2020-21 Annual Report by Public Record Office Victoria

Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report 2020–21 A report from the Keeper of Public Records as required under section 21 (1) of the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic)

Published by Public Record Office Victoria 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne VIC 3051 Tel (03) 9348 5600 Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report 2020–21 September 2021 © Copyright State of Victoria through Public Record Office Victoria 2021

Except for any logos, emblems, and trademarks, this work (Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report 2020–21) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia license, to the extent that it is protected by Copyright. Authorship of this work must be attributed to Public Record Office Victoria. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/. Published on http://www.prov.vic.gov.au. ISSN: 1320-8225

Cover image: Immunisation session with doctor and nurse, c.1980s. Maternal and Child Health Service (Infant Welfare) Photographic Collection. Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 16682/P2, Unit 29

Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report 2020–21 A report from the Keeper of Public Records as required under section 21 (1) of the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic)

Hon Danny Pearson Minister for Government Services Level 5, 1 Macarthur Street East 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 (Vic) for the year ending 30 June 2021. Yours sincerely

Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records

Contents Vision and Purpose 7 Values 8 Message from the Director 9 Message from the Public Records Advisory Council President 11 Public Records Advisory Council 12 Overview 13 Organisational Structure 15 Contact 16 Highlights 18 Report on Performance Strategic Initiatives Improve Recordkeeping Practices Across the Public Sector Increase Use of the Collection Increase Community Engagement with Public Records Build Our Profile Identify and Preserve Records of State Significance Strengthen Our Culture and Capability Deliver, Embed and Leverage Our Systems Output Measures 2020–21

21 22 22 23 24 27 29 30 31 32

Appendices 34 Appendix 1: Assets 34 Appendix 2: Financial Statement 34 Appendix 3: Workforce Data 35 Appendix 4: Standards and Advice 36 Appendix 5: Recordkeeping Standards Framework Documents Issued 2020–21 36 Appendix 6: Retention and Disposal Authority (RDA) Documents Issued or Varied 2020–21 36 Appendix 7: Approved Public Record Office Victoria Storage Suppliers (APROSS) 37 Appendix 8: Staff Achievements 38 Appendix 9: Victorian Community History Award Winners 41 Glossary 42

Unnamed female laboratory technician at microscope, c1940. Victorian Railways. Photographic Collection (c.1920–c.1983). Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 12903/P1, Item 330/02

Vision and Purpose Public Record Office Victoria’s Vision Statement is ‘Public Records Publicly Available’. ‘Public Records Publicly Available’ expresses our vision that the records of Government be kept and protected so that all Victorians can have access to their history and important information about themselves. Purpose To support the effective management and use of the public records of the State of Victoria, to ensure that the Government is accountable to the community and that its historical memory is preserved, secure and accessible.

Daily Operations

Mission Statement

Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) was established under section 3 of the Public Records Act 1973 (the Act), ‘for the better preservation, management and utilisation of the public records of the State’. The Act provides the legal framework within which PROV operates, and specifies the core functions of PROV and the Keeper of Public Records with respect to government records. These functions, pursuant to sections 7, 11 and 12 of the Act include:

We will provide leadership to Government on the use and management of public records. We will ensure that the historical memory of the Victorian Government endures, is secure and accessible. We have identified three outcomes that represent the ongoing goals for the organisation:

•

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

• Preservation: The records of Government are preserved so that they are available and 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.

• 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.

Values The Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic) requires that public sector employees demonstrate public service values as outlined in the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sector Employees. Public Record Office Victoria actively implements, promotes and supports these values. PROV, as a public sector body, has developed the following set of values which are based on and consistent with the Code of Conduct: Responsiveness

Leadership

• We will demonstrate and deliver best-practice recordkeeping across Government and our community.

• We will proactively promote and share our unique capability widely.

• We will maintain the highest levels of quality and accuracy in our advice and service to our colleagues and clients. • We will celebrate innovation, ideas and challenge, where it is positive and constructive. Integrity • We will show courage in giving feedback, making requests and offering ideas. • We will share knowledge, information and results willingly and openly.

• We will seek opportunities to enhance and improve our programs, processes and products. • We will show leadership through demonstrating our values and unique behaviours at all times. Human Rights • We will consider Human Rights in all our plans, decisions, advice and interactions and abide by all relevant legislation. • We will observe zero tolerance for harassment, bullying or discrimination.

• We will consider the security of our records and historical memory in our decisions.

• We will facilitate the preservation and expression of the diversity of Victoria’s cultural heritage through our work.

Impartiality

Collaboration

• We will invite, encourage and value the views, contribution and capabilities of all colleagues.

• We will seek to engage and consult with internal and external stakeholders as ‘partners’ with shared objectives.

• We will provide objective and impartial advice to all stakeholders. • We will account for all activities and results with honesty and transparency. Accountability • We will accept both personal and shared responsibility for all actions and ‘follow through’ to ensure agreed outcomes. • We will consider the public good and the public purse in all activities and decisions. Respect • We will show professional and personal respect, courtesy and positivity to all colleagues and clients. • We will be thoughtful and generous with praise and acknowledge a job well done. • We will treat all colleagues, clients, stakeholders and actions fairly, objectively and without bias.

• We will seek opportunities to support and assist each other. • We will consult and engage through direct communication where possible.

Message from the Director The pages of this year’s Annual Report feature photographs from our January 2021 online exhibition A New Normal. Every year we hold exhibitions in our Victorian Archives Centre Gallery to showcase our extensive photographic collection. We delivered our 2020–21 exhibition as a solely online production reflecting the challenges of the last year both in form and content. For this exhibition, local street photographers captured the moments of kindness, creativity and hardship that defined 2020 in Victoria. Alongside these contemporary images, photographs from our collection and that of the National Archives of Australia further explored the concept of a new normal throughout Victoria’s history. In 2020–21 our services, like so many others, were affected by COVID-19. We remained closed between July 2020 and December 2020, with further shutdowns throughout 2021. This continued to cause delays in the final stages of development of our new ordering and copy request system. However, it also presented opportunities for us to expand our online engagement with users and showcase collection items available online. Information Management Maturity Assessment Program The Information Management Maturity Assessment Program (IMMAP) report for 2019–20 was released in May 2021. The IMMAP 2019–20 report maps the state of information management (IM) across eight departments and two agencies within the Victorian Government. Machinery of government changes, technological and system changes, and the COVID-19 pandemic were found to have strongly impacted prioritisation and resourcing available for IM activities throughout the year. As a result, the maturity levels were similar to, and in some cases less than, the levels achieved in the last assessment cycle. Regular and ongoing review, analysis, reporting and management of identified gaps or risks as part of a dedicated and resourced program of work are essential for improved IM maturity. Thank you to all agencies for taking part in this important piece of work. You can read more about IMMAP in the Highlights section of this Report. Online engagement The nature of 2020–21 and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that our public and government agency users engaged with us online more so than ever before. Highlights included online Records Management Network events attended by 248 government recordkeepers and IM staff, online public history and research events viewed by more than 3,000 people, and the regular social media promotion of online collections, exhibitions and resources to a captive audience of 27,365 people.

We also hosted the Victorian Community History Awards as an online event for the very first time. Almost 1,500 people tuned in across YouTube and Facebook with viewers interacting and engaging with winners through chat and social media channels. It was a fantastic alternative to the live Arts Centre event we usually run and was very well received by the history and research community. You can read more about our online engagement activities and events further on in this Report. Twentieth anniversary of the Victorian Archives Centre November 2020 marked 20 years since the Victorian Archives Centre building in North Melbourne was officially opened. This was a significant milestone with many of our current staff involved with the relocation of the collection from Laverton to North Melbourne back in the year 2000. It was a huge undertaking, with 12.5 million files, 500,000 boxes or 1,760 truckloads of records, moved across. The meterage was estimated as 79,938km. Twenty years later, the Victorian Archives Centre now houses over 100 linear kilometres of records and is a modern sanctuary for staff, public researchers and the collection of historic records housed within the Centre’s repository. Thank you to our volunteers, researchers, community, school groups and local residents who have visited and engaged with our collection over the last 20 years.

Achievements and acknowledgements Thank you to all staff for rising to the challenge of a changing work environment and continuing to find new ways to meet virtually and serve our users online. I also want to thank our volunteers for remaining engaged and the Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC) members for all their assistance in another particularly challenging year.

Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records

Message from the Public Records Advisory Council President I was pleased to continue to serve as President of the Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC) for another year, alongside council members Rachel Cowling, David Brous, Belinda Ensor, Deidre Missingham, Prof. Keir Reeves, Bonnie Chew, Jodie Quilliam and Steve Stefanopoulos. It was also Susie Zada’s final year on the Council and I thank her for her contribution as our local history and genealogy representative. I would like to thank all PRAC members for their ongoing service as well as the Keeper of Public Records, Justine Heazlewood, and PRAC secretary Rebecca Young for another successful year. In the 2020–21 financial year we continued to meet virtually when physical meetings were impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. From early 2021 we were able to hold meetings in-person including two out-of-session meetings to discuss possible reforms linked to the review of the Public Records Act 1973 including addressing recommendations made by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office in preparation for public consultations to take place in 2021–22. I, and other PRAC members, were also pleased to attend the Victorian Archives Centre in May 2021 for a special National Volunteer Week event for PROV’s volunteers. The theme for Volunteer Week this year was Recognise, Reconnect, Reimagine. A very relevant theme after the previous year in which our volunteers were not able to participate in projects on site. The event in May was their first time seeing each other in person since early 2020 when COVID-19 restrictions first came into place. It was wonderful to see everyone reconnect and to celebrate their continual engagement with the archives.

Bright, Gippsland, Narre Warren, Geelong, Ballarat, Emerald and Box Hill. Susie’s advice also led to the development of the Records at Risk program to systematically assess, manage and preserve records at risk of loss. She contributed by informing PROV of permanent records held outside of archival custody including local government and land ownership records. Thanks to Susie for being such a long-standing, active and involved member. Her contribution to the Council will be sorely missed.

Judy Maddigan President, Public Records Advisory Council

Finally I’d like to acknowledge the enormous contribution to the Council by Susie Zada. Susie retired from the Council at the end of March 2021 after more than ten years of service. A passionate genealogist who has also worked with the Genealogical Society of Victoria and Geelong Heritage Centre, Susie was our representative for local history and genealogy and provided valuable advice in this area. Over the course of her service she has helped prepare advice to Ministers including Peter Batchelor, Ted Baillieu, Heidi Victoria, Gavin Jennings and Danny Pearson on a range of issues including the review of the Public Records Act. Susie also served as a judge for the Local History Grants Program and advocated for further engagement throughout regional Victoria leading to PRAC visits to Horsham, Whittlesea,

Public Records Advisory Council Establishment and Functions

Summary of Activities

The Public Records Advisory Council was established under section 4 (1) of the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic). The functions of the Council, as specified in section 5 of the Act, require that it:

The Council met on seven occasions in 2020–21:

(a) In consultation with the Keeper of Public Records, shall promote cooperation between Public Record Office Victoria and public offices.

• 10 February 2021, Victorian Archives Centre

(b) May report and make recommendations to the Minister on any matter relating to the administration of the Act. PROV provides support to the Council by preparing Council agenda papers, coordinating the scheduling of Council meetings, providing assistance with the appointment of new Council members, as well as providing assistance and administrative support for Council sub-committees. Council membership Section 4 (1A) of the Act requires that the Council consist of not more than ten members with knowledge and experience in such areas as public administration, local government, records management, business administration, historical research, Indigenous heritage and genealogical research. The current Council is comprised of: Judy Maddigan, President Rachel Cowling, Department of Premier and Cabinet representative David Brous, Public administration Belinda Ensor, Historical research (public history) Deidre Missingham, Finance and business administration Prof. Keir Reeves, Historical research (academic history) Susie Zada, Genealogy and local history (retired from Council March 2021) Bonnie Chew, Indigenous heritage Jodie Quilliam, Information management Steve Stefanopoulos, Local Government Rebecca Young, Secretary A new representative for genealogy and local history has been sought and will be formerly appointed in the 2021–22 financial year.

• 19 August 2020, Video Conference • 21 October 2020, Video Conference • 14 April 2021, Victorian Archives Centre • 12 May 2021, Victorian Archives Centre • 20 May 2021, Victorian Archives Centre • 25 June 2021, Victorian Archives Centre and Video Conference Council meetings The Council would like to thank the Keeper of Public Records, Justine Heazlewood, and Council Secretary, Rebecca Young for their continued support throughout the year.

Overview Executive

Public interest disclosure

Headed by Justine Heazlewood, Director and Keeper of Public Records, the executive team is located at 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; phone (03) 9348 5600.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 (Vic) encourages and facilitates making disclosures of improper conduct by public bodies or public sector employees, and protects persons who make those disclosures.

Act administered: Public Records Act 1973 (Vic) PROV’s operations are governed by the Public Records Act 1973, which defines the role of both the Keeper of Public Records and the organisation. The Act is available for inspection on the PROV website www.prov.vic.gov.au and at our North Melbourne and Ballarat offices. Regulations made and administered Regulations are made under section 23 of the Public Records Act 1973 and are known as the Public Records Regulations 2013. The Regulations prescribe fees for making and supplying copies of public records and set out conditions for the inspection of public records and use of facilities provided by PROV. All Regulations are available for inspection on our website www.prov.vic.gov.au/ about-us.

PROV is committed to the aims and objectives of the Act. PROV does not tolerate improper conduct by its staff or reprisals against those who come forward to disclose such conduct. The procedures for protecting people who make protected disclosures under the Public Interest Disclosure Act are available on our website www.prov.vic.gov.au/ about-us/legislation-and-governance. Public Record Office Victoria standards and authorities PROV issues standards for records management and authorities for retention and disposal under section 12 of the Public Records Act 1973. A full list of current standards and authorities is provided on our website at www.prov.vic.gov.au/government and at our North Melbourne and Ballarat offices.

Portfolio responsibility The Department of Premier and Cabinet has portfolio responsibility for PROV. PROV is an administrative office under the Public Administration Act 2004. Freedom of information The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) gives members of the public a right to access documents held by Victorian Government agencies, including PROV. For the 12 months ending 30 June 2021, PROV received no Freedom of Information applications. FOI requests for PROV agency documents should be addressed to: Freedom of Information Officer Public Record Office Victoria PO Box 2100 North Melbourne 3051

Access Services

Government 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:

Government Services develops the recordkeeping requirements which all Victorian public sector agencies must meet and provides a range of products, tools and services to support them to manage their records effectively and compliantly. This is done through:

• A program of digitisation to improve access to our collection and services through our website • The provision of public reading room services and online access to PROV’s collection and research tools • Preserving archives within their region of origin, ensuring equality of access for communities in regional Victoria • Providing culturally appropriate services, procedures and tools that enhance access by the Koorie community • Transmitting information to clients about the collection • Issuing records in a manner that meets government needs and community expectations • A program of exhibitions, publications, educational resources and outreach activities. Corporate Services Corporate Services supports staff across PROV through the provision of the following services: • Budgeting, financial management and reporting • Risk management • Environmental planning and reporting • Strategic planning and reporting • Communications and online engagement • Information communication technology • Information management • Human resource management • Organisational development.

• Developing mandatory standards and specifications, associated advice and guidance products •

Working across the Victorian public sector to appraise the functions of Government in order to assess the value and significance of the records they manage and to specify records required as state archives

•

Managing and promoting the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) and working with strategic partners to assist agencies to transition to digital recordkeeping

• Working with agencies to schedule, plan and manage the transfer of permanent value records to PROV, focussing on high-value and at-risk records • Providing advice to individual agencies and developing and publishing a comprehensive set of guidelines, case studies and tools to assist them • Engaging in committees and taskforces and partnering with other organisations on projects and initiatives designed to improve recordkeeping •

Delivering a program of awareness and recognition events, and investigating and reporting on the state of recordkeeping in Victoria including associated challenges and issues.

Organisational Structure

Minister for Government Services

Secretary Department of Premier & Cabinet Deputy Secretary Department of Premier & Cabinet

Cabinet Communications and Corporate*

Director and Keeper of Public Records Public Record Office Victoria

Public Records Advisory Council

Government Services

Access Services

Corporate Services

Standards & Policy

Digital Projects

Finance & Risk Management

Government Recordkeeping

Collection Services

Facilities

Community Engagement

Communications & Online Engagement

Technical Services

People & Culture *Previously Governance, Policy & Coordination

Contact As at 30 June 2021, PROV operated two public reading rooms and had 47 staff members (FTE).

Public Reading Rooms Email: enquiries@prov.vic.gov.au Website: prov.vic.gov.au Victorian Archives Centre Harry Nunn Reading Room 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne VIC 3051 Phone: (03) 9348 5600 Ballarat Archives Centre Joan Hunt Reading Room at the Eureka Centre 102 Stawell Street South Ballarat Central VIC 3350 Phone: (03) 5333 0306 Follow us on Facebook @PublicRecordOfficeVictoria Twitter @PRO_Vic Instagram @vic_archives

Access Services Acting Assistant Director: David Taylor Phone: (03) 9348 5678 Email: david.taylor@prov.vic.gov.au Public enquiries: enquiries@prov.vic.gov.au

Corporate Services Assistant Director: Lara Pasquale Phone: (03) 9348 5681 Email: lara.pasquale@prov.vic.gov.au Public enquiries: enquiries@prov.vic.gov.au

Government Services Acting Assistant Director: Julie McCormack Phone: (03) 9348 5630 Email: julie.mccormack@prov.vic.gov.au Acting Assistant Director: Alison McNulty Phone: (03) 9348 5711 Email: alison.mcnulty@prov.vic.gov.au Agency enquiries: agency.queries@prov.vic.gov.au

People & Culture Assistant Director: Nicole Tighe Phone: (03) 9348 5725 Email: nicole.tighe@prov.vic.gov.au

Ghost Town, State Transport Authority, Photographic Collection (c.1900-c.2000). Railway bridge over Langridge Street, Abbotsford, c.1920. Public Record Office Victoria. VPRS 12800/P3, Unit 36, Item ADV 0359

Highlights

March 1999 Victorian Archives Centre perspective design by Geoffrey Falk.

Celebrating 20 years of the Victorian Archives Centre

Staff member Kathy McNamara remembers “the move”:

November 2020 marked the 20 year anniversary of the Victorian Archives Centre building in North Melbourne. The COVID-19 pandemic meant we were unable to host in-person celebrations, instead the history of the building was shared online with staff contributing memories of the construction and move from Laverton to North Melbourne.

“It was a huge project that included barcoding the collection for the first time, processing/ reboxing, appraisal, disposal, collection plotting, logistics, communications, clean up and so much more. It was all consuming and overwhelming at times. It was also a sterling achievement by a team of committed staff. It was an exciting time to have been part of the organisation. Much was done and much more had to be done.... A new millennium. A new building. A new service model.”

In February 1998, then Premier and Minister for the Arts, Jeff Kennett, announced the construction of the new Victorian Archives Centre to be built on the former Government Printer and Gas and Fuel site in North Melbourne. A few months later, architects from Bates Smart unveiled the design to North Melbourne residents and appointments were made to assist with planning and relocating the archival collection from our site in Laverton to the new repository in North Melbourne. The process of design, construction and relocation took a few years, but by 2000, many staff were ready to move in to the brand new, state-of-the-art, Victorian Archives Centre site. The relocation of the collection from Laverton to North Melbourne occurred between July-October 2000 and involved moving 12.5 million files, 500,000 boxes or 1,760 truckloads of records. The meterage moved was estimated as 79,938km. Twenty years later, the Victorian Archives Centre now houses 100 linear kilometres of records.

Then Minister for the Arts, Mary Delahunty, officially opened the Victorian Archives Centre building on 9 November 2000. While the building was then open to staff, researchers were mainly still utilising our building in Casseldon Place while we got the new reading room up and running. However, from November 2000 some records could be viewed at North Melbourne by appointment. The reading room was officially opened to the public on 29 April 2004 and named after the first Keeper of Public Records, Harry Nunn OAM, as a facility shared by PROV with the Melbourne Office of the National Archives of Australia. Thank you to all our volunteers, researchers, groups and local residents who have visited the Victorian Archives Centre over the last 20 years.

A new normal In January 2021 we launched the exhibition A new normal as part of our Victorian Archives Centre Gallery exhibition program (photos from the exhibition feature throughout this Annual Report). A new normal explored life in Victoria during the pandemic. Featuring the work of local street photographers and photojournalists (Julie Millowick, Ilana Rose, Mark Forbes, Michael Currie, Steph Bolt, Bruce Furmedge, Cathrin Plunkett, Chris Kelly, Christopher Hopkins, Joseph Chow and Andrea Esposito), chosen from over 160 submissions, it captured the moments of kindness, creativity, hardship and surreal-ness that defined 2020 in Victoria. Alongside these contemporary images, photographs drawn from the collections of the Victorian State Government and National Archives of Australia expanded the concept of a new normal further, reflecting on change in our past, both negative and positive. A new normal was launched as a digital-only exhibition through the PROV website and the Google Arts & Culture website where it can still be viewed. Between January and June 2021 it was viewed more than 2,000 times with social media posts reaching almost 60,000 Victorians reaching new audiences with a window into photographs from the archives while providing a comparison and acknowledgment of the present-day opportunities, challenges and changes that came out of 2020.

Andrew and Samantha working on the Queenscliffe project.

The collection consists largely of maps and plans of marine survey activity around the Port of Melbourne and Victorian waterways and coastline, which show sea depth measurements, dredging works, and port infrastructure. The records span the midnineteenth century up to early in the twenty-first century, over more than 10,000 plans, volumes, folios, and indexes. PROV staff continue to describe, bag, and box up these records to make them discoverable to the public for the first time. We look forward to the completion of the project when these valuable records will be available for researchers to view.

Queenscliffe Maritime Museum records transfer Early in 2020, PROV staff started work on a project to arrange and describe a large number of records from Melbourne Harbor Trust Commissioners, Port of Melbourne Authority, and other predecessor agencies of the Victorian Ports Corporation with funding provided by the Victorian Ports Corporation. While months of working from home put a pause on the project, once we returned to the Victorian Archives Centre in November 2021, we were able to quickly resume the description work.

Information Management Maturity Assessment Program The Information Management Maturity Assessment Program (IMMAP) report for 2019–20 was released in May 2021. The IMMAP 2019–20 report maps the state of information management (IM) across eight departments and two agencies within the Victorian Government. It’s the third IMMAP report to be issued and flags IM strengths and weaknesses as noted by participating organisations across four areas: people, organisation, information lifecycle and quality, and business processes and systems. Machinery of government changes, technological and system changes, and the COVID-19 pandemic were found to have strongly impacted prioritisation and resourcing available for IM activities throughout the year. As a result, the maturity levels were similar to, and in some cases less than, the levels achieved in the last assessment cycle. We also found that the Information Management Framework and the Victorian Protective Data Security Framework continue to be leveraged for strong IM governance, strategic alignment and direction, executive level investment, and top-down engagement led by multi-divisional committees. Tools used as part of these frameworks, such as the information asset register, are proving to be central to progressing IM activities across organisations. Departments and agencies with a strong digital focus and investment were able to transition to remote working more smoothly than others, partially due to business processes already being embedded within a digital environment. This has had a positive impact on maturity levels achieved this cycle. Combining online engagement such as eLearning and group chat services with consultation and collaboration opportunities including divisional representation on IM committees has also had a positive impact on maturity levels achieved. Regular and ongoing review, analysis, reporting and management of identified gaps or risks as part of a dedicated and resourced program of work are essential for improved IM maturity. Those departments and agencies who incorporated a program of this kind (whether it be an audit, risk

management, compliance management or based on another area of expertise) generally achieved a higher maturity rating. You can read the full report on our website.

Report on Performance Corporate Plan 2017–18 to 2020–21 PROV’s four-year Corporate Plan provides the strategic direction for the period 2017–18 to 2020–21. The Plan articulates the mission, primary strategic objectives and values of PROV; describes our current and emerging operating environment; and details our three overarching outcomes and strategic initiatives. It also details the guiding principles that we use when implementing these initiatives. .

Initiatives •

Improve recordkeeping practices across the public sector: We will continue to support effective recordkeeping in agencies by creating and mandating standards, promoting their implementation, and surveying and reporting on agency adherence and practice.

•

Increase use of the collection: We will continue to make our collection more accessible and ensure the needs of different communities accessing the collection are met.

• Increase community engagement with public records: By supporting communities and engaging in community interaction, we will increase usage of the PROV collection and encourage good community collection management practices. •

•

Deliver, embed and leverage our systems: We will complete the development and implementation of a new digital archive that is capable of supporting our electronic recordkeeping standard, and deliver additional business solutions to improve the efficiency and delivery of our service to government and the public.

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

Build our profile: Our reputation as an inspiring, accessible and educational agency will be further increased with targeted communication campaigns to highlight the importance of government recordkeeping to the state and to the public, and our important service to the public and community, online and offline.

• Identify and preserve records of state significance: We will work with agencies to identify records of significance, determine how long records should be kept to meet the government’s needs, support organisational accountability and meet community expectations. •

Strengthen our culture and capability: Our programs over the next four years will ensure that our staff are equipped and supported to work in our changing technology environment. We will strive to be a leader in diversity and inclusion and develop an employee value proposition.

Strategic Initiatives Improve Recordkeeping Practices Across the Public Sector Review of the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic) In 2021, PROV has continued to work with the Public Records Advisory Council and the Department of Premier and Cabinet on policy issues and possible reforms linked to the review of the Public Records Act 1973 including addressing recommendations made by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office. Public consultation on the Act will take place in the next financial year. Record and Disposal Authorities PROV is responsible for the establishment of standards for the management of public records under Section 12 of the Public Records Act 1973. This includes the issuing of retention and disposal authorities (RDAs) to authorise the disposal of public records. During 2020–21 PROV undertook a series of projects to appraise and authorise disposal of records of two of the major Victorian Courts - the Magistrates’ and County Courts - as well as Court Services Victoria, responsible for the Victorian Reporting Service, together they represent a significant portion of the Court system. Redevelopment of key court buildings, requiring hardcopy records to be removed, and a major project to implement a new electronic case management system were key business drivers for the RDA development projects. The Magistrates’ and the County Courts’ holdings represent some of the most significant caches of hardcopy records remaining outside archival control. A report commissioned by Boston Consulting Group in 2015 noted that there were approximately 15,000 linear metres of court records in various locations around the state, both located in court buildings and in secondary storage. The Court records will be well complemented in the future by the transcripts of court hearings created by the Victorian Government Reporting Service, now formally specified as State Archives in a retention and disposal authority for the first time. Having these RDAs in place provides the Courts with a sound basis for dealing with the backlog, reduce costs in the longer term, support the preservation and accessibility of all records and prevent loss of digital records in future. We look forward to working with the Courts on the many records transfers to occur in the coming years.

Victorian Electronic Records Strategy 2020–21 The Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) is about ensuring the creation, capture and preservation of authentic, complete and meaningful digital records by the Victorian public sector. In 2020–21, as part of our 2018–21 VERS action plan, we completed phase 2 of the Machine Assisted Email Appraisal Proof of Concept. Email appraisal and preservation presents a challenge for government archival institutions the world over; key actions and decisions of government officials are documented daily in emails including email records which should be retained as State Archives. To address this challenge PROV is investigating methods to organise and preserve the Victorian Government’s emails for the benefit of government and the public good. Our stage 2 research project concluded in late 2020 during which we investigated automated methods to reduce and organise emails by removing duplicates, non-official and low value administrative emails to significantly reduce the volume to a core of “official emails”, thus reducing ongoing storage and management costs for government and improving information discoverability and re-use. We also explored the possibility of using email threading techniques that organise the emails into a thread or chain of correspondence to enable the reader to follow the chronology of events documented in the email. Our email appraisal projects to date have been focussed on the particular technical challenges presented by Lotus Notes emails and the IT governance regime in Victoria; however, we are keen to broaden our analysis and develop solutions applicable to current and future email and messaging systems used by government. Next steps include further research into email threading and using our test data to create a training set for the application of artificial intelligence technology to remove duplicates and non-official records and retain a corpus of official records for government and the community. Records Management Network The Records Management Network (RMN) was established to provide a forum for knowledge exchange and discussion of issues affecting records management within the VPS. We held two RMN events in 2020–21 online via Zoom.

The event held in November 2020 focussed on the Recordkeeping Assessment Tool (RKAT), with presentations from PROV about RKAT’s development, functionality and application in workplaces, as well as from agencies who had already used the tool to measure their recordkeeping maturity. The second event was held in June 2021 featuring presentations about managing records during the pandemic. The events were very well attended and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The events held in 2020–21 were the first RMNs to be held online. We will continue to make use of streaming technology to make future RMNs, even those held on site, more accessible to a broader audience, particularly our stakeholders in regional Victoria. Review of PROV Standards and Specifications Under the Public Records Act 1973, the Keeper of Public Records is responsible for issuing mandatory Standards for Victorian public offices. PROV is undertaking a review of these Standards and accompanying Specifications, in consultation with stakeholders. In 2020–21 PROV revised and issued the Storage Standard and the Approved Public Record Office Storage Supplier (APROSS) Specification. The Storage Standard sets the principles and requirements that Victorian public offices must meet when storing or making arrangements for storing physical and digital records. The APROSS Specification sets requirements for commercial storage providers given approval by the Keeper of Public Records to store physical format public records on behalf of public offices. Planning has commenced for reviewing the Disposal Standard and associated Specifications. Training program PROV’s online training module, Recordkeeping Essentials, was launched in 2019–20 and continues to be well received by PROV’s stakeholders, with 871 recorded completions in 2020–21 via our eLearning site. We have provided the eLearning package to a further 17 agencies, who have uploaded it into their own management systems, with a further 836 recorded completions via these platforms.

We are working to build on our existing package, with a new Digital Recordkeeping module in production. Recordkeeping Assessment Tool update The Recordkeeping Assessment Tool (RKAT) is an online self-assessment platform developed by PROV to help organisations measure the maturity of their recordkeeping practices against our Standards, which are mandatory for the Victorian public sector. While RKAT has been designed for Victorian public offices, individuals and organisations outside of Victorian Government are welcome to use the tool, which is free to access. The tool was launched in June 2020 and in its first 12 months of operation has been accessed by agencies across all sectors covered by the Public Records Act 1973 with 260 assessments completed or in progress. PROV has engaged with users throughout this period and made improvements to both the content and the application. PROV recommends that agencies use RKAT as part of an ongoing audit program, to regularly assess recordkeeping practices across their organisation. RKAT is available on our website.

Increase Use of the Collection PROV volunteers Our usually vibrant Volunteer Program was paused in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout 2020–21 the volunteers learnt new ways to engage with the collection and each other. Fortnightly Zoom meetings with each group of volunteers were a great way to stay connected. Though normal digitisation and indexing projects could not go ahead offsite, a limited number of online projects such as the transcription of 1850 to 1900 inquest files of “unknown people” were quickly completed and the continued willingness and expertise of volunteers was greatly appreciated. A gala evening was held in the Victorian Archives Centre Gallery in May 2021 to welcome back our very committed volunteers and to celebrate and thank them for the vital role they play at PROV. It was encouraging to see the enthusiasm and eagerness to return to the office. The event coincided with National Volunteer Week and we were delighted to have Scott Miller, Chief Executive from Volunteering Victoria, as the guest speaker.

The Volunteers enjoyed a celebratory evening at VAC for National Volunteer Week.

Scott Miller, CEO of Volunteering Victoria, thanked our volunteers for their work.

We are looking forward to a safe resumption of the program and to reconnecting with the very generous and skilled PROV volunteers in 2021–22.

around 18,000 images used in school curricula and publications from the 1950s to the 1970s and presents a comprehensive picture of Victoria during that period.

University outreach update Now in its third year, the University Outreach Program continues to offer course-specific presentations to tertiary students across Victoria, helping them with the fundamentals of archival research and navigating PROV’s system. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all presentations were held online in 2020–21 and our focus was on PROV’s digitised collections which could be easily accessed by students working from home. New to 2020–21 were our ‘research boot camps’ where post-graduate students received one-on-one help for their projects from members of our University Outreach Unit. This team is made up of staff across all sections of PROV with specialist knowledge of the collection. The call-out for applications was made through our network of tertiary lecturers and the response was so enthusiastic that a second boot camp was held, utilising the wealth of knowledge held by the PROV volunteers. The next step in the program focuses on producing video content tailored to specific research areas, which can provide a starting point for students who are new to archival research. Photographic digitisation project Due to the support of the Ross Trust we were able to complete the digitisation of two series of photographic negatives from the Education Department Publications Branch and the Public Works Department. The negative collection of the Publications Branch of the former Education Department consists of

The Public Works Department captured around 5,000 images of state-funded or occupied buildings in the 1950s and 60s. These are both documentary and evocative, and have been widely used in various heritage projects especially. The Ross Trust grant allowed us to have these images commercially digitised, while our volunteers undertook a project to transcribe the card index created by the Department of Education and Training for their collection. Both sets of images will be made available online in late 2021.

Increase Community Engagement with Public Records Exhibitions January 2021 saw the launch of the Victorian Archives Centre Gallery’s online photographic exhibition entitled A new normal. The exhibition featured archival images from the collections of Public Record Office Victoria and the National Archives of Australia, alongside contemporary street photography, as detailed in the Highlights section of this Report. PROV-partnered exhibitions at Old Treasury Building, including Wayward Women? and Foundations of Melbourne continued throughout 2020–21, with a new exhibition about protests added to the mix. These were seen by an audience of 9,723 Old Treasury visitors.

In addition to our own exhibitions and existing partnerships, we also offer a loan service that provides other museums with the opportunity to display public records from our collection as part of their own exhibition programs. As part of this service our records continued to be featured as part of the Royal Children’s Hospital 150th Anniversary display and a digital copy of a nurses book appeared in Her Place Women’s Museum Unmasked exhibition. Provenance Provenance is our free online journal, published annually at prov.vic.gov.au. The journal features peer-reviewed articles as well as other written contributions that contain research drawing on records in the state archives’ holdings. Despite a difficult year for in-person research and access to archival material, Provenance issue 18 in 2020 contained seven original articles that reflected diverse research and innovative use of PROV records to illuminate new areas of inquiry and the relationships between our past, present and future. PROV’s historic plan collection provided sources for two authors in very different ways. Barbara Minchinton looked at the history and significance of the “Bibbs map”, originally created to facilitate the construction of Melbourne’s water supply system in the 1850s, and now a valuable source for heritage researchers and urban archaeologists decoding the built fabric of Melbourne’s gold rush era development. John Burch, Ian D Clark and Fred Cahir’s paper argued that a more nuanced reading of parish plans, in particular cadastral plans of surveys relating to the control and alienation of Crown land in Victoria, presents new opportunities for understanding the ways in which the traditional owners of the Mallee back country region of northwestern Victoria inhabited the land both prior to, and immediately following, the arrival of nonAboriginal people in the area in the 1830s and 1840s. Two companion articles from members of the Melbourne History Workshop examined the richness and scope of inquest records for exploring both individual and community stories from viewpoints including race, class, gender, and family

relationships. Methodological concerns about the creation and use of these records inspired questions for researchers arising from the context in which they were created, as well as what they can both reveal and conceal. Howard R Lawson was a progressive Melbourne architect who made innovative use of recycled materials during the early decades of the twentieth century. Virginia Blue’s research on Lawson, including his application for registration as an architect, not only revealed aspects of Lawson’s personality but also the circumstances that saw his application ultimately fail and led to the sullying of his professional reputation. Darren Arnott re-examined the events surrounding the fatal shooting of Rodolfo Bartoli, an Italian prisoner of war, while he was allegedly attempting to escape from the Rowville internment camp on 30 March 1946. Through a thorough examination of the correspondence, reports and court martial files, Arnott’s thoughtful and sensitive narration of Bartoli’s untimely death and its aftermath ultimately raised more questions about this period in history. We acknowledge the authors and peer reviewers, as well as the editorial board which supports the production of Provenance each year: • Tsari Anderson, Editor, Provenance; Coordinator, Koorie Records Unit, Public Record Office Victoria • Dr David ‘Fred’ Cahir, Associate Professor of Aboriginal History, Federation University Australia • Dr Sebastian Gurciullo, Assistant Editor, Provenance; Collection Management Project Officer, Public Record Office Victoria • Dr Adrian Jones OAM, Associate Professor of History, La Trobe University • Dr Mike Jones, Consultant Research Archivist, Australian National University • Dr Seamus O’Hanlon, Associate Professor of History, Monash University • Dr Dianne Reilly AM, FRHSV, Secretary, La Trobe Society • Katherine Sheedy, Professional Historians Association (Vic) Inc.

• Dr Judith Smart, Adjunct Professor, RMIT University; Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne • Dr Rachel Standfield, Lecturer, Indigenous Studies, The University of Melbourne Koorie Records Unit The Koorie Records Unit (KRU) promotes awareness about Aboriginal records within our collection and aims to improve accessibility of these records to the Aboriginal community. The KRU: •

Provides a culturally sensitive Koorie Reference Service in collaboration with the National Archives of Australia to provide support and advice to Aboriginal people wishing to access records relevant to their personal and community histories

•

Develops resources, programs and initiatives that increase the knowledge, accessibility and use of Victoria’s unique collection of government records relating to Aboriginal people.

The KRU’s Koorie Reference Service continued to operate remotely (in the most part) during the COVID-19 pandemic, responding to 88 new research enquiries, involving searches conducted for 467 names and resulting in a total of 1543 index results across the PROV and National Archives collections. Digitisation of records about Aboriginal peoples for increased accessibility has been completed, however work on indexing these records for the Koorie Index of Names project slowed in 2020–21 due to volunteering work required for the project not being possible in a remote working environment. Workshops and presentations for community groups and other stakeholders continued via Zoom and other online platforms where possible. Other highlights included: • Participation in the Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities (CAARA) First Nations Working Group • Staff across the organisation completing the Australian Society of Archivists online training modules Indigenous Recordkeeping and Archives, and A Trauma-Informed Approach to Managing Archives • A formal submission to the Stolen Generations Reparations Steering Committee, which is

advising the Victorian Government on the design of a reparations scheme for Stolen Generations members who have experienced pain and suffering as a result of separation during childhood from family, community, culture and country. Map Warper In 2020–21 our Map Warper tool, that allows maps from our collection to be updated, or rectified, with current day coordinates to create a comparison between the historic map and the present day, continued to gain traction among researchers and map enthusiasts. We now have 12,091 parish plans and historic maps available through the tool, with 6,167 rectified by 850 registered users. In March 2021 PROV’s online engagement officer Asa Letourneau demonstrated the tool as part of an Australian and New Zealand Map Society webinar series. The webinar attracted 70 researchers and geospatial enthusiasts further engaging this niche audience. Asa and the staff and volunteers responsible for developing Map Warper were also awarded with a 2020 RIMPA David Moldrich Outstanding Group Award. Grants and awards We run grants and awards programs each year to provide funding and recognition for those who preserve and share local history and heritage for all Victorians. Coinciding with History Month in October 2020, in partnership with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, we announced the winners of the Victorian Community History Awards as part of a virtual ceremony through YouTube Premiere and Facebook. It was the first time in the history of the awards program that the event went virtual, born out of a need to navigate the pandemic. Almost 1,500 people tuned in across YouTube and Facebook with viewers interacting and engaging with winners through chat and social media channels. The event was preceded by a shortlisting media announcement which generated additional excitement in the lead up to the day, and ensured that more of Victoria’s history projects were able to gain promotion and acknowledgment in their local areas. The shortlist announcement gained 36 media mentions and final winners were in the media 37 times.

Asa Letourneau with the RIMPA Award for Map Warper.

Amanda Scardamaglia, winner of the 2020 Victorian Premier’s History Award.

The 2021 winners included Nick Anchen for Visions of Victoria: The Magic of Kodachrome Film, and Jen Rose, Well Chosen Words and The Boîte for The Boîte: History Through Music, Song and Story. Amanda Scardamaglia won the Victorian Premier’s History Award for her stunning book featuring images from the State Library collection, Printed on Stone: The Lithographs of Charles Troedel.

Are? featuring family connections found in 1850s passenger lists from our collection. These episodes aired in June 2021.

See the Appendix for the full list of winners. In mid-2021, judging for the new round of Local History Grants was also undertaken. Recipients will be formally announced in the 2021–22 financial year and featured in next year’s Annual Report.

PROV’s Dr Sebastian Gurciullo was interviewed for an hour-long podcast by the PlanningxChange in June for a history episode based on his Provenance journal article Learning from the past (freeways and community opposition). We also wrote about various government recordkeeping projects for industry publications such as iQ Magazine and PS News.

Build our Profile

These media activities, among others, reveal stories from our collection to new audiences, and highlight the value of good recordkeeping practices within the public sector.

Mainstream media

Social media

PROV’s programs and records from our collection appeared in the media approximately 230 times in 2020–21, with coverage ranging from online to radio, television and print. Highlights included: media coverage across local outlets for the Victorian Community History Awards shortlist and winners and the Local History Grants recipients; West Gate Bridge collapse records used within various publications, online news stories and documentaries for the 50th anniversary; prison registers and police correspondence files used within Michael Shelford’s regular Herald Sun In Black and White features in 2020–21; and ABC online, SBS and various other online news outlets covering stories from our Section 9 record openings.

In 2020–21 we continued to grow our online community, from 23,657 in June 2020 to 27,365 in June 2021 across Facebook, multiple Twitter channels, Instagram, Linked In and YouTube. Content on our two main channels, the PROV Twitter and Facebook, resulted in more than 150,256 engagements (comments, shares, and likes). This was up more than 10 per cent from last year’s 134,919 which shows just how important these channels are in connecting Victorians with their history, particularly in times when they are unable to engage with the archives in person. Our collection items were also featured across ABC social media channels, Heritage Council of Victoria, various Public Transport organisations, and numerous other history and arts group pages spreading the reach of the collection even further and encouraging Victorians to explore their history through archival research online.

We were pleased to welcome Jeff Fatt and Denise Drysdale to the Victorian Archives Centre in early 2021 to film episodes of Who Do You Think You

Andrew Joyce presenting the Open House Auslan tour.

our program of 2020–21 events, and wherever possible, looked for innovative online solutions to host our tours, talks and exhibitions.

The 1852 Register of Assisted Immigrants from the United Kingdom filmed in Denise Drysdale’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are?

Website The web traffic of the PROV website, prov.vic.gov.au, for the year was 902,193 visitors. The most popular pages of the site were our wills and probates page, passenger records pages and online collections. Some new additions to the website included a 2021 calendar featuring archival images and stories for users to download and print at home, a guide to researching records of Ballarat and surrounding regions online, and a deep dive into inquests for those deceased with “names unknown” supported by volunteers who transcribed a cross section of the records. We also continued to publish a range of blog posts showcasing items from our collection. The top three blogs written in the year 2020–21 included a blog post about a 1921 Melbourne robbery featuring prison registers, a post about an exhibition showcasing Bendigo’s queer history, and our January Section 9 record opening post about the first mafia murder in Victoria. Events and partnerships Despite some festivals being cancelled, postponed or down-sized this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, PROV continued to build on the relationships formed over the past few years with

The 2020–21 highlights included two online video tours for Open House Melbourne including one tour conducted in Auslan (Australian Sign Language). This was followed by a Q&A session on our Facebook page where our tour hosts answered questions from those who’d watched the tour and were keen to discover more about the archives. Our Melbourne Design Week 2021 event was also hosted as an online video presentation and tour with Provenance author Virginia Blue. Virginia shared her research into local architect Howard Lawson and provided insights into his most famous building, the Beverley Hills Apartments in South Yarra. For International Women’s Day 2021 we held a live talk via Zoom. Our speakers, Odette Best (University of Southern Queensland), Dr Madonna Grehan (University of Melbourne) and Penelope Lee (Her Place Women’s Museum Australia) discussed the history of women working in nursing and midwifery in Australia and how new interpretations can challenge stereotypical narratives of history. This talk, titled Women’s history beyond stereotypes was a companion piece to an exhibition running at Her Place Museum, which included copies of nursing records from PROV’s collection. The talk was recorded and is now available, alongside our Design Week and Open House videos, to watch on PROV’s YouTube channel. Also available on the channel are videos created to celebrate Family History Month, providing genealogy enthusiasts with tips for their family history research.

Virginia Blue hosting our Melbourne Design Week event.

Public Programming Officer Natasha Cantwell setting up for the International Archives Day zoom event.

For International Archives Day we held a Zoom event with Catherine Dwyer, writer and director of Brazen Hussies, and Adrien McCrory, researcher on transgender Australians and their interactions with the criminal justice system. Both presenters discussed their research into the archives on the topics of feminist and transgender history.

As part of this work, a dedicated and highly secure pre-ingest storage area is now operational, replacing our reliance on portable hard drives to store VEOs prior to ingest. In 2020–21 we used the VicPortal – a secure file sharing platform managed by DPC – for secure online delivery of test VEOs into the PROV environment for the first time.

Our 2020–21 event videos reached more than 3,000 people and the feedback we’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive, enabling us to reach audiences who have previously been unable to attend events at our North Melbourne site. In the future we’ll be looking for ways to complement our physical events with digital content, so this level of accessibility can continue.

PROV also worked closely with the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) to prepare the records for transfer to PROV as required under the Inquiries Act 2014 from the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants (RCMPI), Royal Commission into Mental Health (RCMH) and the Inquiry into Hotel Quarantine. All records from each inquiry body were transferred initially to DPC and the records required as State Archives are scheduled to be transferred to PROV from DPC during the 2021–22 financial year.

Identify and Preserve Records of State Significance Digital records transfers During 2020–21 the Government Recordkeeping team, in collaboration with the Cabinet Office, continued the next stage of an archival program to preserve Cabinet Records. All departments have been required to transfer their permanent value Cabinet-in-Confidence (CiC) records to PROV on an annual basis since 2019. PROV worked with all the departments to ensure the records were captured in accordance with our VERS requirements. CiC records must be created, transferred and preserved as digital objects, known as VEOS. A VEO is a record in the standard XML format specified by PROV, allowing it to be stored in, and managed by, the PROV digital archive.

Preserving audio visual records PROV’s audio visual holdings include around 7,000 “moving image” items ranging from films, U-matic cassettes, to VHS and other formats. These items require assessment and preservation in order to make them more accessible to the community. Without digitisation these precious records could be lost to future generations. In September 2020 we entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) to undertake an audit of our holdings to identify which films are the master prints, which are in need of preservation and which would be the priority candidates for digitisation once funding is secured.

per cent in our comparable group. Key focus areas in 2020–21 included: Establishing clear, transparent and timely COVID-19 communications

Megan Taylor and Nick Richardson from ACMI with PROV’s Sebastian Gurciullo.

Our holdings include films from agencies such as the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Film Victoria, Port of Melbourne Authority, Melbourne Water Corporation, the City of Melbourne and Victorian Railways/Public Transport Corporation.

Strengthen our Culture and Capability Our leaders and employees showed incredible agility and resilience in 2020–21. Increased empathy for one another and a greater appreciation for connectedness saw people supporting each other beyond getting the job done. People & Culture’s focus on employee health and well-being was an essential component in driving this culture of open communication and support. Despite the rapidly changing environment and increased challenges brought on by the pandemic, overall employee feedback in the Victorian Public Sector Commission People Matter survey reflected widely shared feelings of well-being and connection across the organisation. This included employees agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statements ‘My manager provides me with enough support when I need it’ (97 per cent), ‘People in my workgroup treat each other with respect’ (98 per cent) and ‘People in my workgroup regularly reach out to support me and my well-being’ (86 per cent). PROV also scored high on workplace practices and processes supporting a climate for good psychological health. People Matter feedback included 93 per cent of employees agreeing or strongly agreeing that ‘Senior leaders consider the psychological health of employees to be as important as productivity’. This is compared to 69

Regular communications were prepared by People & Culture to keep employees abreast of new developments around the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on work arrangements and to provide reassurance. Employees’ immediate needs were addressed as a priority and a variety of support options were always conveyed. People Matter showed staff agreed or strongly agreed with the statements ‘I received sufficient information on how changes due to COVID-19 would impact on me’ (97 per cent) and ‘I received adequate support during the changes due to COVID-19’ (97 per cent). Implementing safe and flexible work arrangements PROV remains extremely committed to reducing the risk of COVID-19. Throughout 2020–21 People & Culture worked closely with key stakeholders to implement infection prevention measures on-site at the Victorian Archives Centre. In addition, People & Culture worked with managers across the business to establish strategies and new ways of working that enabled employees to continue to work remotely. Employees working remotely were encouraged to take steps to support their health through the way they worked, with emphasis on the flow-on effects in reducing stress, burnout and illness. This included implementing a good ergonomic set-up at home, taking regular breaks, exercising and switching off. Employees were also asked to consider how they would like to work through flexible work options. In People Matter, employees agreed or strongly agreed with ‘I am confident that if I requested a flexible work arrangement, it would be given due consideration’ (97 per cent). Despite limitations imposed by the pandemic, people reported feeling their work remained meaningful and contributed to individual, team and organisation outcomes. This was reflected in People Matter where employees agreed or strongly agreed with ‘I am achieving something important through my work’ (90 per cent) and ‘I feel that I can make a worthwhile contribution at work’ (88 per cent).

Promoting employee well-being programs and support avenues Employees averaged over 23 hours of formalised learning and development throughout 2020–21. In addition to job specific compliance training, mandatory training included health and well-being programs such as ‘Mental Health & Well-being’ (DPC), ‘Infection Control Training – COVID 19’ (DH) and ‘Returning to a COVID normal workplace – PROV Policy & Procedures’. Of the total training hours, optional professional general skills made up just under 50 per cent. Popular internal webinars, workshops and coaching sessions promoted included ‘Home Ergonomics Training’, ‘Healthy Brain Healthy Body’, ‘Introduction to Mindfulness’, ‘Healthy Sleep’ and ‘Investing in Volatile Times’. PROVs Peer Support program was launched, replacing our former Contact Officer program. The Peer Support program provides local, trained and trusted peers, known as Peer Support Officers (PSOs), who can link employees into professional services and talk about options available under PROV policies. One in 8 employees are now trained as PSOs, having received training in our Workplace Behaviours Policy, LGBTIQ+ Awareness and Mental Health First Aid. Mental Health First Aid reaccreditation was provided to all Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAiders). These volunteers make up 1 in 5 employees. To help create a stronger unified presence in engagement and well-being, PROV Connect was launched. PROV Connect brings together Engagement, Mental Health, Diversity & Inclusion and Health, Safety & Well-being committees, as well as our PSOs, First Aid Officers, MHFAiders. The PROV Connect community provides employees with a variety of ways to meaningfully connect and share their unique experiences. It also looks to promote relationship building opportunities across the business, which is becoming more important as we move to an increasingly hybrid workforce.

Deliver, Embed and Leverage our Systems Digital Archive Program PROV has been undertaking a major program of works over the past five years to update and improve the business systems used for managing and facilitating access to the collection. This involves replacing all key systems including the Digital Archive where we store permanent digital records, the Archival Management System used for managing the collection, and the Warehouse Management System used for managing the location of our physical records. PROV has further developed its new search and browse functionality based on user feedback. During 2020–21 PROV undertook testing, data migration and staff training for the new systems in preparation for their implementation in August 2021. Resources and training materials have also been prepared ready for public users following the launch ensuring they get the most out of the new features. Technical Services After the substantial IT changes made in the 2019–20 financial year, 2020–21 has been centred on embedding reliable workflows, ensuring quality of service delivery and stability across our IT environments. The Technical Services team has successfully delivered both functional and stress and volume testing for the Digital Archive project, while migrating infrastructure support to a stable internal model. Further, engagements with external security consultants for environment review have resulted in improved security of PROV’s IT services. On-premises network upgrades such as switches and firewalls have delivered efficiencies, improved performance and have been delivered using inhouse capability. New collaborative tools have enhanced productivity across the organisation as we move to a hybrid working model, allowing those working from home to exchange data and collaborate effectively. Supporting tools for the business such as a booking system for the Reading Room has been deployed and maintained in-house with an extremely rapid delivery model.

Output Measures 2020–21 PROV 2020–21 BP3 Measures Performance measure

Quantity, Quality, Timeliness

Unit of measure

2020–21 Full Year Target

2020–21 Full Year Actual

Variance (%)

Collection usage: utilisation of physical and digital records held by Public Record Office Victoria

Quantity

number

4,800,000

6,093,283

27%1

Satisfaction with services Quality provided by Public Record Office Victoria to government agencies and to the public

per cent

Provision of services within published timeframes

per cent

7%2

Timeliness

PROV 2020–21 Annual Report Measures OUTPUT

Unit of measure

2020–21 2020–21 Full Year Target Full Year Actual

Government Services Public Record Office Victoria records transferred

shelf metres

250

Digital records preserved

number of VEOs

Retention and Disposal Authorities issued

number

Number of participants undertaking records management training

number

1,300

1,8316

Transfer projects completed

number

1,000

Access Services Records deaccessioned from the PROV collection

shelf metres

Total visitors to PROV Reading Rooms, exhibitions and events

number

11,000

7,9177

Online visitors to website

number

930,000

902,193

Volunteer hours

number

1,500

255

Collection storage meeting industry standard

percent

1,500

1,440

Corporate Services Staff hours spent on L&D activities

hours

1 The actual is higher than the target due to increased utilisation of digital records as a result of COVID-19 restrictions which saw the closure of PROV’s reading room. Whilst the physical records ordered and utilised in the Reading Room reduced significantly, they only represent a small percentage of the target and the reduction was offset by the increase in use of digital records. 2 The actual is lower than the target as COVID-19 restrictions meant that physical records could not be delivered to the Victorian Archives Centre Reading Room. 3&4 Due to delays with the Digital Archive Program, accessioning of records has not recommenced, carried forward to 2021-22. 5 An additional RDA was completed due to reallocation of resources from the transfer program. 6 Heavy promotion of product and increased public sector reliance on online training due to staff working from home. 7 From 2021–22 the number of Reading Room visitors and visitors to exhibitions and events will be reported on as separate items. The 2020–21 target was revised during the year to account for continued impacts of the pandemic.

Reading Room and Record Retrievals We operate two public reading rooms; one at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne and the other at the Ballarat Archives Centre in Ballarat. Records can also be accessed at the Bendigo Regional Archives Centre within Bendigo Library, the Geelong Heritage Centre and at the Burke Museum in Beechworth. For parts of 2020 and 2021, reading rooms closed to the public as required due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When reading rooms were open, bookings were required for all visits to ensure the number of visitors met the Victorian Chief Health Officer’s directions. During 2020–21, 3980 visitors utilised the reading rooms to view public records, 28,808 records were issued to visitors and an additional 3255 were issued to Government agencies and for internal PROV use. Reference enquiries were managed through our online system which received an average of 546 queries per month.

Records Issued

Number of records

Public users Government users

5,348

3,255

35,287

28,808

2019–20

2020–21

Visitors to Reading Rooms

Number of visitors

Victorian Archives Centre Ballarat Archives Centre

201

782 396

Bendigo Regional Archives Centre

531

Geelong Heritage Centre

6,577

3,181

2019–20

2020–21

Visitor numbers in 2020–21 were down on previous years due to COVID-19 closures.

Appendices Appendix 1: Assets Our assets include both community and operating assets in the following four categories: Community assets These assets are the State’s archival collection. The physical collection was valued at $299.9m. The digital collection is valued at $16.7m. Building assets Records repositories for storage of the State Archives and the State Government’s non-current records are located at North Melbourne and Ballarat. The Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne, including land, was valued at $88.3m in June 2017. Motor vehicles PROV operates one vehicle: a midsize SUV. Plant and operating equipment Operating assets are used for the upkeep of the physical and digital repositories so that public records can be stored safely and made available for public inspection.

Appendix 2: Financial Statement 2017–18

2018–19

2019–20

2020–21

Operating*

4,529,782

5,271,015

4,009,715

3,732,968

Salary and on-costs

5,955,220

6,729,267

6,911,696

7,329,200

10,485,002

12,000,282

10,921,411

11,062,168

Capital

2,533,419

1,493,664

1,100,872

689,675

Depreciation

2,031,131

2,044,246

1,957,937

1,989,085

Capital Assets Charge

4,904,067

4,873,097

4,746,080

4,802,080

19,953,619

20,411,289

18,726,300

18,543,008

Sub-total

Total Expenditure Trust Fund

Opening Balance

Revenue FY 2020-21

Expenditure FY 2020-21

Closing Balance

DTF - Community Support Fund (Victorian Community History Awards and Local History Grants Program)

422,866

411,585

11,281

DJPR - GSV Archiving project

402,247

116,617

527

10,500

106,644

Other Trust Funds

*Local History Grants and Victorian Community History Awards were paid from Trust funding (DTF - Community Support Fund) in 2019–20 and 2020–21 and excluded from Operating. The funding was part of PROV’s appropriated budget in earlier years and included in Operating.

Appendix 3: Workforce Data Ongoing Employees

Fixed-term & Casual

Number (Headcount)

Full-time (Headcount)

Part-time (Headcount)

FTE

June 2020

June 2021

50.85

10.2

June 2020

June 2021

Ongoing

Fixed-term & Casual

Ongoing

Fixed-term & Casual

Number (Headcount)

FTE

Number (Headcount)

FTE

Female

30.8

34.65

2.2

Male

16.2

15.2

25-34

9.6

2.2

9.2

2.6

35-44

10.4

5.6

11.2

3.6

45-54

12.1

4.4

14.95

55-64

11.7

10.7

3.2

0.8

4.8

Gender

Self described Age Under 25

Over 65 Classification Executive

STS

0.7

Grade 6

6.6

6.7

Grade 5

5.9

6.7

Grade 4

11.1

0.4

10.5

Grade 3

11.6

11.4

2.6

Grade 2

10.1

5.6

13.85

3.6

Appendix 4: Standards and Advice Section 12 of the Public Records Act 1973 requires the Keeper of Public Records to establish standards for the efficient management of public records and assist public offices in the application of those standards to records under their control. The Act requires public offices to implement records management programs in accordance with the standards established by the Keeper. All standards are available on the PROV website: www.prov.vic.gov.au/recordkeeping-government/standards-policies-rdas.

Appendix 5: Recordkeeping Standards Framework Documents Issued 2020–21 Standards and specifications issued Number

Name

Issued Date

PROS 20/02

Storage Standard

18/12/2020

PROS 20/02 S1

APROSS Specification

18/12/2020

Standard Number

Name

Issued Date

PROS 20/03

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Victorian Managed Insurance Authority

07/09/2020

PROS 20/04

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the County Court

08/12/2020

PROS 21/01

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Magistrates’ Court

22/01/2021

PROS 21/02

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Victorian Government Reporting Service

11/03/2021

PROS 21/03

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Central Information 12/05/2021 Sharing

PROS 21/04

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Complaint Handling Functions

Appendix 6: Retention and Disposal Authority (RDA) Documents Issued or Varied 2020–21 New RDAs

23/06/2021

RDAs varied Standard Number

Name

Issued Date

Expiry Date

PROS 96/10

General Retention and Disposal Authority for Prison Records created prior to 31 August 2006

15/02/2021

No date

PROS 01/01

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of School Records

15/02/2021

31/12/2021

PROS 04/08

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal

28/05/2021

31/12/2024

PROS 07/01

General Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Common Administrative Functions

01/07/2020

No date

PROS 08/04

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Employment, Investment & Industry Functions

15/02/2021

No date

PROS 08/15

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Public Health Function

27/11/2020

12/02/2022

PROS 09/04

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Children’s Court

15/02/2021

30/06/2024

PROS 09/08

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Vehicle 13/11/2020 Registration and Driver Licensing

No date

PROS 10/14

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Victoria Police

13/11/2020

22/12/2023

PROS 11/03

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Victims Support Services Function

15/02/2021

No date

PROS 17/04

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Hospital Administrative Functions

01/07/2020

No date

Appendix 7: Approved Public Record Office Victoria Storage Suppliers (APROSS) APROSS sites are commercial facilities that have been inspected by PROV and approved for the storage of temporary and un-sentenced public records. For a complete list of APROSS sites see our website: www.prov.vic.gov.au/recordkeeping-government/certified-suppliers-vendors/apross-for-agencies APROSS

Facilities approved in 2020–21

Reappointments

Number of current approved APROSS facilities

Appendix 8: Staff Achievements Awards Asa Letourneau and the PROV volunteer team: won the 2020 RIMPA David Moldrich Outstanding Group Award for Map Warper. Eva Samaras: received a Mander Jones Award commendation from the Australian Society of Archivists for her 2019 Leonardo article with Andrew Johnston Off-Lining to Tape Is Not Archiving: Why We Need Real Archiving to Support Media Archaeology and Ensure Our Visual Effects Legacy Thrives. Natasha Cantwell: won the 2020 RIMPA iQ Article of the Year Award for PROV Map Warper: The Online Tool Built Through Knowledge Sharing.

Dr Sebastian Gurciullo: editorial board member, Archives and Manuscripts; editorial board member and assistant editor, Provenance journal; webmaster and steering committee member of the Section on Literary and Artistic Archives of the International Council on Archives; board member, Course Advisory Board, Bachelor of Arts, La Trobe University. Justine Heazlewood: chair, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; member (chair from May 2021) Australian Libraries and Archives Copyright Coalition; board member, Emerald Tourist Railway Board; member, Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities; member, Standards Australia, Records and Document Management Systems Committee (IT-21); member, Stolen Generations Historical Records Taskforce, Healing Foundation; member, Whyte Bequest Advisory Committee. Xander Hunter: professional member (ARIM), Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia (RIMPA or RIM Professionals Australasia); communication portfolio lead and Vice Chair, Victorian Public Sector Pride Network; member, VPS Pride Council, VPS Pride Executive Committee and Trans & Gender Diverse Group; member, Australian Anthropological Society. Grace Kinrade: member, CAARA Out of Home Care Working Group.

Eva Samaras with the Leonardo journal issue she won a Mander Jones Award for.

Professional committees Tsari Anderson: editor, Provenance journal; member, Professional Historians Association. Charlie Farrugia: member, Victorian Association of Family History Organisations Committee; member, Geelong Heritage Centre Collection Advisory Committee. Kate Follington: member, Australian Galleries and Museums Australia Victoria Branch. Peter Francis: member, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; member, Association of Computing Machinery; member, Microsoft IRMS M365 Customer Advisory Board; member, Standards Australia Information Migration Working Group (IT-021-15).

Julie McCormack: member, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; PROV delegate, Australian Society of Archivists; committee member, Government Archivists Special Interest Group, Australian Society of Archivists; PROV delegate, Digital Preservation Coalition Australasia Stakeholder Group. Alison McNulty: member, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; member, CAARA Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse Working Group; member, Standards Australia, Recordkeeping Compliance Review Committee (IT-021-17). Tara Oldfield: board member, History Council of Victoria; member, North Melbourne Agency Collective. David Taylor: member, Steering Committee International Council on Archives Section for Local, Municipal and Territorial Archives.

Nicole Tighe: member, Australian Human Resources Institute; member, Department of Premier and Cabinet Human Resources Working Group; member, VPS Human Resources Working Group.

Recordkeeping Assessment Tool (RKAT) PROV Records Management Network Online, November 2020 Peter Francis

Conference and seminar presentations

The Public Records Act and you Victorian Public Sector Graduate Program Online, November 2020 David Taylor

Researching at Public Record Office Victoria Presentation to University of Melbourne History Capstone students, Making History: Opening Conference Online, 7 August 2020 Dr Sebastian Gurciullo Archives for making history: researching at Public Record Office Victoria Presentation to La Trobe University History Capstone students Online, 14 August 2020 Dr Sebastian Gurciullo Representing and remembering place: researching at Public Record Office Victoria Presentation to University of Melbourne Architecture Masters students Online, 24 August 2020 Dr Sebastian Gurciullo Koorie Records Unit – services and resources for Aboriginal family history Oonah Health & Community Services Aboriginal Corporation “Who’s Your Mob?” Family History Group Online, 25 August 2020 Tsari Anderson and Georgia Harris Ownership and Aboriginal records Presentation to La Trobe University History students Online, August 2020 Tsari Anderson Working in archives: Public Record Office Victoria Presentation to La Trobe University History postgraduate students regarding careers in archives Online, 13 October 2020 Dr Sebastian Gurciullo Recordkeeping Assessment Tool (RKAT) Monash University, FIT 5206: Digital Continuity Online, October 2020 Peter Francis Recordkeeping requirements Information Governance for Microsoft Teams and Micro Focus Content Manager Online, October 2020 Peter Francis

Researching places at Public Record Office Victoria Presentation to University of Melbourne City Visions students Online, 12 February 2021 Dr Sebastian Gurciullo Introduction to Public Record Office Victoria Presentation to Hawthorn Lifelong Learning Community Group Online, 18 March 2021 Dr Sebastian Gurciullo Ask an archivist Australian Society of Archivists Online, March 2021 David Taylor and Julie McCormack Introduction to Public Record Office Victoria Presentation to University of Melbourne Principles of Heritage and Conservation students Online, 7 April 2021 Dr Sebastian Gurciullo Introduction to records about Aboriginal people in the Public Record Office Victoria collection Presentation to La Trobe University Aboriginal history students Online, April 2021 Tsari Anderson Connection: relating people and things Monash University, FIT 5206: Digital Continuity Online, May 2021 Peter Francis The ethics of access to public records Presentation to Melbourne University History Lunchtime Seminar Online, 13 May 2021 Dr Sebastian Gurciullo and Tsari Anderson Panel session – FAQs about Public Record Office Victoria Victorian Association of Family History Organisations Online Family History Expo Online, May 2021 Charlie Farrugia

Researching Aboriginal family history Workshop with Koorie Heritage Trust hosted by Melton Libraries Online, 17 May 2021 Georgia Harris Digital first: accelerating archives access International Council on Archives section for Local, Municipal and Territorial Archives Online, June 2021 David Taylor Papers Deleting freeways: community opposition to inner urban arterial roads in the 1970s Provenance: the journal of Public Record Office Victoria, Issue 18, 2020 Dr Sebastian Gurciullo The friendly games Traces Magazine, Issue 15, June 2021 Natasha Cantwell Everyday in everyway, raisins Traces Magazine, Issue 12, September 2020 Natasha Cantwell

Appendix 9: Victorian Community History Award winners The Victorian Community History Awards are held annually in partnership with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. Winners announced via the October 2020 video announcement were:

Recipient

Project

Awarded

Amanda Scardamaglia

Printed on Stone: The Lithographs of Charles Troedel

Victorian Premier’s History Award $5000

Nick Anchen

Visions of Victoria

Judges’ Special Prize $500

Cheryl Threadgold

In the Name of Theatre: The History, Culture and Voices of Amateur Theatre in Victoria

Collaborative Community Award $2000

Patrick Ferry with Wally Nye, Blood, Toil, Tears & Sweat: Berwick-Pakenham Historical Remembering the Pakenham Society & Pakenham RSL District’s WW2 Service Personnel, 1939–1945

Local History Project Award $2000

Brian Rhule

Maldon: A New History 1853–1928

History Publication Award $2000

Benjamin Wilkie

Gariwerd: An Environmental History of the Grampians

Local History – Small Publication Award $1500

Jen Rose, Well Chosen Words in partnership with The Boîte

The Boîte: History Through Music, Song and Story

Community Diversity Award $1500

Rachel Fensham and Andrew Fuhrmann for the Digital Studio at University of Melbourne and Digital Heritage Australia

La Mama: The Biggest Little Theatre in Australia

Digital Storytelling Award $1500

Emma Ramsay and Andy Yong Misadventure in Little Lon

Digital Storytelling Award $1500

Lucy Bracey, illustrated by Gregory Mackay

Annie’s War: The Story of One Boroondara Family’s Wartime Experience

Historical Interpretation Award $1500

Sandy Jeffs and Margaret Leggatt

Out of the Madhouse: From Asylums to Caring Community?

Oral History Award $1500

Ruby Ekkel

Woman’s Sphere Remodelled: A Spatial History of the Victorian Woman’s Christian Temperance Union 1887–1914

History Article Award $500

Glossary

accession

A group of records from the same transferring agency taken into PROV custody at the same time. The records may be formally arranged and described into records series and consignments or they may be unarranged and undescribed. Accessioning refers to the process of formally accepting and recording the receipt of records into custody (Keeping Archives1).

advice

A document issued by PROV providing advice to Victorian agencies on a recordkeeping issue. (Includes formal advice about standards as well as forms and other tools to help Victorian Government agencies manage and use public records).

APROSS

Approved Public Record Office Storage Supplier – the PROV program for the storage of records which the Keeper of Public Records has approved for eventual destruction or which are awaiting a decision as to their archival value.

2020-21 Annual Report

Articles inside

Report on Performance

Glossary