grow steadily from 2850 to 3288 followers. In addition to our social media activities, we continued to produce episodes of our Look history in the eye podcast. In 2022–23 we released four new episodes including a January interview with Desiree Pettit-Keating of the Bendigo Regional Archives Centre about the Kamarooka panther, and three episodes based on recordings of past in-person events: Queer stories from the archives, Activism on the goldfields - Victorian Chinese petitions, and The boy in the dress. Episodes from the series were downloaded more than 3,700 times between July 2022 and June 2023.
An efficient and effective organisation Technical services Technical Services was instrumental in delivering the successful completion of the Digital Archive
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The technical services team continued to work on improving overall IT compute and network security. A full network penetration testing and application code vulnerability review was conducted by an external security services provider. No critical issues were found, and a small number of remediation recommendations were promptly addressed by the team. We also focused on optimisation of PROV cloud and on-premises infrastructure delivering substantial cost savings, performance improvements and availability. To support new ways of working all conferencing facilities were upgraded to modern equipment and technology to connect virtual and in-person attendees for a unified meeting experience. The technology services team will continue to focus on ensuring reliability and efficiency of the general compute, voice, and business systems as it continues its transformation to a more proactive business-centric team. People and culture There has been a shift towards greater flexibility and choice in 2022–23. In 2022 we proactively engaged with our workforce to understand their needs and expectations of flexibility and hybrid working. PROV’s Employee Engagement Index was high at 80, so we used the opportunity to build on this strength. We focused on acknowledging different working styles and addressing inconsistent access to information and support. Flexible and hybrid work arrangements increased across all levels of the business, with 86 per cent of people now with flexible arrangements. To support our people in this diverse environment, we championed new technology platforms to facilitate networking and team building, as well as encouraged opportunities for people to connect informally through the sharing of personal stories and experiences. In our annual People Matter survey, 97 per cent of responders felt they could make a worthwhile contribution at work and 95 per cent felt the organisation encourages respectful workplace behaviours. The overall satisfaction
score of people across their jobs, work-life balance and career was 75 per cent. An average of 23 hours of learning and development was undertaken per person in 2022–23. This included a broad range of in-house and external professional and technical training. Opportunities to tap into professional development through the VPS Innovation Network were also regularly promoted. This network was leveraged to enhance the professional and technical skills of staff with access to toolkits, case studies, news, blogs, and programs designed to support hybrid work models, as well as health and wellbeing. With work becoming more flexible, people naturally look for the same flexibility and sense of autonomy when it comes to their benefits. We introduced a wellbeing initiative for people to personalise their wellbeing journey and options for people to create safer and healthy workspaces. We continue to progress work on our Gender Equality Action Plan with a focus on understanding our Gender Impact Assessment obligations, upskilling managers and training more Peer Support Officers to eliminate sexual harassment and other harmful behaviours in the workplace. We have also been working with part time staff to ensure their workloads match their FTE and to identify if there are any gendered structural or systematic barriers limiting women to part time work. Facilities In 2022–23 a new Building Management System was rolled out which provides greater scrutiny of building operations and ensures the building environment is maintained. We retained our rating of 72 per cent from last year for all waste being recycled. A small amount of metal was recycled in 2022–23 and more than 17,000 kilograms of paper. A new cleaning contract was created ensuring the building will be maintained at high levels of cleanliness. Work has also commenced on repairing the old guard hut located on the corner of our car park entrance, asbestos has been removed and we are now waiting for other repair work to commence.
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A petition signed by Bendigo Chinese storekeepers and miners protesting against the ten pound tax unique to Chinese immigrants, 1856. PROV, VPRS 3253/P0, Unit 29, Item 19.
A petition signed by Bendigo Chinese storekeepers and miners protesting against the ten pound tax unique to Chinese immigrants, 1856. PROV, VPRS 3253/P0, Unit 29, Item 19
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Output Measures 2022–23 PROV 2022–23 BP3 Measures Performance measure
Quantity, Quality, Timeliness
Unit of measure
2022–23 Full Year Target
2022–23 Full Year Actual
Variance (%)
Physical and digital records utilised by public and government users
Quantity
number
5,400,000
4,560,213
-16%1
Satisfaction with services Quality provided by Public Record Office Victoria to government agencies and to the public
per cent
90%
95%
5%
Provision of services within published timeframes
per cent
95%
96%
1%
Timeliness
PROV 2022–23 Annual Report Measures
1 2 3 4 5
Output
Measure
Retention and disposal authorities issued
Number
Percentage of Recordkeeping Standards, Specifications and Policies reviewed to ensure they remain current
2022–23 Target 2022–23 Actual 5
4
Percentage
90%
100%
Records reappraised in the PROV collection
Linear metres
800
1672
Records deaccessioned from the PROV collection
Linear metres
700
751
Number of visitors to PROV exhibitions and events
Number
22,000
30,7603
Number of Reading Room visitors
Number
7,000
7,192
Collection storage meeting industry standard
Per cent
95%
95%
Number of records made available for public users in Reading Rooms
Number
24,000
35,7814
Number of records made available to government users other than in Reading Rooms
Number
5,500
4,439
Number of public enquiries
Number
4,000
2,2845
Staff hours spent on L&D activities
Hours
1,500
1,451
Online visitors to website
Number
990,000
988,877
A high proportion of this figure (over 90%) is derived from visitation to a third-party website hosting copies of PROV records. Visitation to that site varies considerably and is difficult to forecast. There may be further records identified in the 2019 Collection Review which provide a more fertile ground for large-volume appraisal and sentencing, however, those attempted in the 2022–23 cycle have continued to be complex (and largely permanent). Old Treasury Building saw strong visitation numbers, with PROV physical and online events also attracting strong attendance. Visitor numbers increased at higher rates than expected following COVID related closures. Researchers are also often ordering multiple records per visit. Enquiry numbers are significantly down following continued rollout of new business systems, leading to reduction in user account queries.
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PROV 2022-23 Annual Statistics Output
Measure
2022–23 Actual
Number of context entities (agencies, functions) registered
Number
22
Number of series registered
Number
347
Digital records accessioned
Number
939
Number of physical items accessioned
Number
170,527
Number of consignments accessioned
Number
344
Permanent value records transferred
Self metres
1,900
Number of participants undertaking records management training
Number
5,462
Volunteer hours
Number
8,266
Number of KRU enquiries received
Number
114
Number of digital copies provided to KRU clients
Number
1,510
Number of items digitised on demand
Number
6,020
Reading Room and Record Retrievals Public Record Office Victoria operates two public reading rooms; one at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne and the other at the Ballarat Archives Centre at the Eureka Centre in Ballarat. Records can also be accessed at the Bendigo Regional Archives Centre within Bendigo Library, the Geelong Library Heritage Centre and (by appointment only) at the Robert O’Hara Burke Museum in Beechworth. During 2022–23, 7,192 visitors utilised the reading rooms to view public records. 35,861 records were issued to visitors and an additional 4,439 were issued to Government agencies and for internal PROV use. In 2022–23 reference queries were managed through our online enquiry system which received an average 204 queries per month; providing a consistent and seamless approach to customer service.
Records Issued
Visitors to Reading Rooms
35,861 Public users
4,439
5,870
687
Government users
Number of records issued 2022–23
34
570
Number of visitors 2022–23
65
Victorian Archives Centre Ballarat Archives Centre Bendigo Regional Archives Centre Geelong Heritage Centre
William Barak’s letter to the Victorian Chief Secretary on 21 September 1886 asking for equal rights for Aboriginal people to leave and return from their homes at will. PROV, VPRS 3992/P0, Unit 145, Item 86/E9263.
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Appendices Appendix 1: Assets Our assets include both community and operating assets in the following four categories: Community assets These assets are the State’s archival collection. The fair value of the physical collection at 30 June 2023 is $520m. Building assets Records repositories for storage of the State Archives and the State Government’s non-current records are located at North Melbourne and Ballarat. The Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne, including land, was valued at $98.6m in June 2022. Motor vehicles PROV operates one vehicle: a midsize SUV. Plant and operating equipment Operating assets are used for the upkeep of the physical and digital repositories so that public records can be stored safely and made available for public inspection.
Appendix 2: Financial Statement 2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
Operating
4,009,715
3,732,968
4,323,483
4,294,535
Salary and on-costs
6,911,696
7,329,200
7,733,166
7,750,675
Sub-total
10,921,411
11,062,168
12,056,649
12,045,210
Capital
1,100,872
689,675
360,338
309,043
Depreciation
1,957,937
1,989,085
2,410,195
2,861,271
13,980,220
13,740,928
14,827,182
15,215,524
Opening Balance
Revenue FY 2022-23
Expenditure FY 2022-23
Closing Balance
DTF - Community Support Fund (Victorian Community History Awards and Local History Grants Program)
17,861
423,000
434,636
6,225
DJPR - GSV Archiving project
375,542
0
308,877
66,665
0
967,004
0
967,004
82,671
75,436
14,356
143,751
Total Expenditure Trust Fund
Department of Education Trust Other Trust Funds
36
Appendix 3: Workforce Data As at end of June 2023 Ongoing
Fixed-term & Casual
Externally funded
Headcount
FTE
FTE
FTE
Female
36
32.3
2.3
3.5
Male
24
23.2
2.5
0
Self-described
1
1
0
0
Under 25
0
0
0.9
0
25-34
8
7.5
0.4
3.5
35-44
17
15.6
0
0
45-54
17
15.7
2.5
0
55-64
13
12.3
1
0
Over 65
6
5.4
0
0
Executive
1
1
0
0
STS
1
0.7
0
0
Grade 6
8
7.9
1
0
Grade 5
10
9.7
0
0
Grade 4
14
12.9
1
1.5
Grade 3
13
12.2
0.5
2
Grade 2
14
12.1
2.3
0
Gender
Age
Classification
Ongoing Employees
Fixed-term & Casual
Externally funded
Headcount
Full-time
Part-time
FTE
FTE
FTE
61
43
18
56.5
4.8
3.5
37
Appendix 4: Standards and Advice Section 12 of the Public Records Act 1973 requires the Keeper of Public Records to establish standards for the efficient management of public records and assist public offices in the application of those standards to records under their control. The Act requires public offices to implement records management programs in accordance with the standards established by the Keeper. All standards are available on the PROV website: prov.vic.gov.au/recordkeeping-government/standards-policies-rdas.
Appendix 5: Recordkeeping Standards Framework Documents Issued 2022–23 Standards and specifications issued Number
Name
Issued Date
PROS 23/01
Strategic Management Standard
08/05/2023
Appendix 6: Retention and Disposal Authority (RDA) Documents Issued or Varied 2022–23 New RDAs Standard Number
Name
Issued Date
PROS 22/06
Retention and Disposal Authority for School Records
11/11/2022
PROS 22/07
Retention and Disposal Authority for Identity Verification Records
9/12/2022
PROS 22/08
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Office of the Governor
14/12/2022
RDAs varied Standard Number
Name
Issued Date
PROS 21/01
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Magistrates' Court Variation 2
05/07/2022
PROS 10/14
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Victoria Police Variation 2
29/07/2022
PROS 21/01
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Magistrates’ Court Variation 3
24/08/2022
PROS 10/09
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Education and Early Childhood Functions Variation 2
19/09/2022
PROS 15/04
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Alternative Dispute Resolution Services Variation 1
23/11/2022
PROS 99/02
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Department of Treasury and Finance Variation 10
13/12/2022
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Standard Number
Name
Issued Date
PROS 99/05
Retention and Disposal Authority for State Coroner’s Office Coronial Investigations Variation 6
13/12/2022
PROS 00/02
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Department of Infrastructure Variation 8
13/12/2022
PROS 04/01
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Department of Primary Industries Variation 4
13/12/2022
PROS 04/03
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Office of Public Prosecutions Variation 6
13/12/2022
PROS 04/07
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Office of Gaming and Racing Variation 5
13/12/2022
PROS 05/01
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Ombudsman Victoria Variation 5
13/12/2022
PROS 05/07
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Equal Opportunity Commission Victoria Variation 4
13/12/2022
PROS 05/09
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Department of Sustainability & Environment Variation 3
13/12/2022
PROS 07/05
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of State Trustees Limited Variation 4
13/12/2022
PROS 08/15
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Public Health Function Variation 4
13/12/2022
PROS 09/09
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Mental Health, Alcohol and Drugs Service Functions Variation 4
13/12/2022
PROS 10/06
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Taxi, Hire Car and Driving Instructor Regulation Functions Variation 2
13/12/2022
PROS 10/07
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Victorian Institute of Teaching Variation 2
13/12/2022
PROS 10/16
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Information Regulation Function Variation 2
13/12/2022
PROS 12/06
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Water Industry Functions Variation 1
13/12/2022
39
Standard Number
Name
Issued Date
PROS 13/01
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Juries Commissioner's Office Variation 1
13/12/2022
PROS 13/03
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Adult Multicultural Education Services (AMES) Variation 2
13/12/2022
PROS 13/04
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Office of the Public Interest Monitor Variation 1
13/12/2022
PROS 13/06
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Department of Premier and Cabinet Variation 3
13/12/2022
PROS 10/14
Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Victoria Police Variation 3
16/06/2023
Appendix 7: Approved Public Record Office Victoria Storage Suppliers (APROSS) APROSS sites are commercial facilities that have been inspected by PROV and approved for the storage of temporary and un-sentenced public records. For a complete list of APROSS sites see our website: prov.vic.gov.au/recordkeeping-government/certified-suppliers-vendors/apross-for-agencies APROSS Facilities approved in 2022–23
1
Reappointments
0
Number of current approved APROSS facilities
30
Appendix 8: Staff Achievements Professional committees Tsari Anderson: editor, Provenance journal; member, Professional Historians Association; member, Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities (CAARA) First Nations Special Interest Group. Tayla Di Giacomo: PROV delegate, Digital Preservation Coalition Australasia Stakeholder Group. Charlie Farrugia: member, Victorian Association of Family History Organisations Committee; member, Geelong Heritage Centre Collection Advisory Committee. Peter Francis: member, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; member, Association of Computing Machinery; member, Microsoft IRMS M365 Customer Advisory Board; member, Microsoft
40
RIMPA M365 Customer Advisory Board Working Group; member, Standards Australia Information Migration Working Group (IT-021-15). Robin Friend: PROV delegate, Digital Preservation Coalition Bit List Council. Dr Sebastian Gurciullo: editorial board member, Archives and Manuscripts; editorial board member and assistant editor, Provenance journal; webmaster and steering committee member of the Section on Literary and Artistic Archives of the International Council on Archives; board member, Course Advisory Board, Bachelor of Arts, La Trobe University. Justine Heazlewood: chair, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; chair, Australian Libraries and Archives Copyright Coalition; member, Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities; member, Standards Australia, Records and Document Management Systems Committee
(IT-21); member, Stolen Generations Historical Records Taskforce, Healing Foundation; member, Whyte Bequest Advisory Committee. Xander Hunter: professional member (ARIM), Records and Information Management Practitioners Alliance (RIMPA Global); member, Australian Anthropological Society; member, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative. Julie McCormack: PROV delegate, Australian Society of Archivists; convenor, Government Archivists Special Interest Group, Australian Society of Archivists; member, Australian Society of Archivists Melbourne Conference 2023 Organising Committee; member, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative. Alison McNulty: member, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; member, Standards Australia, Recordkeeping Compliance Review Committee (IT-021-17). Marianne O’Hara: member, Information Governance ANZ; member, CAARA Education Working Group. Tara Oldfield: board member, History Council of Victoria. David Taylor: member, Steering Committee International Council on Archives Section for Local, Municipal and Territorial Archives; member, Eltham District Historical Society Committee. Nicole Tighe: member, Australian Human Resources Institute; member, Department of Premier and Cabinet Human Resources Working Group; member, VPS Human Resources Working Group. Conferences and presentations What is it like working in history History Council of Victoria’s History Roadshow Online pre-record video, July 2022 Tara Oldfield Small investments with big impacts International Council on Archives Section for Local, Municipal and Territorial Archives Rome, Italy, September 2022 David Taylor Koorie Records Unit: Using Victorian Government records to support Aboriginal family finding work Research workshop for VACCHO/Bringing Them Home Workers Victorian Archives Centre, Melbourne, September 2022 Tsari Anderson and Georgia Harris
PROV online catalogue and family history resources Research workshop for VACCHO/Bringing Them Home Workers Victorian Archives Centre, Melbourne, September 2022 Marlene Cantwell Lessons learned from the Standards Redevelopment Project Records and Information Management Practitioners Alliance seminar Melbourne, October 2022 Alison McNulty Here we are but who is with us? Allies, opponents and rivals to archives and records legislation Australasian Society of Archivists Conference Canberra, October 2022 Alison McNulty PROV eLearning: Approach to lifting capability across the Victorian public sector Records and Information Management Practitioners Alliance seminar Melbourne, October 2022 Marianne O’Hara Auslan and history Melbourne Polytechnic Melbourne, October 2022 Andrew Joyce Privacy and recordkeeping obligations Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner webinar Online, January 2023 Alison McNulty Digital forever: Preserving Victoria’s records Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative Melbourne, February 2023 David Fowler and Julie McCormack Microsoft 365: Functional requirements and beyond Australian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative meeting Melbourne, February 2023 Peter Francis and Xander Hunter DigiPres at Public Record Office Victoria Digital Preservation Coalition Australasia Launch Melbourne, March 2023 Andrew Waugh
41
Relational database preservation using SIARD Digital Preservation Coalition Clinic Online, March 2023, with a recording played at a UK-based DPC clinic in May 2023 for a European and US audience Peter Francis
Email archiving at Public Record Office Victoria Email Archiving: Building Capacity and Community’s (EABCC’s) Email Archiving Symposium Online, June 2023 Andrew Waugh
Map Warper Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office Online, March 2023 Asa Letourneau
Researching your house in Ballarat using public records Public Records Advisory Council Visit, Public Talk Eureka Centre, Ballarat June 2023 Marlene Cantwell and Dannielle Roberts
Digital archiving at Public Record Office Victoria 2nd International Forum on Archives Seoul, South Korea, May 2023 Andrew Waugh
Understanding parish and township plans Public Records Advisory Council Visit, Public Talk Eureka Centre, Ballarat June 2023 Charlie Farrugia
Appendix 9: Victorian Community History Award winners The Victorian Community History Awards are held annually in partnership with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. Winners announced at the Arts Centre in October 2022 were: Recipient
Project
Awarded
Janet McCalman
Vandemonians: The Repressed History of Colonial Victoria
Victorian Premier's History Award ($5000 prize)
Dr David Rowe
About Corayo: A Thematic History of Greater Geelong
Judges’ Special Prize ($500)
Melbourne Women's Walking Still on Track: Club 100 Years of the Melbourne Women’s Walking Club
Collaborative Community History Award ($2000)
Luciano and Georgia Keats supported by the Australian Queer Archives
Queer-ways
Local History Project Award ($2000)
Barbara Minchinton
The Women of Little Lon
History Publication Award ($2000)
Dr James Lesh
Report on the Place Name: Moreland
Small History Publication Award ($1500)
Helen Petschel, Christine Red Cliffs Recollections: Cook and Matthew Cook A Century of Soldier Settlement (Red Cliffs Historical Society) 1921–2021
Small Organisation History Project Award ($1500)
Alexandra Dellios
Heritage Making and Migrant Subjects in the Deindustrialising Region of the Latrobe Valley
Community Diversity Award ($1500)
Way Back When and City of Melton
City of Melton 150th Anniversary Online Exhibition
Digital Storytelling Award ($1500)
Benjamin Gray
Extinct: Artistic Impressions of Our Lost Wildlife
History Interpretation Award ($1500)
42
Recipient
Project
Awarded
Nat Grant
Prima Donna Podcast
Oral History Award presented in collaboration with Oral History Victoria ($1500)
Adrien McCrory
Policing Gender Nonconformity in Victoria 1900–1940, Provenance issue no.19, 2021
History Article Award ($500)
Appendix 10: Local History Grant Recipients The Local History Grant recipients for the 2022 round were: Recipient
Project
Awarded
Anglesea and District Historical Society Inc.
ADHS historical collection significance assessment and preservation needs assessment
$11,000
Apollo Bay and District Historical Society Inc.
Apollo Bay: Showcasing our past
$9,230.30
Australian Queer Archives Inc. (AQuA)
Digitisation of social health press clippings collection
$14,360.28
Broadford and District Historical Society Inc.
Digitisation of the Broadford Courier 1951–1965
$14,000
Bundoora Homestead Arts Centre The voices and memories of our people
$14,500
Camperdown and District Historical Society
Digitising Western Press and Hampden Guardian to Trove
$5,024.25
Castlemaine Art Museum
Collection audit, rehousing, and preparation for significance assessment
$11,969
Central Highlands Broadcasting Inc.
Victorian Women’s Football League oral history project
$8,400
Chiltern Athenaeum Museum Incorporated
From swamp to swimming pool - interpretative $4,000 signage depicting the history of the Chiltern Swimming Pool
Cinema and Theatre Historical Society of Australia Inc.
Scanning and digitising images and documents relating to Melbourne City and Suburban Theatres and Cinemas
$1,900
East Gippsland Shire Council
Public record creatives: Engaging and historical records in public space through placemaking
$5,616.25
Fire Services Museum of Victoria
Display enhancement/enablement
$2,028.17
Geelong Regional Library Corporation
Inviting First Nations People to explore the GHC archive and connected contemporary oral history project
$15,000
Golden Square Pool Inc.
Golden Square Pool celebrates its history interpretative signage project
$4,096.40
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
BOLD BLACK AND BRILLIANT – Archiving 30 years history of ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
$14,675
Islamic Museum of Australia
Missing voices: Auslan translations
$6,963.27
43
Recipient
Project
Awarded
McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery
On the land of the Bunurong: An audio history of the art and architecture of Frankston
$11,199
Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio
Victoria’s electronic music pioneers – in their own words
$12,150
Melbourne Fringe
Publication of a history of Melbourne Fringe
$7,500
Montsalvat
Memories of Monsalvat – The people who shaped its life and art
$2,700
Mornington Lifesaving Club Inc.
Commemorate the historical significance of Mornington LSC's establishment, with interpretive signage and documentary
$13,453.39
Musculoskeletal Australia
Digitisation and cataloguing of MSK’s photographic collection part 2
$8,100
Nagambie Historical Society Inc.
Nagambie Museum upgrade
$11,258.50
National Wool Museum
Collecting bluestone memories: An oral history project
$13,150
Phillip Island Historical Society
Digital storytelling for the new museum
$14,960
Port Albert Maritime Museum
The move to a digitised collection
$14,695
Queenscliffe Maritime Museum Inc.
Install permanent interpretative signage on outdoor exhibits
$5,500
Sandy Point Community Group Incorporated
Sandy Point Historical interpretive signs project
$8,015.27
Sandy the War Horse Memorial Committee Inc.
Sandy the War Horse memorial
$6,218.12
Scout Heritage Victoria
Digitisation of historic scouting films
$5,480
Sunshine and District Historical Society
Sunshine Technical School 1913–1991: A secondary school for the working-classes
$6,406.10
Talbot Arts and Historical Museum
Cataloguing and access to Talbot Museum’s collections and historical data
$2,070
The Cancer Council Victoria
Tracing paediatric cancer treatment in Victoria
$5,000
The Pride Fund Pty Ltd in conjunction with the Victorian Pride Centre
The making of the Pride Centre
$8,900
Uniting (Victoria and Tasmania) Ltd
Digitising historical audio visual materials and paper records
$3,500
Victoria University – Aboriginal History Archive
Capturing stories from the Aboriginal History Archive photo collection
$15,000
Victorian Aboriginal Health Service
VAHS Video Collection: Aboriginal politics community and health
$14,445
Villa Alba Museum Inc.
Conserving and digitising the VAMI archives
$8,434.65
Warrandyte Historical Society
The Warrandyte Diary newspaper digitisation project 1970–2014
$6,058.19
44
The Monster Petition, signed by 30,000 Victorian women and tabled in the Legislative Assembly in 1891 requesting the right to vote. PROV, VPRS 3253/P0, Unit 851.
45
Glossary
accession
A group of records from the same transferring agency taken into PROV custody at the same time. The records may be formally arranged and described into records series and consignments or they may be unarranged and undescribed. Accessioning refers to the process of formally accepting and recording the receipt of records into custody (Keeping Archives1).
advice
A document issued by PROV providing advice to Victorian agencies on a recordkeeping issue. (Includes formal advice about standards as well as forms and other tools to help Victorian Government agencies manage and use public records).
APROSS
Approved Public Record Office Storage Supplier – the PROV program for the storage of records which the Keeper of Public Records has approved for eventual destruction or which are awaiting a decision as to their archival value.
archive
The whole body of records of continuing value to an organisation or individual. Sometimes called ‘corporate memory’ (AS 4390.1 -1996).
archives
Records considered to have continuing or permanent value that have been, or will be, transferred to the custody of an archival organisation; also used to refer to the buildings in which archival records are stored and to organisations that have responsibility for archival records (Private lives, public records2).
consignment
A consignment comprises record items belonging to a single record series that has been transferred to the custody of PROV as part of the one accession. A consignment may comprise the whole or part of a series. Each consignment is identified by a code (e.g. VPRS 1234/P1).
digital / electronic record
A record produced, housed or transmitted by electronic means rather than physical means. A record expressed in an electronic digital format. A record stored in a form that only a computer can process.
digitised record / digital image
An electronic reproduction of a picture, photograph or physical item (e.g. letter or document) that can be stored on computer or disk, and can be viewed, transmitted, manipulated and/or printed via computer. A subset of digital records (Private lives, public records).
disposal
A range of processes associated with implementing appraisal decisions. These include the retention, deletion or destruction of records in or from recordkeeping systems. They may also include the migration or transmission of records between recordkeeping systems, and the transfer of custody or ownership of records. Within the Victorian Public Sector, records are appraised to determine their significance (business, legal or historical) and then judged to be either of temporary or permanent value to the state. Government bodies are guided by standards or schedules issued by PROV to regulate the disposal of records.
disposal authority
A legal document that defines the retention periods and consequent disposal actions authorised for specific classes of records (AS 4390.1 -1996).
permanent records
Records which have been appraised as being of permanent value to the State of Victoria and which must be kept forever.
place of deposit (POD)
A location approved by the Victorian Government Minister responsible for PROV for the storage by community groups of temporary records of local value.
provenance
A principle that involves establishing the administrative context in which records were created and used. The provenance of records includes their original creators and users, and the subsequent administrators who were responsible for the recordkeeping system in which the records were kept (Private lives, public records). Note: the word Provenance is also used in this document to refer to the title of our annual online journal.
46
public record
A record made or received by any person employed in a public office while carrying out his or her public duties (Public Records Act 1973).
public records
Information or documents created as part of the activities of state government departments, agencies and local government (Private lives, public records).
reading room
Area set aside at PROV centres for public access to records (Private lives, public records).
record
Something that documents a particular event or decision, or a document and its contents that have some evidentiary value. A record can take many forms: • • • •
a document in writing a book, map, plan, graph or drawing a photograph a label marking or other writing which identifies or describes anything of which it forms part, or to which it is attached by any means whatsoever • a disc, tape, soundtrack or other device in which sounds or other data (not being visual images) are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom • a film, negative, tape or other device in which one or more visual images is embodied so as to be capable (as aforesaid) of being reproduced therefrom • anything whatsoever on which is marked any words, figures, letters or symbols which are capable of carrying a definite meaning to persons conversant with them (AS ISO 15489.1). recordkeeping
Making and maintaining complete, accurate and reliable evidence of business transactions in the form of recorded information.
records management
Field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposal of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records (AS ISO 15489.1).
repository
The building (or part of the building) in which the collection/holdings are housed.
series
A group of records which are recorded or maintained by the same agency or agencies and which: • are in the same numerical, alphabetical, chronological or other identifiable sequence; or • result from the same accumulation or filing process, perform the same function or may be of similar physical shape or information content.
1 2
standard
A set of criteria that states a level of legal requirement for Victorian agencies. Standards are established by the Keeper of Public Records under the Public Records Act 1973.
temporary records
Records which are appraised as being of value for a bounded time span and which may be legally destroyed once they are older than that time span.
transfer
The removal of public records from the offices which have created or inherited them. The custody, ownership and/or responsibility for the records is migrated to the recipient (e.g. from the office to PROV) (see AS ISO 15489.1).
unsentenced records
Records which have not yet been appraised and whose status is therefore not yet determined (Public Records Act 1973).
VPRS
An abbreviation for Victorian Public Record Series. A VPRS number is allocated to each record series when it is transferred to PROV.
J. Ellis (ed.), Keeping Archives, 1993, The Australian Society of Archivists Inc., Australia. B. Fensham et al., Private lives, public records, 2004, Public Record Office Victoria, Australia.
47
Victorian Archives Centre 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne 10am–4.30pm Monday to Friday (and the 2nd and last Saturday of the month) prov.vic.gov.au 03 9348 5600 Ballarat Archives Centre Eureka Centre 102 Stawell Street South Ballarat Central 10am–4.30pm Monday to Thursday Bendigo Regional Archives Centre 1st Floor Bendigo Library 251-259 Hargreaves Street Bendigo 10am–4pm Wednesday and Thursday Geelong Heritage Centre Geelong Library and Heritage Centre 51 Little Malop Street Geelong 10am–4pm Tuesday to Friday Days and hours may vary. Please check our website for the most up to date information.