Public Record Office Victoria annual report 2010-2011

Public Record Office Victoria

Annual Report to the Minister 2010–2011

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE VICTORIA

Published by Public Record Office Victoria 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne VIC 3051 T. (03) 9348 5600 Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report to the Minister 2010–2011 September 2011 Š Copyright State of Victoria 2011 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced through any process without prior written permission from the publisher. Enquiries should be directed to Public Record Office Victoria, PO Box 2100, North Melbourne, Victoria 3051 or email ask.prov@prov.vic.gov.au.

Also published on www.prov.vic.gov.au.

ISSN: 1320-8225 Printed on 55% recycled paper

Public Record Office Victoria

Annual Report to the Minister 2010–2011 A report from the Keeper of Public Records as required under section 21(1) of the Public Records Act 1973

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Ted Baillieu MLA Premier and Minister for the Arts

The Hon Ted Baillieu MLA Premier and Minister for the Arts Parliament House Melbourne VIC 3002

Dear Minister I am pleased to present a report on the carrying out of my functions under section 21(1) of the Public Records Act 1973 for the year ending 30 June 2011.

Yours sincerely

Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records

CONTENTS

5 Public Record Office Victoria 8

Purpose and Objectives

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Message from the Director

10 Public Records Advisory Council 12 Overview

17 Report on performance 18 Highlights 2010–2011 27 Output measures 2010–2011 28 PROV strategic initiatives 2010-11 28 Remodel the transfer service 28 Refresh VERS 28 Enhance PROV’s Standards (5.3.3 in PROV Corporate Plan) 29 Expand PROV’s Policy Framework (5.3.4 in PROV Corporate Plan) 29 Build Collection Support 30 Promote Collection Usage 34 Foster an IM Culture 35 Embed Sustainability 36 Upgrade PROV’s Infrastructure 37 Build Organisational Capacity 38 2010 Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards

42 Appendices 43 Appendix 1: Assets, financial statement and staff profile 45 Appendix 2: Publications 46 Appendix 3: Standards and Advice issued 49 Appendix 4: Approved PROV storage suppliers (APROSS) 49 Appendix 5: Approved Places of Deposit for temporary records 50 Appendix 6: VERS-compliant products 50 Appendix 7: Major VERS consultancy projects completed

51 Glossary

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PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

Our purpose To support the effective management and use of the public records of the State of Victoria, in order that the government is accountable to the community and its historical memory is preserved, secure and accessible.

What we do Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is established under section 3 of the Public Records Act 1973, ‘for the better preservation, management and utilisation of the public records of the state’.

The Act provides the legal framework in 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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Increase records usage to enable the community to connect with their history.

Increase government recordkeeping capacity so that a full and accurate record of government is created, captured, maintained and preserved.

Develop the right people and provide the right tools to deliver PROV’s strategic objectives.

Our values PROV has developed a set of values which are based on and consistent with the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees as outlined in the Public Administration Act 2004.

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esponsiveness: We provide accurate and impartial advice to Government. We deliver quality services R to the Victorian community. We are open to new ideas and different approaches that will achieve the most effective results.

Integrity: We are open and honest in dealing with our colleagues, clients, stakeholders and the Victorian community. We strive to provide equal access to all our products and services. We act responsibly and avoid any real or apparent conflicts of interest.

Impartiality: We make decisions and provide advice that is fair, objective and without self-interest.

We work to serve the public good.

Accountability: We are transparent and take responsibility for our actions. We maintain a sustainable workplace environment and seek to achieve the best use of resources.

Respect: We respect our colleagues, public officials and members of the Victorian community and treat them fairly and objectively. We are inclusive. We do not tolerate harassment, bullying or discrimination.

Leadership: We promote record keeping best practice and innovation. We lead by example. We create positive and productive working relationships. We support, motivate and strive to develop our staff to reach their full potential.

Human Rights: We respect and support the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities in all decisions and advice and abide by all appropriate legislation.

Collaboration: We consult and engage with the Victorian community and our clients and stakeholders.

We seek, encourage and value the contribution and skills of the people we work with. We provide customer service that most effectively meets the needs of all our clients and stakeholders.

Vision Statement PROV’s Vision statement for 2010–11 is “Public Records Publicly Available”. This statement outlines our vision of a perfect world of recordkeeping, one where all public records are publicly available.

This vision statement seeks to inspire staff to keep good records so that PROV can continue to support the efficient management and use of public records, ensure that the Government is accountable to the community and the historical memory of the Victorian Government is secure and accessible.

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

It’s been another exciting year at Public Record Office Victoria with many highlights and a few notable changes. The theme of this year’s Annual Report comes from our award winning exhibition called Missing the Mark: The Melbourne landmark ideas competition 1978 showing at the Old Treasury Building. The exhibition celebrates the creative public response to a competition held in the 1970s to build a Melbourne ‘landmark’. The exhibition marks the second year of our successful partnership with the Old Treasury Building. Our presence in the CBD is helping us to open our records up to new audiences and during the year a record 24,840 people visited our exhibitions there.

This year we also continued to progress our move to focus on delivering our services online.

We revamped our website, making it easier to use and find information and added exciting new information channels like our brand new blog alongside our existing wiki. We’ve adopted other new social media technologies to help us interact better with our users and you can now find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. We held a PROV Data Challenge day where we opened up our data to a group of interested programmers and historians, allowing them to manipulate it in new ways using a variety of freely available tools. There were some great ideas generated on the day and we will be exploring some of these in the future to enhance the way that people use and experience our historical records.

This year we also began the transfer of a large number of historical maps and plans from the Department of Sustainability and Environment. These plans date back to the early days of white settlement in Victoria and include significant foundation documents such as Robert Hoddle’s original survey field books. These are true treasures and we look forward to bringing them to new audiences both online and in exhibitions in the future.

Organisationally Public Record Office underwent some significant restructuring and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the staff at Public Record Office for their professionalism and support during the change process. We said goodbye to a number of staff during the year including some very long serving staff whose knowledge and experience will be missed. We wish them very well in their new endeavours.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the Public Records Advisory Council for their support and ongoing commitment to the review of the Public Records Act 1973. I would also like to thank Graeme Davison, Garth Lampe and Sarah Rood for their valuable contributions as they have all left the Council over the past year.

Finally I would like to thank former Minister for the Arts, Peter Batchelor MP for his support and welcome our new Minister, the Premier and Minister for the Arts, Ted Baillieu MLA. I look forward to working with him in the years to come.

Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records

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PUBLIC RECORDS ADVISORY COUNCIL

Establishment and functions The Public Records Advisory Council is established under section 4(1) of the Public Records Act 1973. Under section 5 of the Act, the Council: (a) i n consultation with the Keeper of Public Records, shall promote cooperation between the Public Record Office and public offices; and (b) m ay report and make recommendations to the Minister on any matter relating to the administration of the Act.

Council membership Pursuant to section 4 (1A) of the Public Records Act 1973, the Council shall 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 and genealogical research.

Membership of the Council during 2010–2011 comprised: Mr Peter Harmsworth AO (President), Public administration Mr Jim Berg, Indigenous heritage Mr David Brown, Records management (from 5 November 2009) Prof. Graeme Davison, History (academic) Mr Garth Lampe, Public administration Prof. Sue McKemmish, Information and records management Ms Sarah Rood, History (professional) Ms Susie Zada, History (from 9 September 2009) Ms Penny Hutchinson (Departmental nominee), Department of Premier and Cabinet Secretary: Ms Diane Brodie and Ms Andrea Rae (from February, 2011)

Summary of activities The Council met on five occasions in 2010–2011: 15 July 2010 01 October 2010 25 November 2010 25 February 2011 6 May 2010

Victorian Archives Centre Bright Victorian Archives Centre Victorian Archives Centre Bendigo

During the year, the Council was provided with energetic support by the Keeper and staff of PROV. Support activities included providing assistance to the President with the appointment of Council members, preparing Council papers, providing assistance to Council subcommittees and organising regional visits. The Council would like to record its appreciation of the support provided to it by the Keeper and her staff and to especially thank Ms Diane Brodie, who has provided many years of professional service as the Secretary to the Council. During the year, Diane left PROV and Council wished her well for the future.

Advice to Minister Following the formation of the new Liberal National Coalition Government in December, 2010 the President wrote to the Premier, the Hon. Ted Baillieu, in his role as Minister for the Arts, to raise a number of issues, particularly the need for the early consideration of the findings of the review of the Public Records Act 1973 undertaken in 2010 by Ms Barbara Reed. Discussions are ongoing with the Premier’s office on the next stages of the review.

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Promoting cooperation between PROV and public agencies COUNCIL MEETINGS Each year, two Council meetings are held in regional or outer-metropolitan locations, with PROV staff presenting information sessions for researchers and local government records management staff in conjunction with these meetings. In October 2010 the Council held its meeting in Bright. Prior to the meeting proper, the Council met with Mr Ian Nichols, CEO Alpine Shire, members of his staff, and representatives from local historical societies to discuss local issues. In conjunction with the visit by Council, PROV staff conducted a series of workshops.

In May 2011 the Council met in Bendigo and took the opportunity to visit the Bendigo Regional Archives Centre (BRAC) and the Bendigo city library, as well as meeting with representatives of the City of Greater Bendigo and members of the BRAC Advisory Committee.

DISPOSAL SUBCOMMITTEE The Disposal Subcommittee of Council provides technical advice to PROV and agencies on proposed retention and disposal authorities (RDAs). RDAs are the principal way PROV assists agencies to comply with the standards promulgated by the Keeper of Public Records in relation to the preservation and disposal of public records. The Council sees its involvement with the RDA approval process as an integral component of its legislative charter in promoting cooperation between PROV and public agencies.

During the year the Subcommittee reviewed and provided comment on fourteen RDAs from a diversity of departments and public offices.

SIR RUPERT HAMER RECORDS MANAGEMENT AWARDS Since 1998 the Council has hosted the annual Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards to recognise excellence and innovation in records management across the Victorian public sector. The awards were held in May 2011 in Queen’s Hall, Parliament House and attracted a significant number of high quality applications from across Victoria.

Over 120 guests from across Victorian Government, the records management sector and archival communities attended the Ceremony. Special guests included former premier and patron of the Awards the Hon. John Cain; the Hon. Bernard Teague AO, former Chair of the Bushfires Royal Commission; Ron McLeod former Commissioner of the Bushfires Royal Commission; Jane Brockington, former CEO of the Bushfires Royal Commission;and Des Pearson, Victorian Auditor-General.

In organising the awards, PROV worked closely with the Records Management Association of Australasia and the Australian Society of Archivists. PROV has also been able to attract the involvement of a number of sponsors to make the evening a significant event in the calendar of Information Awareness Month.

SUPPORT FOR PROV During the year the Council was able to provide advice and insights to the Keeper of Public Records about signifi cant activities and issues being dealt with by PROV. Council members were also involved on judging panels for both the Local History Grants Program and the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards.

Peter Harmsworth AO President, Public Records Advisory Council

Peter Harmsworth AO

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OVERVIEW

Administration EXECUTIVE 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.

ACT ADMINISTERED – PUBLIC RECORDS ACT 1973 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 2003.

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 the PROV website at www.prov.vic.gov.au/ about-us and at both of our offices.

PORTFOLIO RESPONSIBILITY The Department of Premier and Cabinet, through Arts Victoria, has portfolio responsibility for PROV. PROV is an administrative office under the Public Administration Act 2004.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION Requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 are handled through the Department of Premier and Cabinet Freedom of Information officer. For information about categories of documents maintained by PROV, refer to the Department of Premier and Cabinet website at www.dpc.vic.gov.au.

PROTECTED DISCLOSURE The Whistleblower’s Protection Act 2001 promotes accountability and transparency in the public sector, which will in turn increase public confidence in the workings of government.

The procedures implemented by PROV in relation to protected disclosure can be found in the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s 2010–2011 annual report. In accordance with section 104 of the Act, PROV reports that no disclosures were made to it during the reporting year.

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 PROV standards and authorities is provided on PROV’s website at www.prov.vic.gov.au/government and at both of our offices.

DEPARTMENT OF PREMIER AND CABINET ANNUAL REPORT Further information about PROV’s performance during 2010–2011, including financial and staffing data, is included in the annual report of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, available at www.dpc.vic.gov.au.

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Contacts As at 30 June 2011 PROV operated two public reading rooms and had 75 staff members working in four operational areas.

PUBLIC READING ROOMS Email: ask.prov@prov.vic.gov.au Victorian Archives Centre Harry Nunn Reading Room 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne VIC 3051 Australia Phone: (03) 9348 5600 Ballarat Archives Centre State Government Offices Corner Mair and Doveton Streets Ballarat VIC 3350 Australia Phone: (03) 5333 6611

GOVERNMENT SERVICES Assistant Director: David Brown Phone: (03) 9348 5621 Email: david.brown@prov.vic.gov.au= Agency enquiries: prov.agency.queries@prov.vic.gov.au

ACCESS SERVICES Assistant Director: Graeme Hairsine Phone: (03) 9348 5727 Email: graeme.hairsine@prov.vic.gov.au Public enquiries: ask.prov@prov.vic.gov.au

CORPORATE SERVICES Assistant Director: Lucy Hastewell Phone: (03) 9348 5653 Email: lucy.hastewell@prov.vic.gov.au

PEOPLE & CULTURE Assistant Director: Michael Werle Phone: (03) 9348 5725 Email: michael.werle@prov.vic.gov.au

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OVERVIEW

Organisational Structure

Premier of Victoria Minister for the Arts

Parliamentary Secretary

Secretary Department of Premier & Cabinet

Director Arts Victoria

Director PROV

Public Records Advisory Council

Government Services

Access Services

Corporate Services

People and Culture

Standards and Policy

Online Access

Finance and Risk Management

Organisational Development

Government Record Keeping

Collection Services

Facilities

VERS

Community Archives

Communication and Marketing

Technology Services

Information Management

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GOVERNMENT SERVICES Government Services supports best-practice records management across the Victorian public sector. This is done through: • utilising and valuing the knowledge and commitment of PROV staff • developing and supporting the implementation of best-practice records management processes and policies across the whole of Victorian government • building partnerships with stakeholders to improve information and records management identifying and preserving records of permanent value • making records more visible and accessible through new technology and betteraligned documentation, transfer and disposal practices • Managing the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy

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 through: • a program of exhibitions, publications, educational resources and outreach activities • the provision of public reading room services and online access to PROV’s collection and research tools • the preservation of archives within their region of origin, ensuring equality of access for communities in regional Victoria • culturally appropriate services, procedures and tools that enhance access by the Koorie community • the transmission to clients of knowledge about the collection • the issuing of records in a manner that meets government needs and community expectations

CORPORATE SERVICES Corporate Services supports staff across PROV through provision of the following services: • budgeting and financial management and reporting • risk management • facilities management • environmental planning and reporting • strategic planning and reporting • communication and marketing • information communication technology • information management

PEOPLE & CULTURE This section enables PROV to more efficiently manage the human resource needs of staff across PROV and plan for further development throughout the organisation through the provision of human resource management and organisational development

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OVERVIEW

Corporate Plan 2010–2013 PROV’s three-year Corporate Plan provides the strategic direction for the period 2010–11 to 2012–13.

It articulates our mission; operating environment and values as well as listing our objectives and the initiatives we will pursue to achieve these objectives. It also details the guiding principles we will use when implementing our initiatives.

OUTCOMES reservation: The records of government are preserved so that they are available and P accessible for as long as they are required.

• Management: The records of government are managed to enable accountability, efficiency and innovation.

• Utilisation: The records of government are used by communities to connect to their history and culture.

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emodel the Transfer Service: Re-engineering the transfer service and associated R business processes to provide improved client services and developing internal skills and capacity Refresh VERS: Leading the new VERS strategy to reflect a range of enhancements across Government Services programs and provide increased public service efficiency and accountability Enhance PROV’s Standards: Developing a revised Standards program and implementation schedule that will build internal capacity and responsiveness and confirm PROV’s strategic leadership in recordkeeping within the Public Service and across the broader community Expand PROV’s Policy Framework: Developing PROV’s policy strategy to provide a structure that supports and progresses key PROV activities Build Collection Support: Building awareness of cultural collections in the community and developing the capacity for communities to care for them in the most appropriate way Promote Collection Usage: Increasing access to and usage of PROV’s unique collection. Nurturing a greater knowledge of the collection both internally and externally and promoting PROV as an organisation actively pursuing innovative solutions to collection utilisation Foster an IM Culture: Building a culture where information is valued as an asset and its use maximised to deliver financial efficiencies and position PROV as an information management leader within the Victorian public sector and beyond Embed Sustainability: Placing the VAC at the forefront of the government’s commitment to environmental sustainability, to showcase how the public service is leading by example and to reduce our carbon footprint Upgrade PROV’s Infrastructure: Establishing an integrated approach to the planning, management and renewal of PROV’s physical and technical infrastructure, deliver improved organisational efficiencies and best-practice storage facilities for the State’s archival collection Build Organisational Capacity: Establishing PROV as an employer of choice to attract and retain people who are passionate about and committed to the effective utilisation, management and preservation of Victoria’s archives. Develop the right people and provide the right tools to deliver PROV’s strategic objectives

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Aligning our internal skills, capabilities & capacity to our outcomes and objectives eeking & taking advantage of partnerships & funding opportunities & collaborative S approaches to meeting our outcomes & objectives Ensuring that our work improves Public Sector efficiency & accountability Providing sector leadership & a best practice approach Consulting with stakeholders and clients and using their feedback to inform & improve our programs & services

Detailed information about our activities can be found under these headings in the next section of this report.

Public Record Office Victoria

Report on Performance

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HIGHLIGHTS 2010–2011

Opening of the Nolan St Storage Facility A new storage facility was opened in Bendigo in 2010–11, part of the Bendigo Regional Archive Centre (BRAC). This marked a significant milestone in the partnership between PROV and the Goldfields Library Corporation. The new facility features extensive climate controlled, secure areas that will be used to house government and community records.

The Bendigo Regional Archives Centre Launch, from left to right, Carolyn Mcvean, Cr Alec Sandner, Michael Smyth, Marg Allan, Graeme Hairsine

PROV Exhibitions at the Old Treasury Building PROV in partnership with the Old Treasury Building (OTB) provides exhibitions that complement the historic nature of the OTB and provide material of interest to a range of groups who visit the building. 2011, the second year of this partnership, saw the delivery of 2 exhibitions at OTB – The West Gate Bridge Collapse: 40 years on and Missing the Mark: The Melbourne landmark ideas competition 1978.

PROV’s exhibitions at the Old Treasury Building received a commendation at the Arts Portfolio Leadership Awards 2010. These exhibitions have helped to raise the organisation’s profile as well as knowledge of the state archive among students, tourists and the public at large. More than 9000 visitors including school groups have visited PROV exhibitions at OTB since April 2010. For the first time, PROV has been able to develop a profile in both the tourist market and the schools market as the exhibitions have a central city location, an education focus and offer online support resource materials.

All the exhibitions have an online component on the PROV website which has helped to increase visitation.

PROV’s exhibitions at Old Treasury Building also contribute to the organisational vision ‘Public records publicly available’. This exciting initiative at Old Treasury links to the corporate plan by displaying a fascinating array of documents that would not normally be available for public viewing. The exhibitions have greatly increased public awareness of the breadth and depth of the archive.

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THE WEST GATE BRIDGE COLLAPSE: 40 YEARS ON The collapse of one span of the half-built West Gate Bridge on the morning of 15 October 1970 was Victoria’s worst-ever industrial accident, causing the deaths of 35 people and seriously injuring many others.

In October 2010 PROV held an exhibition at OTB to mark the 40th anniversary of this tragedy. The exhibition included photographs, press cuttings, Royal Commission transcripts and other records from the PROV archives and was complemented by loans from the National Gallery and State Library of Victoria.

The exhibition had a strong audio-visual component, comprising a recording of the ABC television news of the night of the tragedy; specially-commissioned oral histories of individuals associated with the project and affected by the tragedy; and an excerpt of Ms Edna Davis performing the song ‘The Mighty West Gate Bridge’ which she composed for the eventual opening of the bridge in November 1978.

Shortly after the Westgate Bridge collapse, fire still burning

MISSING THE MARK: THE MELBOURNE LANDMARK IDEAS COMPETITION 1978 In 1978, the Victorian Government opened its competition for a design for a ‘landmark’ \to be situated above the Jolimont railway lines, part of which is now buried beneath Federation Square.

The submissions for the Melbourne landmark competition are now in PROV custody – as VPRS 2869: Landmark Competition Drawings. There were more than 1500 submissions, received from throughout Australia as well as England, Europe, North America, Asia, and North Africa (Morocco).

The plans were indexed by volunteers in 2008/2009 for easy online searching. The competition had earlier been the subject of a Proactive article in 2003 by Tony Styant-Brown, ‘Missing the mark: The Melbourne landmark competition 1978–79’ (Proactive: The Magazine of Public Record Office Victoria, issue 28, May 2003, pp. 11–15) and a university thesis, and this research was useful in curating the exhibition.

The exhibition occupied one room, a corridor and part of the foyer space (beneath the staircase) on the main ground floor of OTB. It comprised a selection of original designs displayed in polyester sleeves suspended from aluminium poster bars, a ‘wallpaper’ created from images of many other entries, wall texts and labels, and two large, specially commissioned models based on two competition entries: one of a crocodile and the other of a large mirrored letter ‘M’.

The exhibition was launched on the evening of Wednesday 1 3 April 2011, with guest speaker John Denton, former State Architect.

An example of one to the submissions the Victorian Government received through it’s Melbourne Landmark competition

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HIGHLIGHTS 2010–2011

The Great PROV Data Challenge In March 2011 PROV hosted ‘The Great PROV Data Challenge’ at the Victorian Archives Centre as part of the inaugural THATCamp Melbourne, the Humanities and Technology Camp (http://www.thatcampmelbourne.org/). The Data Challenge was a day of creative ideas generation where three teams – made up of archivists, humanities researchers and computer enthusiasts – were formed to hack and mash-up datasets and digitised records provided by PROV: ‘The Grave Diggers’ plotted a digitised plan of the Old Melbourne Cemetery in Google Earth to show how the old cemetery was displaced by the Queen Victoria Market car park.

‘The Kelly Gang’ took a timeline of Kelly Gang sightings and robberies from a Royal Commission report and plotted these in space and time in Google Earth, giving a visual portrayal of the gang’s movements. The third team, ‘The Otway Rangers’ overlayed georeferenced parish maps onto Google Earth and created an interactive database of Otway land selection data.

The judges of the competition, Justine Heazlewood (PROV), Amanda Finnis (Department of Business Innovation), and Jason Hutchinson (Deloitte Digital) gave feedback on each entry and awarded prizes. The Great PROV Data Challenge demonstrated how visualisations and interpretations of history can be created with access to archival datasets and knowledge of web tools and platforms.

Participants at the Great PROV Data Challenge wrestling with data

Enabling local government sector records management transformation PROV is participating in an initiative led by the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) to enable Local Government Councils to transform themselves from a paper-based records management environment to a fully digital one. A tender was run to select a storage and digitisation service provider (Grace Records Management) on behalf of 47 Local Councils.

A Project Executive Committee has been established, with members from MAV, Local Councils, Grace RM and PROV, to drive and promote records management improvement, digitisation innovation and efficiencies across the sector. As part of this, PROV is working to build Victorian Electronic Record Strategy (VERS) capacity across Local Government.

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One Place, Many Stories PROV, in partnership with the History Council of Victoria and Spatial Vision, successfully partnered with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to create a mapping website for schools. ‘One Place, Many Stories’ gives students and teachers the tools to overlay digitised historical maps over Google maps, and to ‘pin’ stories and images to the overlaid maps.

While the site is for use by schools, the stories created on the site can be shared and seen by anyone. This gives schools a platform to undertake projects with their local communities.

Jeff Jackson, a primary teacher involved in the development of the site, later commented: “One Place, Many Stories engaged and enabled students to explore historical changes in their local community. Within minutes they had confidently mastered a range of skills such as mapping, historical research and collaborative investigations. They are still asking to explore the site further.”

VPRS 8168/P2 unit 6166 Sydney M8 1837 early Melbourne – Survey Robert Hoddle

Transfer of records: 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission The Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission was established to investigate the causes and responses to bushfires which swept through parts of Victoria in January and February of 2009.

Over its lifetime the Commission generated over 300,000 permanent records, the vast majority being in digital format. These are now in the process of being transferred to permanent storage in the PROV digital archive.

Planning commenced almost from the beginning of the Commission’s operations in early 2009 as it was anticipated that the transfer of such a large volume of records in digital format from a complex legal case management system would pose many challenges. Once completed, the key records of the Commission, including the interim and final reports, transcripts of proceedings and exhibits, will be available in digital format on a permanent basis via the PROV online catalogue.

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HIGHLIGHTS 2010–2011

Transfer of records: Department of Sustainability and Environment parish and township record plans

Volunteers handle Environment Parish and Township Record Plans

This collection comprises over 25,000 plans tracing the history of European settlement in Victoria. The plans constituted the official, legal record of the status of land in Victoria in terms of its alienation from the Crown, from the first official land sales in 1837 through to the early 2000s (when they were replaced by digital mapping practices). This is one of the largest and logistically most complex transfers that PROV has been engaged in. Processing is expected to be completed in October 2011.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment Survey Field Books are the original field books used by the surveyors who undertook the first official surveys of land throughout Victoria, including the notable surveyor Robert Hoddle. These books were used to compile the parish and township record plans.

In addition to their technical content, the books contain a wealth of detail about soil and vegetation, landmarks, early structures and other features of the landscape. There are sketches and incidental details such as a list of rations to be provided to surveyors, even pages of idle doodling. The bulk of the collection relates to the first 40 years of European settlement, the earliest books dating from 1837. Overall the collection extends to the 1920s.

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Footprints: the Journey of Lucy and Pepper One of the major highlights for PROV in the year 2010–11 was the launch of the touring exhibition ‘Footprints: the Journey of Lucy and Pepper’ by the Hon. Jeanette Powell, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.

Footprints focuses on the lives of an Aboriginal family and their struggles for survival in late 19th century and early 20th century Victoria. Based on records available at PROV, the exhibition also showcases material from other Victorian collections as well as contributions from Pepper family descendents.

To find out more about the exhibition, visit http://prov.vic.gov.au/footprints.

Footprints launch

From L-R, Keeper of the Records Justine Heazlewood & the Hon. Jeanette Powell, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs at the Footprints Launch

Digitising partnership with the R E Ross Trust and the La Trobe Society PROV was successful this year in obtaining a grant from the R E Ross Trust to digitise an important early series of its records. VPRS19 “Inward Registered Correspondence” contains documents received by Charles Joseph La Trobe, who between 1839 and 1854 was first the Superintendent of the Port Phillip District and subsequently the LieutenantGovernor of the colony of Victoria.

The conservation and digitisation of these records will make available to researchers a rich trove of historical information relating to the early years of Victoria. This 18-month project is being undertaken with the collaboration of volunteers from the CJ La Trobe Society, who have been assisting with the conservation and digitising of the records.

Volunteers digitising PROV records

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HIGHLIGHTS 2010–2011

Achievements of staff AWARDS The work of PROV staff and volunteers was recognised with several awards in 2010–2011: PROV was awarded in two categories in this year’s Mander Jones Awards: PROV’s Water Stories online exhibition is the winner in Category 2A: ‘Best publication that uses features or interprets Australian archives, written by or on behalf of a corporate body’ and in Category 3A, ‘Best finding aid to an archival collection (1) held by an Australian institution, or (2) about Australia; produced by an organisation deemed eligible for Category 4 (5) (a) institutional membership’, the Lands Guide: A guide to finding records of Crown land at Public Record Office Victoria received a High Commendation The PROV exhibition at OTB, The West Gate Bridge Collapse: 40 Years On received an ‘honourable mention’ in the Victorian Museums Awards announced at a function at the National Gallery of Victoria in the category for small museums Allison Hunter won the RMAA Objective Article of the Year 2009-2010 (awarded in September 2010 at the RMAA International Convention) for her article - Walking the Tightrope: Some simple solutions to capturing instant messages as corporate records Michael Zhou was a finalist for the 2011 Lawyers’ Weekly Icon Awards for the category of Law Student of the Year. Michael has been working to establish joint venture agreements between PROV and the Genealogical Society of Utah so we can work collaboratively on digitisation projects.

(L-R) Sir Laurence Street, Chief Justice of NSW and PROV employee Michael Zhou at the Lawyers Weekly Icon Awards 2011

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PROFESSIONAL COMMITTEES Aside from their roles at PROV, a number of staff make a significant contribution to their professions through membership of committees: Lauren Bourke: member, Ballarat Heritage Advisory Committee; member, Victorian Community Heritage Collections Network; member, Ballarat Collections Network Kevin Chin: administrator, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative Charlie Farrugia: member, Victorian Association of Family History Organisations; member Geographic Place Names Advisory Panel; member ANZAC Commemorative Naming Pilot Project; member, Arts Agency Collections Working Group Sebastian Gurciullo: editor, Archives and Manuscripts; chair, the Editorial Board refereed journal of the Australian Society of Archivists; member, committee of the Section on Literary and Artistic Archives of the International Council on Archives.

Graeme Hairsine: member, Bendigo Regional Archives Centre Committee of Management; member, Standards for Public Access Working Group of the Council of Australasian Archives and Recordkeeping Authorities (Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities); member, Reference, Access and Public Programs Special Interest Group of the Australian Society of Archivists Lucy Hastewell: member, DPC Procurement Review Reference Group; member, IPAA Internal Communications Community of Practice Justine Heazlewood: member, Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities; chair, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; member, Collections Committee, State Library of Victoria; member, Australia Society of Archivists Conference Committee 2010; member, International Council of Archives Congress Committee 2012; member, Standards Australia, Records and Document Management Systems Committee (IT-21); member, Monash University, Centre for Organisational and Social Informatics Advisory Board Allison Hunter: secretary for the Victorian Branch of Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia Asa Letourneau: member, UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Committee as a State Liaison Officer for Victoria; member, Cloud Information Community (CLIC) Tracey Manallack: member Victorian Community Heritage Collections Network; member, Geelong Heritage Centre Committee of Management; member, Bendigo Regional Archives Centre Operations Committee Julie McCormack: member, Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities; AHPRA Working Group; member, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative Disposal Project Working Group Alison McNulty: chair, Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities; AHPRA Working Group; member, Municipal Association of Victoria Storage and Digitisation Project Executive Committee; member, Who Am I? Advisory Group Andrew Waugh: member Standards Australia, Records and Document Management Systems Committee (IT-21) Subcommittee on Recordkeeping Metadata Michael Werle: member, Occupational Health and Safety National Project Reference Group at Innovation Business Skills Australia; member, Business Services Sector Advisory Committee at Innovation Business Skills Australia; member Equal Employment Opportunity Network; State President Victorian / Tasmanian Council at Australian Institute of Training & Development Daniel Wilksch: President of the Branch Committee of Museums Australia (Victoria)

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HIGHLIGHTS 2010–2011

CONFERENCE AND SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS In addition to PROV’s formal seminar programs, noted in the operations section of this report, staff expertise and knowledge are shared through presentations at various conferences and seminars. In 2010–2011, these included: Second Annual National Records and Information Officers Forum 23 February 2011 Matt Gardiner: ‘Securing Records for the Long Run’ Reference, Access and Public Programs Special Interest Group, Australian Society of Archivists annual conference, November 2010 Graeme Hairsine: ‘The 21st Century Archive: equity and innovation’ Privacy Victoria Network meeting, November 2010 Graeme Hairsine: ‘Cloud Computing and Privacy.’

International Association of Privacy Professionals Australia & New Zealand annual conference, November 2010 Graeme Hairsine: ‘Cloud Computing, Recordkeeping Systems and Privacy’ Privacy Awareness Week, May 2011 Graeme Hairsine: ‘Cloud Computing, Recordkeeping Systems and Privacy’ Australian Society of Archivists Conference - October 2011 Justine Heazlewood: ‘Joint Readings Rooms: The success of the PROV/NAA partnership’ (joint presentation with Ross Latham, Director, Archives Office of Tasmania) Second Annual National Records and Information Officers Forum 23 February 2011 David Fowler: ‘Securing Records for the Long Run’ Digital Preservation ARC Group 8 December 2010 Andrew Waugh: ‘Digital Preservation Now’ TRIM User Forum 2011 (TUF24) 8 May 2011 Andrew Waugh: ‘Digital Preservation’ International Women’s Day Conference 10 March 2011 Daniel Wilksch: ‘Women in Public Records’ Public Sector Digital Media Officers Forum, Melbourne, 2011 Greg Wilson: ‘Public Sector Information Relief Framework (PSIRF) Project’ Institute of Information Management (IIM) National Conference, Canberra, 2011 Greg Wilson: ‘Public Sector Information Relief Framework (PSIRF) Project’

PUBLISHED WORKS Marcus Dowd: ‘Public Record Office Victoria Update’ (RIMPA Journal - Around the Rim) March 2011 Sebastian Gurciullo: ‘Footprints: An exhibition about Lucy and Percy Pepper’, in Ancestor, vol. 30, issue 6, June-August 2011, pp. 7-9.

‘Looking for Footprints’, in Inside History, March-April 2011, pp. 42-43.

Allison Hunter: Informaa Newsletter (RMAA Vic Branch Newsletter) December 2010 - Planning for Storage, Around the RIM (RIMPA Vic Branch Newsletter), June 2011 Capturing Business Records, Archives and Manuscripts (Australian Society of Archivists Journal) November 2010 (News Notes section) - Public Record Office Victoria, Archives and Manuscripts (Australian Society of Archivists Journal) May 2011 (News Notes section) Public Record Office Victoria

OUTPUT MEASURES 2010–11

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Output: Records Quantity

2010–11 Target

2010–11 Actual

Retention and disposal authorities issued

7

7

PROV records transferred1

1,200

2,274

Digital records preserved2

100,000

113,840

Participants in records management education and training programs

1,500

1,463

VERS departmental consultations

100

96

Additional VERS software products certified

10

27

% Collection stored to industry standard

100

100

% Client satisfaction

90

86

Quantity

2010–11 Target

2010–11 Actual

Records issued

55,000

49,222

Visitors

90,000

104,126

3

600,000

896,497

Volunteer hours

15,500

15,124

Participants in public education, training and outreach programs

7,250

6,939

90

92

95

95

Quality

Output: Access

Online visitors

Quality % Visitors satisfied with visit Timeliness % Records issued within specific timeframes

1. Departments finalised a larger number of multi-year transfers than originally scheduled.

2. P rocess and technology have been improved, increasing capacity to process a larger number of records in the same amount of time 3. A new methodology for measurement of visitation to website has been implemented, consistent with revised whole of government guidelines

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PROV STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2010–11

Remodel the Transfer Service In 2010–11 a review of PROV’s transfer approach and processes was carried out.

The review aimed to: • streamline transfer processes and provide solutions to system problems • increase awareness of transfer requirements and processes across the Victorian public sector • ensure that the most significant permanent records are transferred to PROV. It is hoped that this will result in improved internal staff skills and increased capacity which would lead to major improvements in client services.

In December 2010 the Transfer Review Findings and Recommendations were presented to the PROV Executive with 59 recommendations approved for action. An Implementation Plan incorporating 10 activity streams was then developed in consultation with stakeholder groups. The Implementation Plan sets out the Work Program for re-engineering the transfer service and associated business processes over the next two years. To ensure that the Implementation Plan is a success PROV has developed a Change Management program that encompasses active stakeholder engagement and ongoing communications activities.

Refresh VERS The Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) is being refreshed and will deliver a new electronic records and information service model that will better respond to the changed environment that the Victorian Government and electronic information now exists in.

The refreshed strategy will recognise the changes to structures for information management, new technologies, variable capabilities and priorities. It is hoped that this will deliver a model that will ensure the Victorian Government’s electronic records are ‘future proofed’ and accessible to the community for many years to come. The new strategy will ensure that Government agencies will be: • better able to self assess their level of electronic information maturity and act appropriately to address any gaps • able to access a vast array of good practice case studies, to better identify and implement innovation in their own records and information management areas • meeting international standards on the management and collection of electronic records and information.

Enhance PROV’s Standards Recordkeeping standards are critical for ensuring that the public service is able to operate effectively and be accountable for decisions made and policies implemented. Standards and their supporting specifications and guidelines set the benchmark for the creation, management and disposal of records in Victorian agencies.

In 2009 the Victorian Government allocated funding to PROV to redevelop and update its set of standards governing the management of records across Government. This project is now nearly complete and includes the following standards: • Strategic management • Disposal • Operations management • Storage The remaining three standards Capture, Control and Access and their supporting specifications are due to be published by September 2011. In total 32 new documents have been produced. These standards have been developed following an extensive stakeholder engagement and consultation process.

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Expand PROV’s Policy Framework Over the past decade, government has moved from a paper based work model to an electronic ‘paperless office’ work model. In the coming decade we anticipate the way government works to change again to a mobile work model based around the internet.

These changes will create significant policy issues concerning how agencies create, manage and dispose of records in the new work environment. To resolve these issues PROV is currently conducting extensive research into this issue as well as consulting with a wide group of stakeholders and subject matter experts. PROV aims to ensure that any new or redeveloped recordkeeping policies will satisfy recordkeeping requirements while not becoming an administrative burden.

During 2010-11 PROV has reviewed and restructured how it manages major policy initiatives. The new process is significantly more consultative and includes a Guiding Committee containing representatives from major stakeholder groups.

The major policy initiative carried out by PROV during 2010-11 was the production of draft specifications which are designed to ensure that business systems effectively create and manage records. This work was carried out in conjunction with the International Council on Archives and the Australasian Digital Record Keeping Initiative. PROV also conducted preliminary research on the recordkeeping implications of the use of social media by public servants and the environmental impact of recordkeeping.

This new approach will be thoroughly trialled during the development of other major policy initiatives throughout 2011–12.

Build Collection Support

Vic Floods Charlton Golden Grains Museum PROV Staff & Volunteers

PROV SUPPORTS MUSEUMS AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES IN FLOOD AFFECTED AREAS In January 2011 Victoria experienced the worst floods in the state’s history, which themselves came on the back of severe flooding in September 2010. The impact of these floods created a significant challenge for community collections across the state.

During this difficult time, PROV took on an advisory role in the management of records, sharing information and responses between Museums Australia (Victoria), Arts Victoria, State Library of Victoria and the Gold Museum. PROV also took on a practical role visiting museums, such as Charlton’s Golden Grains Museum as well as several historical societies, where specially trained staff assisted in salvaging water damaged items and donated archival supplies.

PROV would like to acknowledge the efforts of Blueshield Australia and Steamatic. Both of these organisations contributed generously to the flood relief effort, donating free disaster recovery for affected collections. Atlantis Relocations should also be acknowledged for transporting records from regional areas for conservation.

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PROV STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2010–11

PROV FUNDING FOR 2010–11 PROV remains committed to providing financial support to projects that aim to preserve and present historical documents to the public. During 2010–11 PROV administered $642,474 worth of funding to community organisations to carry out 130 projects through the Vic 175 Grants and round 9 of the Local History Grants program The Victorian Government has committed a further $1.66 million to be administered over the next four years to fund the Local History Grants Program and the Victorian Community History Awards.

PROV WORKING WITH ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES PROV recognises the importance of promoting awareness of Aboriginal records within its collection and aims to improve the accessibility of these records to the Aboriginal community.

During 2010–11 PROV’s Koorie Records Unit developed a free workshop for Aboriginal Victorians. The workshops included a wide range of guest speakers from the Koorie Records Unit, National Archives Australia, State Library of Victoria, Museum Victoria, Connecting Home and Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation. Each speaker delivered practical advice about researching Aboriginal family history and caring for collections.

The Koorie Records team responsible for coordinating and delivering Know Your History, Preserve Your Culture workshops

Promote Collection Usage Providing improved data to the collection allows greater understanding and use of our unique collection. During the year we undertook a series of work which has improved data and accessibility to over 645 series within our collection. This work will continue into 2011–2012.

During 2010–2011 PROV embarked upon delivering a modest expansion to its digitisation program and capability. This expansion allowed for a number of internal digitisation projects to be undertaken. One of the most significant of these is the Historic Plan Collection, which when completed in 2012 will result in 9166 plans being available online.

READING ROOMS AND RECORD RETRIEVALS PROV operates two public reading rooms: one at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne and another at the Ballarat Archives Centre in Ballarat.

2010–2011 saw the introduction of a number of service model changes within the reading rooms. These changes consisted of changes to record delivery times to the reading rooms and increased number of records allowed per researcher per delivery. The introduction of PROV supplied digital cameras allows researcher to take images and download them to a memory stick. This initiative has reduced photocopying by approximately 40%.

The layout of the reading room at the Ballarat Archives Centre was redesigned during the year as part of changes made to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of services for researchers.

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The Victorian Archives Centre Reading Room continues to provide researchers with an effective location for undertaking their research. This year saw the introduction of wireless internet to the Reading Room, allowing researchers greater access to other institutions to support their research activities.

Number of records Number of records

A total of 15,445 people visited the two reading rooms and were issued 37,834 records. An additional 11,388 records were issued to government agencies outside the reading rooms and for internal PROV use. There was a slight increase in visitor numbers, but the number RECORDS ISSUED of records issued was lower than the previous year.

70,000

Government users

60,000

Public users

50,000 RECORDS ISSUED 40,000 70,000 30,000 60,000 20,000 50,000 10,000 40,000 30,000

Government users Public users

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

Year

20,000 10,000 Year

Number of visitors Number of visitors

VISITORS TO READING ROOMS 25,000

Ballarat Archives Centre

20,000

Victorian Archives Centre

VISITORS TO READING ROOMS 15,000 25,000

Ballarat Archives Centre

10,000 20,000

Victorian Archives Centre

5,000 15,000 10,000

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

Year

5,000

To complement the service model changes made during 2010-11, significant changes were 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 also made to the roles of Access Services Officers (ASO). ASO staff have developed their skills in the digitisation of records, web publishing, video capture and editing and data management. Staff are now variously using our web publishing tools to showcase records and topics of particular interest to them, engaging in online discussions and promotion through Twitter and other social media, and working to transform our service delivery models to meet changing expectations of how and when service might be delivered.

We have also transformed the way we are providing the data to support online engagement.

New digitisation areas have been set up, and the work rate of internal digitisation projects significantly stepped up.

We aim to further expand digitisation capacity through pursuing opportunities for volunteer projects and community partnerships.

Year

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PROV STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2010–11

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM REVIEW During 2010-2011 PROV undertook a wide-ranging review of our volunteer program. This review has been an in-depth examination of the program and its role in supporting PROV’s strategic initiatives.

Staff, volunteers and public researchers were surveyed for their views on the current program and its future. These surveys, combined with one-on-one interviews with volunteers, discussions with external volunteer program leaders and attendance at volunteer seminars, provided the necessary information to develop the review’s 27 recommendations. These were submitted to PROV’s executive and fully endorsed.

The recommendations will see the volunteer program better support PROV’s strategic initiatives and provide volunteers with greater opportunities within the program.

The key areas of recommendations were: • Integration and communication – supporting the improved integration of the volunteers and the Volunteer Program into PROV culture and operations • Program support – recommendations focusing upon the administrative structure that supports the program • Program development – recommendations providing a direction for new initiatives within the volunteer program • Program operations – recommendations designed to improve existing operations and project outcomes All recommendations are expected to be implemented in 2011–2012.

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Volunteers Program PROV’s dedicated volunteers undertake a range of activities that improve access to records in the collection, support staff, and allow us to offer additional resources and services for researchers.

This year 109 volunteers contributed a total of 15,124 hours. Projects included processing Land Selection Files of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey, Criminal Trial Briefs of the Office of the Victorian Government Solicitor, indexing outward passenger lists and prison registers, working on the Koorie Index of Names project, and creating and editing record description lists. Volunteers also conducted ‘behind the scenes’ tours of the Victorian Archives Centre for members of the public and maintained PROV’s technical library.

Wednesday’s group of PROV Volunteers at work

We are indebted to our volunteers for their efforts during the year: Anna Rotar

Edna Lowe

Jill Mack

Marcel Gerner

Sue Dawson

Ahnya Chuah

Eileen Porter

John Bolt

Margaret Edmonds Sue Maclellan

Barbara Addie

Elizabeth Buckle

John Drury

Margaret Wright

Sue Rickard

Barbara Minchinton

Fay Beslee

John Killian

Marie Rogers

Susan Maclellan

Bernadette Griffiths Flora Walker

John MacKinnon

Maureen Mcauley

Tanja Brkljaca

Gail Thornthwaite

John Waugh

Beryl Mainon

Maureen Molloy

Tim Marriott

Beth Codling

Gary Courte

Jon Rennison

Maxine Wagerman

Val Connors

Betty Keay

Gavin Faichney

Joseph DeLuca

Millie Marsh

Val Latimer

Brian Dixon

Geoff Currey

Joss Vivian

Neil Morris

Vicki Montgomery

Carole Field

Gisela Eisenmann

Judith Vardy

Neil Robinson

Yvonne Pratt

Catherine Rankin

Gordon Dadswell

Judy Johnston

Noel Logan

Cathy Dodson

Gordon Lee

Judy Purdon

Pam Weller

Cheryl Cox

Graeme Cardillo

Julie Chippindale

Pat Porigneaux

Claudia Guli

Graeme Dawson

Kathleen Goodman Paula Collett

Colleen Wineera

Graham Bence

Kaye Cleary

Richard Hudson

Constance Eastwood Helen Lunt

Keith Thomas

Rosalie Palmer

Dana Watts

Helen Rowe

Ken Walduck

Rosalind Faichney

Daryll Doy

Ian Braybrook

Keng Chong

Rosemary Simpson

David Laurence

Ian Hazewinkel

Laurice Cross

Royden Wineera

Dawn Riddel

Ian Pearson

Leanne Goss

Sandra Marshall

Dawn Walduck

Irene Kearsey

Leonie Marshall

Sara Hardy

Diane Riley

Janine Laity

Liz Brown

Shirley Krumnow

Dianne Carmody

Jason Taylor

Liz Raven

Sonya Cameron

Dianne Hughes

Jean Smith

Lynne Shann

Steven McMillan

Dot Skewes

Jerry Arron

Maggie Robinson

Stevie Brownsea

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PROV STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2010–11

Foster an IM Culture As part of its three-year Corporate Plan, PROV committed to establishing a strategic approach to managing its information assets.

PROV finalised and implemented its Records Management Policy through a targeted program of training, education and raising awareness. Records management responsibilities were tied to staff key performance indicators, file naming conventions and Business Classification (BCS) were introduced and as a result, the level of recordkeeping was raised.

A BCS was implemented in 2010/11, across all PROV business units and all electronic records and files, including legacy data. The mapping of old to new, data cleanup and migration went well and its use is now embedded in staff behaviour. The use of the BCS has greatly reduced the time staff spend finding information and in turn has increased efficiency in our services.

A new-look website was introduced along with a new Web Content Management System, delivering de-centralised content management. The new website was part of the PROV Communications and Marketing Strategy Implementation Plan, which was developed in 2010–11. The two year strategy sets the direction for PROV’s promotional and branding activities, with the first year of activities successfully completed. This saw PROV’s uptake of a range of Web 2.0 channels including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

PROV website

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Embed Sustainability A key objective of PROV’s three year Corporate Plan is to embed environmental sustainability into the organisation and, most importantly, the management of its Victorian Archive Centre (VAC) building. PROV is committed to continually reducing its carbon footprint by improving our understanding of the impacts of our activities and changing the way that we operate to minimise and manage these impacts. PROV is also committed to ensuring that all staff, volunteers and contractors are made aware of this commitment.

PROV is in its second year of a two year Environment Strategy. The key objectives drivers of our environment program are: • support the sustainable management and use

of government records; and • reduce greenhouse gas emissions of PROV’s

office-based activities.

In 2010, PROV signed up to City Switch, a program designed to raise awareness of the need to increase energy efficiency amongst the community and help improve the environment.

PROV is committed to making this program a success and will work with the national partner Councils and Sustainability Victoria to complete our commitments.

In 2011 PROV expanded its water harvesting program for the collection of water from the roof of the Victorian Archives Centre. A fifth water tank has been installed through funding obtained through a grants scheme. The water collected from this tank will be used for irrigating the vegetated area adjacent to the visitor car park.

On 22 March PROV received a commendation for its environmental management approach at the launch of the 2011 Strategic Audit into Environmental Management Systems by the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability.

PROV has installed a fifth water tank on site at the Victorian Archives Centre, 99 Shiel St North Melbourne

The Commissioner was very complimentary about PROV’s commitment to sustainability and many of our initiatives, including our water harvesting and reduced energy usage. This view is reflected in the PROV case study in the audit report.

2008–2009

2009–2010

2010-2011

Energy (megajoules per m2)

782

701

752

Water1 (kilolitres per FTE2)

28.8

22.8

21.6

Paper (reams per FTE)

13.7

10.29

10.2

Waste (tonnes per FTE)

0.91

0.97

0.96

Greenhouse gas emissions (tonnes CO2)

4005

3819

3510

1. P lease note last years reported figures were for the whole of the Victorian Archive Centre building.

This year we have amended our figures to show water usage per FTE 2. FTE is 84, this number includes PROV staff and volunteers working at the Victorian Archive Centre.

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PROV STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2010–11

Upgrade PROV’s Infrastructure PROV manages substantial ICT infrastructure, including its collection management systems, digital repository, website and wiki. As part of the scheduled maintenance program for this infrastructure, PROV completed a network, systems and architecture review upgrade project delivering a more robust platform for service delivery.

New ICT services were delivered in 2010/11 including wireless internet in the Victorian Archives Centre foyer and Reading Room, and a proof of concept for remote access for regional archives to PROV’s archival management systems.

A three year ICT Roadmap was developed, outlining the strategic plans for supporting PROV’s services to government and to the public. The first year of the Roadmap activities were all successfully implemented.

This year saw the replacement of the PROV website with the launch of a site with a whole new look and content in May 2011. The new website provides superior search facilities and now links to PROV’s Web 2.0 channels including Facebook, Twitter, Ning and Flickr.

The Victorian Archives Centre, home to the PROV collection underwent an extensive maintenance and upgrade program during 2010–11. The implementation of a fifth water tank to capture water from the building’s extensive roof, the implementation of a new automated Building Management System (BMS) and a new contract was established for the provision of security services at the building. Planning also continued for the extension of the VAC to provide government with a further 20 years of capacity to transfer archives.

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Build Organisational Capacity PROV has continued to transform as an organisation during 2010–11. Following the development of the organisation’s corporate and business plans this year we reorganised some functions, and revised some positions, reporting arrangements and position titles. The changes reflect an emphasis on the development of recordkeeping policy and standards, continued innovation in the delivery of services to the public in line with other cultural collection organisations and the growth in online service demand.

These arrangements are designed to effectively align functions, resources and responsibilities within PROV to ensure the strategic objectives of records preservation, management and utilisation are achieved.

Management & leadership development was a key initiative delivered this year by our People & Culture team to enhance management capability to engage, manage and lead teams.

Twenty three line, middle and senior managers participated in an engaging program which included managing change, strategic thinking, public value, talent acquisition and onboarding, team development, interpersonal effectiveness and equity and diversity.

The program was developed with the aim of building the skills, knowledge and capabilities of employees who manage people and was based in part on the State Services Authority Great Managers, Great Results Development Framework, which identifies attributes required for success in a VPS management position.

The program formally concluded in June with individual presentations from participants to the Executive team and senior managers on what they have learnt about themselves, being a manager and leader, and how they plan to implement the learning in the next year to further develop themselves and their teams.

An alumni is being established to assist in the transference of learning and to foster and build cross functional relationships. Feedback from participants and our corporate and business plans will inform development of further capability development programs for our high potential employees and emerging leaders.

A principle underlying PROV’s internal development efforts in 2010–11 was ‘learning by doing’. We feel it is essential that our staff develop a strong common vision of our role and importance in an online information environment, and can comfortably navigate in that environment.

As part of its Online Engagement Strategy, PROV initiated a series of internal seminars, ‘Geeks@PROV’, which aimed to introduce and explore the significance of a wide variety of web-based products, services and cultures. Topics included online virtual worlds, social bookmarking sites and Twitter. There has been interest and attendance in these seminars from across the VPS, partly due to the use of the ‘VPS Hub’, an internal online discussion forum and document tool.

This year PROV piloted the inclusion of knowledge management goals in all employees’ performance development and progression plans with the aim of increasing the organisation’s intellectual capital.

Competition for skilled resources is increasing. We will continue to work to enhance the employment experience of our people and remain a preferred public sector employer.

38

PROV STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2010–11

2010 Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards The annual Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards focus on two key areas within the Victorian public sector: preservation of records of permanent value and innovations in records management practices. Categories also recognise the work of Places of Deposit (community archives approved by the Minister to hold non-permanent public records of local significance).

The awards are an initiative of the Public Records Advisory Council and are judged by a panel comprising representatives from Council, the Records Management Association of Australasia and the Australian Society of Archivists Inc. The awards are named for Sir Rupert Hamer, who had a longstanding interest in records management and government accountability, and was Victorian Premier when the Public Records Act 1973 was passed and when PROV opened its first office and repository in 1975.

PROV would like to thank the sponsors who made this year’s event possible: Records & Information Management Professionals Australasia, Australian Society of Archivists Inc., Archival Survival, Archive Security, Commando Storage Systems, Doc-UStore, Enterprise Knowledge, Fort Knox Records Management, FYB Pty Ltd, Grace Records Management, Iron Mountain Australia, Records Solutions, Royal Historical Society of Victoria, Steamatic, Victorian Association of Family History Organisations, and Zetta Florence.

Winners of the 2010 Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards

(back row from left): Kaye Fox & Rebecca Grant (Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission); Andrew Nankivell (Mount Alexander Shire Council); Sarah Dugdale (Knox City Council); Tony Morabito (Land Victoria); Justine Heazlewood (Public Record Office Victoria); Peter Harmsworth (Public Records Advisory Council); Ivan Powell & Brett Greenland (Land Victoria); Dawn Peel (Colac & District Historical Society); Bev Bell & Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative an Perna (Greater Shepparton City Council) (front row from left): Rachel U’Ren & Jane Brockington (Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission); Alison Woollard (Mount Alexander Shire Council); Ray Peace, Inta Juanzemis, Karin Orpen & Graham Hansen (Knox Historical Society); Terri Letizia, Assia Hammoud & Kate Wendt (Northern Health)

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VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT AGENCY AWARDS Small Agency Category Winner: Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, ‘The management and transfer of Royal Commission Digital Records’ The Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission was established to investigate the causes and responses to bushfires which swept through parts of Victoria in early 2009.

From its beginning, the Commission employed technology and systems to capture and manage digital and hardcopy records, ensuring immediate access and long-term preservation.

As a result of the careful planning and execution of the records management program and with the assistance of e-law, permanent documents were identified and transferred to PROV at the conclusion of the Commission.

Certificate of Commendation: Legislative Council, Parliament of Victoria, ‘Parliamentary Committees Records Transfer Project’ This project, which took almost two years to complete, involved the successful transfer of more than 90 boxes of Legislative Council Committee records dated from 1856 to 1992. The records included minutes, correspondence, draft reports and transcripts of evidence from 33 Legislative Council Committees.

Medium Agency Category Winner: Land Victoria, ‘Archiving Paper Records – historical documents from Land Victoria’ Land Victoria’s main objective for their project was to secure the long term preservation of historical paper records and provide PROV with digital images and indexes for future public referencing and resourcing.

Three collections of historical paper records were to be deposited to PROV. The first collection was 3000 Crown field books ranging in date from 1800 to 1920. The second collection is some 20,000 Put-Away Plans comprising Parish, Township and Crown Survey Plans, dating from 1800 to 1900. The third set is the current Records Plans or Parish and Township Plans. There are about 5000 paper and transparency plans ranging in date from 1890 to 2001. All of these records relate to the early surveying of Victoria, Crown subdivisions and land development of Victoria.

Certificate of Commendation: City of Boroondara, ‘ECM Business Improvement Project Stage 1’ After making quality and compliance improvements in their Corporate Information department in 2009, a proposal was submitted for continuous improvement in records management. The primary purpose being to further develop the usage of ECM and improving Council’s hardcopy archive storage facility and processes.

A review found some common opinions and barriers amongst staff, namely a negative perception of ECM, a belief that ECM registration was a choice not a requirement, and a lack of understanding of what and how to register.

A training video “Advance to Go” was developed along with other supporting engagement, education and accountability initiatives. Overall, a more positive acceptance of the use of ECM has been established, and during the reporting period of July to December 2010, organisational registrations of documents and emails has increased by an overall 48,000 documents and an average 36% increase in users logged on to ECM. Large Agency Category Winner: Northern Health, ‘Journey to a Scanned World’ Northern Health consists of five sites with admissions and attendance at all locations increasing. As a consequence, management of records storage across all sites had become an issue. A solution that supported the change model of care and readily being able to follow the patient as they moved through the health service was required.

40

PROV STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2010–11

To address these issues, Northern Health implemented a semi-electronic scanned medical record system known as the Clinical Patient Folder. In the last 12 months the benefits and outcomes of the implementation of this system include: • Increased floor space within Health Information Services at all sites • Reduction in courier runs and costs between sites in the delivery of records from three daily runs to one, saving the organisation $30,000 per year • Printing and stationary costs reduced by $47,000 • Concurrent access to patient information both across sites and within the one site • 24-hour medical record availability without the need to staff Health Information Services for 24 hours and after hours retrieval • Access to pathology and radiology investigation results in real time • Scanned medical records have reduced the rate of misplaced documents, and eased manual handling demands on staff.

Certificate of Commendation: Victorian Taxi Directorate, ‘Records Management Project’ As the taxi and car hire industry regulator, the Victorian Taxi Directorate is required to handle large volumes of records, mostly in hardcopy format and often containing personal or sensitive information. The Taxi Directorate at any given time, manages almost 500 linear metres of active hardcopy records.

In mid 2008 management recognised a business need to improve the compliance and efficiency of the Taxi Directorate recordkeeping practices. The project was launched in early 2009 with the objective of fostering a responsible recordkeeping culture capable of establishing and maintaining a single records collection through the use of TRIM. In May 2010 PROV conducted a post implementation review of the Taxi Directorate records project and found it had made outstanding and significant progress to date.

Regional/Rural Agency category Winner: Greater Shepparton City Council, ‘Digital Consent Model – Innovation in Local Government’ Already having an EDMS, Greater Shepparton City Council was looking to better utilise the system to improve and introduce consistent recordkeeping practises across all functions of the Council. One major issue that kept arising was that staff wanted to physically sign documents. This meant that staff were printing out copies in EDMS to sign, retaining the duplicated paper copy as the official record of Council. After months of research, it was discovered that paper records do not always need to be physically signed, and in fact using simple mechanics within the EDMS could introduce streamlined and consistent methods for managing records.

A Digital Consent Model was developed by the records management team whereby a new process was implemented. Now, when a document needs to be executed it is work flowed to the General Manager in the EDMS. Once completed, the electronic document is provided to the CEO who then completes their part. This results in no hardcopies needing to be produced.

Community Archives Awards Preservation of records of significance to the local community and the state Winner: Mount Alexander Shire Council, ‘Digitisation of Shire of Maldon Minute Books 1858–1995’ The Council became aware that permanent items were incorrectly in the custody of Maldon Museum and Archives Incorporated. These items had been transferred during the Maldon Shire amalgamation to Mount Alexander Shire Council in 1995. Not wanting to remove these significant records from the community, it was determined the museum would become an official Place of Deposit, the items would be sent to PROV, and information would be retained for the community by microfilming and converting the records to pdf.

In this stage of the project, records from 1858 to 1900 have been digitised and are now in PROV’s custody. The second phase of the project will commence in 2012 and will focus on digitising the remaining records dating from 1900 to 1995.

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Providing enhanced records access in the local community Winner: Colac & District Historical Society Inc, ‘Colac Court Register from the other side of the world’ (Joint Winner) In July 2010 an item of interest was located in the catalogue of the Duke University in North Carolina, and copies of a few pages were provided to a Society member. It was found to be a leather-bound journal with 250 pages of the first Court of Petty Sessions Register for Colac, dating from 1849–1865. Duke University purchased the register in 1961 from a bookstore in Sydney to add to their British Colonial special collection.

Duke University, upon being contacted by the Society member, gave priority to digitising the register. A team of volunteers were assembled to transcribe and index the entire register. In November 2010 it was made available for free access online, allowing users from around the world to view the original register, search the database, view the full transcription, and read background history on the town and people involved with the Colac Court of Petty Sessions.

Winner: Knox Historical Society Inc, ‘Local School Photos Project’ (Joint Winner) In the 1980s Knox Historical Society decided to seek out copies of photo collections held by local schools. The area was changing rapidly and preserving the community history that it encapsulated became a priority. Many schools were celebrating centenaries, creating a high demand for school history. High quality copies of the photographs in negative form were acquired by a member of the Society.

An extensive indexing project of student and teacher names was also undertaken to make the 20,000 school photographs accessible to the community. Photos have been digitised and indexed into cataloguing software to create a searchable record and an electronic format that is stored offsite for preservation.

A number of the schools are now closed, or have altered significantly and the Society has become a central repository for their histories.

An added bonus of this high profile project has been donations of school memorabilia.

Families have also donated material or allowed copies to be scanned so that the collection is always developing and being enhanced.

Certificate of Commendation: Ballarat Historical Society Inc, ‘Capture the Vision’ The Society holds a significant photographic collection that includes items of regional, state and national status. Several thousand photographs and images of the city have been collected over their 75 year history. However, a 50 year gap in the collection was identified as there has not been an active program for the collecting or taking of photographs since the 1950s.

Capture the Vision aims to collect images of Ballarat’s past, concentrating on those images from the last 50 years. Volunteer photographers were engaged to capture images of day to day life according to topics and schedules set by the project organisers. To date, approximately 15,000 additional images have been added to the collection.

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Public Record Office Victoria

Appendices

APPENDIX 1: ASSETS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT & STAFF PROFILE

Assets The assets include both community and operating assets in the following four categories:

COMMUNITY ASSETS These assets are the state’s archival collection. The collection is currently valued at $189 million.

BUILDING ASSETS Records repositories for storage of the state archives and the state government’s noncurrent records are located at North Melbourne and Ballarat. The Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne is currently valued at $42 million.

MOTOR VEHICLES Public Record Office Victoria operates two vehicles: a sedan and a station wagon.

PLANT AND OPERATING EQUIPMENT Operating assets are used for the upkeep of the physical and digital repositories so public records can be stored safely and made available for public inspection.

Financial Statement

2009–2010

2010–2011

Operating

$3,041,104

$3,405,968

Salary and on-costs

$5,312,296

$6,042,014

Sub-total

$8,353,400

9,447,982

$4,565,156

$1,753,174

$12,918,556

$11,201,156

1

Capital Total expenditure

1 C apital investment includes payments for the building rectification works at the Victorian Archives Centre in 2009-10 and investment against the PROV asset management plan.

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44

APPENDIX 1: ASSETS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT & STAFF PROFILE

Staff profile The following information relates to substantive roles at PROV only. The information does not include fixed-term roles that are fully funded from temporary external funding sources such as grants.

Total

Female

Male

Number of employees At 30 June 2010

75

44

31

At 30 June 2011

75

42

33

Number of staff members, by position type Executive Professional Administration

1

1

0

71

38

33

3

3

0

Number of staff members, by employment type Permanent full-time

53

26

27

Permanent part-time

16

12

4

6

4

2

Fixed term

Number of male and female directors and managers Director

1

1

0

Managers

4

1

3

APPENDIX 2: PUBLICATIONS

A full list of current PROV publications is available on the PROV website at www.prov.vic.gov.au/publications.

Publications are available from: PROV online shop www.prov.vic.gov.au/provshop Publication Sales Public Record Office Victoria PO Box 2100 North Melbourne VIC 3051

Publications 2010–11 PROV produced the following publications during 2010–11

NEWSLETTERS AND JOURNALS Provenance: the Journal of Public Record Office Victoria An annual online journal presenting research from the records held by PROV. September 2010, Issue 9 Public Record Office Despatch Public Record Office Victoria’s monthly enewsletter of events and activities.

POD Newsletter A quarterly enewsletter for the Places of Deposit (POD) network.

Government Services Record A monthly enewsletter of information and resources for records management professionals.

Koorie Records Unit Newsletter A quarterly enewsletter from Public Record Office Victoria’s Koorie Records Unit.

Shaping Up! A monthly enewsletter providing updates on the PROV Recordkeeping Standards Project.

WEBCASTS Audio and video recordings of PROV seminars and other events of interest to the Victorian community, published on www.prov.vic.gov.au/provcasts.

Eight ‘How to’ guides that provide easy to follow information about conducting research in our collection.

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APPENDIX 3: STANDARDS AND ADVICE ISSUED

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 to 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.

For a complete list of standards see www.prov.vic.gov.au/government/standards-and-policy

Standards PROV’s standards and specifications establish requirements for the creation, management and use of Victorian public records.

STANDARDS ISSUED IN 2010–2011 PROS

Title of standard

Issue date Expiry date

PROS 10/10 Standard: Strategic Management Standard

19/07/2010

19/07/2015

10/10/G7

Specification: Strategic Management

19/07/2010

19/07/2015

10/13

Standard: Disposal Standard

09/08/2010

09/08/2015

10/13/S1

Specification: Disposal Standard – Developing Disposal Authorities

09/08/2010

09/08/2015

10/13/S2

Specification: Disposal Standard – Implementing Disposal Authorities

09/08/2010

09/08/2015

10/17

Standard – Operations Management Standard

23/12/2010

23/12/2015

10/17/S1

Specification – Operations Management

23/12/2010

23/12/2015

11/01

Standard – Storage Standard

25/01/2011

25/01/2016

11/01/S1

Specification – Agency Custody Storage

25/01/2011

25/01/2016

11/01?S2

Specification – State Archives POD Storage

25/01/2011

25/01/2016

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Advice These assist Victorian government agencies with applying the standards and provide guidance on specific issues.

ADVICES ISSUED IN 2010–2011 Number

Title of advice

Issue date Expiry date

10/10

Factsheet – Recordkeeping Responsibilities for Heads of Departments & CEOs

01/11/2010

N/A

10/10/F1

Factsheet – Recordkeeping Responsibilities for Public Sector Employees

01/11/2010

N/A

10/10/F2

Factsheet – Recordkeeping Responsibilities for Volunteers

01/11/2010

N/A

10/10/G1

Guideline – Records Management Policy

19/07/2010

19/07/2015

10/10/G2

Guideline – Managing Records of Outsourced Activities

19/07/2010

19/07/2015

10/10/G3

Guideline – Key Performance Indicators

19/07/2010

19/07/2015

10/10/G4

Guideline – Writing a Business Case

19/07/2010

19/07/2015

10/10/G5

Guideline – Records Management Strategy

19/07/2010

19/07/2015

10/10/G6

Guideline – Records & Risk Management

19/07/2010

19/07/2015

10/10/G7

Guideline – Stakeholder Engagement

19/07/2010

19/07/2015

10/13/G!

Guideline – Developing an RDA

09/08/2010

09/08/2015

10/13/G2

Guideline – Implementing a Disposal Programme 09/08/2010

09/08/2015

10/13/G3

Guideline – Destruction

09/08/2010

09/08/2015

10/17/G1

Guideline – Functional Analysis

14/12/2010

14/12/2015

10/17/G2

Guideline – Appraisal

14/12/2010

14/12/2015

10/17/G4

Guideline – Transfer of Custodianship

30/03/2011

30/03/2016

10/17/G6

Guideline – Continuous Improvement

19/04/2011

19/04/2016

11/01/G2

Guideline – Implementing a Storage Programme 21/04/2011

21/04/2016

Retention and Disposal Authorities Retention and Disposal Authorities specify mandatory retention periods for Victorian public records.

AUTHORITIES ISSUED IN 2010–2011 PROS

Title of authority

Issue date Expiry date

PROS 10/11 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of the Country Fire Authority

29/07/2010

29/07/2020

PROS 10/12 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of the Public Record Office Victoria

26/07/2010

26/07/2020

PROS 10/14 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of Victoria Police

22/12/2010

22/12/2020

PROS 10/15 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of Office of Police Integrity

17/12/2010

1712/2020

PROS 10/16 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of the Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner 17/12/2010

1712/2020

PROS 11/02 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of the Supreme Court

21/03/2010

21/03/2020

PROS 11/03 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of the Victims Support Services Function

08/03/2011

08/03/2021

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APPENDIX 3: STANDARDS AND ADVICE ISSUED

VARIATIONS TO EXISTING AUTHORITIES ISSUED IN 2010–2011 PROS

Title of authority

Issue date Expiry date

PROS 94/02 Police Station General Records Authority

– Variation 11

22/12/2010

22/12/2010

PROS 96/10 General Retention & Disposal Authority for

Prison Records – Variation 7

22/12/2010

30/06/2010

General Retention & Disposal Authority for Prison Records created prior to 31 August 2006 – Variation 8 15/06/2011

30/06/2021

PROS 96/10

PROS 96/20 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of the Public Transport Corporation and the

Victorian Rail Track Corporation – Variation 4

07/03/2010

31/03/2014

PROS 96/21 Apprenticeship & Traineeship Records Function

– Variation 4

29/10/2010

31/12/2012

PROS 97/06 Victorian Arts Centre Trust Records Authority

– Variation 3

19/11/2010

31/12/2011

PROS 97/08 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of the Building Commission – Variation 5

13/08/2010

31/05/2013

PROS 97/08 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of the Building Commission – Variation 6

03/11/2010

31/05/2014

PROS 99/01 Department of Premier and Cabinet Disposal

Schedule – Variation 3

29/10/2010

31/03/2012

PROS 99/02 Department of Treasury and Finance Records

Disposal Schedule - Variation 4

29/10/2010

31/07/2012

PROS 99/04 Public Health Services Patient Records General

Records Authority – Variation 6

29/10/2010

31/08/2011

PROS 99/05 State Coroner’s Office Coronial Investigations

Records Authority – Variation 2

29/10/2010

31/07/2013

PROS 99/06 Retention and Disposal Authority for records

of the Gas Safety Records Authority – Variation 2 29/10/2010

31/03/2014

PROS 00/02 Department of Infrastructure Records Authority

– Variation 3 01/01/2011

30/11/2012

PROS 01/01 Schools Records Authority – Variation 3

29/10/2010

31/07/2013

PROS 01/03 Victorian Auditor-General’s Office Records

Authority – Variation 1

03/11/2010

31/12/2013

PROS 01/04 State Revenue Office Records Authority

– Variation 2

04/11/2010

31/07/2012

PROS 02/02 Victoria Police Ethical Standards Department

Records Authority – Variation 2

22/12/2010

22/12/2010

PROS 03/01 Retention and Disposal Authority for the Legal

Aid Function – Variation 1

29/10/2010

31/05/2013

PROS 04/05 Victoria Police – Communications Records

– Variation 1

2010-12-22

22/12/2010

PROS 05/01 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of Ombudsman Victoria – Variation 1

2010-08-27

2015-12-06

PROS 05/02 General Retention and Disposal Authority for

Victoria Police – Variation 1

22/12/2010

22/12/2010

PROS 06/03 Retention & Disposal Authority for Records of the

Department of Victorian Communities – Variation 1 03/05/2011

23/10/2016

PROS 09/10 Retention and Disposal Authority for Records

of the Aged Care Function – Variation 1

17/06/2020

03/05/2013

APPENDIX 4: APPROVED PROV STORAGE SUPPLIERS (APROSS)

APROSS sites are commercial facilities that have been inspected by PROV and approved for the storage of temporary and unsentenced public records.

For a complete list of APROSS sites see www.prov.vic.gov.au/government/archival-suppliesand-storage

APROSS FACILITIES APPROVED IN 2010-11 Advance Records Management Shed 3, 140 Broderick Rd, Corio, 3214 Phone: (03) 5274 2000 Archive Security Laverton, 3028 Phone: 1800 464 360 www.archivesecurity.com.au Iron Mountain 35/9 Ashley Street West Footscray Phone: 1800 476 668 The Doc Shop PO Box 435 Lot 2/4 Rocia Road Traralgon VIC 3844 Phone: (03) 5175 0228 contact@thedocshop.com.au

APPENDIX 5: APPROVED PLACES OF DEPOSIT FOR TEMPORARY RECORDS Places of Deposit are community facilities that meet the storage standards required by PROV to preserve records of significance to local communities.

For a complete list of Places of Deposit see www.prov.vic.gov.au/community-programs/ places-of-deposit.

PLACES OF DEPOSIT APPOINTED 2010–2011 Name of organisation

Date appointed

Location

Keilor Historical Society Inc 7 July 2010

Harricks Cottage, Harrick Rd Keilor Park 3036

Morwell Historical Society Inc

44 Buckley Street Morwell 3840

7 July 2010

Waranga Regional Tourism 7 July 2010 Association & Goulburn

Diggings Research Inc

Rushworth Service Centre High Street Rushworth 3612

Romsey & Lancefield 7 July 2010 Districts Historical Society Inc

55 Main Road Lancefield 3435

East Loddon & District Historical Society Inc

Corner Haig Street & Francis Lane Mitiamo 3573

7 July 2010

Elmore Progress Association 7 July 2010 Inc Museum

Railway Place Elmore 3558

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APPENDIX 6: VERS-COMPLIANT PRODUCTS

After testing conducted by PROV, the following systems have demonstrated a capability of meeting either all or part of the requirements for long-term electronic records management outlined in PROS 99/007: Standard for the Management of Electronic Records (also known as the VERS standard).

Systems may be certified against some or all of the specifications listed in the standard.

Please see the VERS compliance pages on the PROV website for more information: www.prov.vic.gov.au/government/vers Product Vendor

Standard Spec 1 version

Spec 2

Laserfiche version 8.2

2

Sept 2010

Sept 2010 Feb 2011

Feb 2011* Feb 2011

RecordPoint for Microsoft SharePoint v2 RecordPoint

2

May 2011

May 2011 Nov 2010

Nov 2010

Technology One ECM v 4.02

Technology One

2

May 2011

May 2011

May 2011

TRIM v 6.2.5

Hewlett Packard

2

July 2010

July 2010 July 2010

July 2010

TRIM v 7.02

Hewlett Packard

2

May 2011

May 2011

June 2011

TRIM v 7.1

Hewlett Packard

2

May 2011

May 2011

June 2011

Docbureau V 3.0

E-Vis Pty Ltd

2

July 2010

Grace

Grace Records Management

2

InfoXpert eDRMS/ECM v8.1.131

InfoXpert

2

Laserfiche

Oct 2010

Spec 3

Spec 4

Spec 5

Nov 2010

July 2010

June 2011

Oct 2010

* Denotes conditions associated with certificate.

APPENDIX 7: MAJOR VERS CONSULTANCY PROJECTS COMPLETED

VERS consultancy services support the implementation of effective and integrated records management in the Victorian public sector through a range of programs designed to improve their digital records management capability and achieve VERS compliance.

In 2010–2011 a joint initiative between Government agencies and PROV focussed the consultancy’s activities on a major review to realign, reposition and refresh the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy. This VERS Refresh, is a formative review that will release its recommendations later in 2011–2012. These are expected to culminate in the changing of the operating model and approach of VERS. This exciting new phase of the Electronic Records Strategy will allow the Victorian Government to continue future proofing our records for generations to come.

A significant focus has been supporting the Public Sector Information Release Framework and general agency support regarding implementation of the digitisation specification. Other consultancies included: • Department of Premier and Cabinet – Bushfire Royal Commission – Advice and preparation in the transfer of electronic records from the Royal Commission into the Black Saturday Bushfires.

• Department of Primary Industry – Advice on Electronic Document and Records Management Systems • Department of Justice – Advice on regenerating digital certificates • Department of Premier and Cabinet – Advice on digitisation of video footage • Municipal Association of Victoria – Review of Storage specification and approach • Department of Treasury and Finance – Advice on Public Sector Information and metadata model

Public Record Office Victoria

Glossary

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52

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 Archives ). 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 of 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 records ). 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 only 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.

ithin the Victorian public sector, records are appraised to determine W 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 A location approved by the Victorian government minister responsible (POD) 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). 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).

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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 centre 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

•

film, negative, tape or other device in which one or more visual a images is embodied so as to be capable (as aforesaid) of being reproduced therefrom

•

nything whatsoever on which is marked any words, figures, a 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:

•

re in the same numerical, alphabetical, chronological or other a identifiable sequence; or

•

r esult from the same accumulation or filing process, perform the same function or may be of similar physical shape or information content.

standard A set of criteria that states a level of requirement for Victorian agencies. Standards are established by the Keeper of Public Records under the Public Records Act 1973. Standards can be complianceoriented or oriented towards best practice. temporary records Records which are appraised as being of value for a bounded time span and which may be destroyed once they are older than that time span. transfer The removal of public records from the offices which have created or inherited them. Custody, ownership and/or responsibility for the records is changed (e.g. from the office to PROV) (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.

Public Record Office Victoria 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne VIC 3051 T. (03) 9348 5600 www.prov.vic.gov.au