Annual report 2014 15

Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report to the Minister 2014–2015 A report from the Keeper of Public Records as required under section 21 (1) of the Public Records Act 1973

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Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report to the Minister 2014–2015 A report from the Keeper of Public Records as required under section 21 (1) of the Public Records Act 1973

Published by Public Record Office Victoria 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne VIC 3051 Tel (03) 9348 5600 Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report to the Minister 2014–2015 © Copyright State of Victoria through Public Record Office Victoria 2015

Except for any logos, emblems, and trade marks, this work (Public Record Office Victoria Annual Report to the Minister 2014–15) 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 the 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

This Annual Report is printed on 100% recycled Australian made paper using vegetable inks.

Cover image: Grand Ridge Road : between Balook and Carrajung Country Roads Board, 1926.

PROV, VPRS 17684/P1 unit 2, negative 25-15b.

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CONTENTS PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE VICTORIA

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Purpose and Objectives

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Message from the Director

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Public Records Advisory Council

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Overview 13

Hon Gavin Jennings Special Minister of State Hon Gavin Jennings Special Minister of State Level 1, 1 Treasury Place 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 for the year ending 30 June 2015.

Yours sincerely

Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records

REPORT ON PERFORMANCE

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Highlights 2014–2015

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Output Measures 2014–2015

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Strategic Initiatives 2014–2015

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Build our Online Presence

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Increase Usability of the Collection

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Increase the Engagement of Communities with their Archival Heritage

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Develop the Archival Collection to Increase its Value and Significance

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Improve our Digital Transfer Capability

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Enhance Government Recordkeeping Capability

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Transform our Collection Managament Environment

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Increase Organisational Capability

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APPENDICES 43 Appendix 1: Assets, Financial Statement and Workforce Data

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Appendix 2: Publications

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Appendix 3: Standards and Advice Issued

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Appendix 4: Approved Public Record Office Victoria Storage Suppliers (APROSS)

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Appendix 5: VERS–Compliant Products

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Appendix 6: 2014 Victorian Community History Award Winners

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Appendix 7: Local History Grants Program

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GLOSSARY 55

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VISION STATEMENT

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

Public Record Office Victoria’s Vision Statement is ‘Public Records Publicly Available’.

‘Public Records Publicly Available’ seeks to inspire public servants to keep good records so that Public Record Office Victoria can fulfil its mission: to support the efficient management and use of public records in order that the Government is accountable to the community and the historical memory of the Victorian Government is secure and accessible.

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 its historical memory is preserved, secure and accessible.

Daily Operations

Mission Statement

Public Record Office Victoria 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’.

To support the efficient management and use of public records to ensure that the Government is accountable to the community and the historical memory of the Victorian Government is secure and accessible.

The Act provides the legal framework in which Public Record Office Victoria operates, and specifies the core functions of Public Record Office Victoria 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.

Public Record Office Victoria has identified three outcomes that represent the ongoing goals for the organisation: • 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.

• 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.

Left image: Soldier settler farming in Beaufort. J.Ellis, Beaufort, c1920s. Image courtesy Ray Ellis.

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PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Values

2014–2015 has been a year of great achievements for Public Record Office Victoria with a shift in our focus to online services and access to records. We’re looking forward to continuing to grow in these areas over the next financial year.

The Public Administration Act 2004 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.

Public Record Office Victoria, as a public sector body, has developed the following set of values which are based on, and are consistent with the Code of Conduct: • Responsiveness: Public Record Office Victoria provides accurate and impartial advice to Government and delivers quality services to the Victorian community. Public Record Office Victoria is open to new ideas and different approaches that will achieve the most effective results.

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Integrity: Public Record Office Victoria is open and honest in dealing with colleagues, clients, stakeholders and the Victorian community.

Public Record Office Victoria strives to provide equal access to all products and services, act responsibly and avoid any real or apparent conflicts of interest.

• Impartiality: Public Record Office Victoria makes decisions and provides advice that is fair, objective and without self-interest. Public Record Office Victoria works to serve the public good.

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Accountability: Public Record Office Victoria staff members operate transparently and take responsibility for their own actions. Public Record Office Victoria maintains a sustainable workplace environment and seeks to achieve the best use of resources.

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Respect: Public Record Office Victoria respects its colleagues, public officials and members of the Victorian community and treats them fairly and objectively. Public Record Office Victoria is inclusive and does not tolerate harassment, bullying or discrimination.

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Leadership: Public Record Office Victoria promotes best practice in recordkeeping and innovation. Public Record Office Victoria leads by example by creating positive and productive working relationships. Public Record Office Victoria supports, motivates and strives to develop its staff to reach their full potential.

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Human Rights: Public Record Office Victoria respects and supports the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities in all decisions and advice and abides by all appropriate legislation.

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Collaboration: Public Record Office Victoria consults and engages with the Victorian community, clients and stakeholders. Public Record Office Victoria provides customer service that most effectively meets the needs of clients and stakeholders.

Achievements We already know that our staff and volunteers do an amazing job here at Public Record Office Victoria, but it’s always fantastic to see their work honoured outside the organisation. 2014–2015 saw our volunteer program win a prestigious Melbourne Award for Contribution to Community by a Corporation acknowledging the outstanding work of our volunteers who spent more than 30,000 hours last year preserving Victoria’s history for future generations.

The hard work of our volunteers contributed to the great success of our soldier settlement digitisation project which came to completion in April with the launch of the Battle to Farm website (soldiersettlement.prov.vic.gov.au). This important project allows Victorians to discover the history of their World War One soldier settler ancestors through files available online. It’s quite an incredible piece of work and something that we are all very proud of.

Our work to bring our records to more Victorians through online technology has also included forming digital partnerships with Ancestry, Find My Past and Google Cultural Institute. Sharing our collections with these online providers is a winwin for everybody, including our partners and for researchers who can access our records wherever they may be in the world.

This year we also developed our mobile technologies policy paper and refreshed our appraisal statement clarifying parameters with which we collect permanent records. We also published a guide book on researching historic homes in Victoria and saw a number of significant new transfers to our collection. The transfer of one of the most significant women’s health collections in the world, the Royal Women’s Hospital Collection, became the subject of a very popular talk at our Open Day in May. This year we’ve also transferred records relating to cemeteries dating back to the 1840s, which is part of a multi-year project set to continue into the next financial year.

A new structure 2014–2015 saw Public Record Office Victoria move from the Arts portfolio to the Department of Premier and Cabinet under the Special Minister of State, the Hon. Gavin Jennings. This shift recognises the significant role records play in ensuring transparency and accountability in government.

Digital transformation Following funding in the May 2014–2015 State Budget, we’ve commenced work on building a new digital archive and new website that will significantly improve our ability to provide access to records and our services online. This is especially important for our users who are increasingly moving their research online.

In response to this shift, we also began an online enquiry service to assist researchers seeking access to our collection. In our first year we received a staggering 9,000 online enquiries. We expect this trend towards online research to continue to grow exponentially over the next couple of years which is why our digital transformation projects are so important.

Acknowledgements I would like to extend a big thank you to all of our staff, volunteers, partners, and Public Records Advisory Council members for their drive and dedication in 2014–2015. I look forward to continuing our great work next year.

Justine Heazlewood Director and Keeper of Public Records

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

PUBLIC RECORDS ADVISORY COUNCIL

The Public Records Advisory Council continues to support Public Record Office Victoria in preserving important Victorian public records and provide advice on the most up-to-date government record-keeping practices.

Establishment and Functions

Summary of Activities

The Public Records Advisory Council is established under section 4 (1) of the Public Records Act 1973.

The functions of the Council, as specified in section 5 of the Act, require that it:

The Council met on four occasions in 2014–2015:

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

• 18 November 2014 Victorian Archives Centre

As President I would like to commend Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) staff for implementing a number of new initiatives. This included a register of permanent value records, held outside of PROV, which have been identified as at risk. This register is updated regularly and PROV has pro-actively initiated communication with government agencies to identify ways to ensure that these records at risk are safeguarded.

The digitising partnerships continue to grow in scale, and I and my fellow Council members were excited to see digitised series of records now published and searchable on Family Search, Find My past and Ancestry.com.au, as well as photographic collections added to the global platform Google Cultural Institute. All of these initiatives match the government’s expectation that public records be more easily available and accessible.

The collaboration with the Old Treasury Building which places on display hundreds of public records from across Victoria will continue for another three years and I and my fellow Council members commend Public Record Office Victoria in seeking creative opportunities to share their archival collection with the public.

A number of Council members have departed this year and I’d like to acknowledge their contributions over their many years on Council. To Kathryn Dan, Anita Jack, Professor Andrew May, Professor Sue McKemmish, Debbie Prout, Susie Zada and Departmental representative, Andrew Abbott; I thank you for your guidance and the contribution you have made to the Public Records Advisory Council and to PROV. I’d also like to acknowledge my fellow Council member Jim Berg for his continued support and assistance.

• (b) May report and make recommendations to the Minister on any matter relating to the administration of the Act.

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 and genealogical research.

Membership of the Council during 2014–2015 comprised:

• 24 July 2014

Victorian Archives Centre

• 11 September 2014 Ballarat Town Hall • 19 February 2015

Victorian Archives Centre

Public Record Office Victoria 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 Subcommittees. The Council would like to record its appreciation of the support provided to it throughout the year by the Keeper of Public Records, Justine Heazlewood and her staff and to especially thank Lucille Cutting and Rebecca Young for their shared support in the role of Council Secretary throughout the year.

Joanne de Morton, President.

I was pleased to see renewed funding In the year ahead to support PROV in improving the public’s access to online records through the delivery of a new Digital Archive, as well as ongoing work to update standards for digital record keeping.

Kathryn Dan, Records management.

(Council term ended 22 April 2015) Jim Berg, Indigenous heritage.

Anita Jack, Historical research (public history).

(Council term ended 22 April 2015) Associate Professor Andrew May, Historical research (academic).

(Council term ended 22 April 2015) Professor Sue McKemmish, Information and records management.

(Council term ended 22 April 2015) Debbie Prout, Information and records management.

(Council term ended 22 April 2015) Susie Zada, Genealogy and local history.

(Council term ended 22 April 2015) Secretaries: Ms Lucille Cutting and Ms Rebecca Young.

Joanne de Morton President, Public Records Advisory Council

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OVERVIEW Council Meetings

Administration

Protected disclosure

In 2014–2015, Council members recommenced Council meetings in regional and outermetropolitan locations and, in September 2014, met at the Ballarat Town Hall. In conjunction with the visit, Public Record Office Victoria staff conducted a public information session on a range of topics including digitisation and preservation as well as property research.

Executive

The Protected Disclosure Act 2012 is designed to help people make disclosures about improper conduct within the public sector without fear of reprisal. The Act aims to make the public sector more open and accountable by encouraging people to make disclosures and protecting them when they do.

Support for Public Record Office Victoria Throughout the year, the Council provided advice and insights to the Keeper of Public Records in relation to the establishment of a risk register of permanent value records yet to be transferred to Public Record Office Victoria. This included identifying records outside of our custody that are at particularly high risk. As part of this work, we are collaborating with departments and agencies on identifying and correcting major problems in their archival practices.

In addition, the Council advised the Keeper on the creation of a transfer policy for local government that outlines a process for transferring records to Places of Deposit – which is a facility or area appointed under s.14 of the Public Records Act 1973, to store specified classes of records. A POD may be appointed to hold temporary records which would otherwise be destroyed; or certified by the Keeper of Public Records as a POD Repository to hold State Archives on behalf of Public Record Office Victoria. Records held in a POD are deemed to be under the custody and control of the Keeper of Public Records.

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 Public Record Office Victoria’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 Public Record Office Victoria 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 Public Record Office Victoria.

All Regulations are available for inspection on Public Record Office Victoria’s website at www.prov.vic.gov.au/about-us and at both locations.

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

Public Record Office Victoria is committed to the aims and objectives of the Act. In particular, Public Record Office Victoria 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 Protected Disclosure Act 2012 are available on Public Record Office Victoria’s website www.prov.vic.gov.au.

Public Record Office Victoria standards and authorities Public Record Office Victoria 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 Public Record Office Victoria’s website at www.prov.vic.gov.au/ government and at both the North Melbourne and Ballarat offices.

Department of Premier and Cabinet Annual Report Further information about Public Record Office Victoria’s performance during 2014–2015, 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.

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 Public Record Office Victoria, please refer to the Department of Premier and Cabinet website at www.dpc.vic.gov.au.

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CONTACT As at 30 June 2015 Public Record Office Victoria operated two public reading rooms and had 51.8 staff members (FTE) working across two operational areas.

Public Reading Rooms Email: enquiries@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: agency.queries@prov.vic.gov.au

Access Services Acting Assistant Director: Alison McNulty Phone: (03) 9348 5711 Email: alison.mcnulty@prov.vic.gov.au Public enquiries: enquiries@prov.vic.gov.au

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

Right image: Portrait of soldier settlers Edward Lay and family. Courtesy Creswick Museum.

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OVERVIEW Organisational structure

Government Services

Government Services assists Victorian public sector Corporate Services supports staff across Public agencies in better managing their records. This is Record Office Victoria through the provision of the done through: following services:

Special Minister of State

• Developing and supporting the implementation • Budgeting and financial management and of best-practice records management processes reporting. and policies across the whole of Victorian • Risk management.

Government.

• Facilities management.

• Building partnerships with stakeholders to • Environmental planning and reporting. improve information and records management.

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

• Identifying and preserving records of permanent value.

• Making records more visible and accessible through new technology and better-aligned documentation, transfer and disposal practices.

Governance, Policy & Coordinaton

Director Public Record Office Victoria

Corporate Services

Public Records Advisory Council

• Managing the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy.

• Strategic planning and reporting.

• Communications and online engagement.

• Information communication technology.

• Information management.

• Human resource management.

• Organisational development.

Access Services Government Services

Access Services

Corporate Services

Standards & Policy

Online Access

Finance & Risk Management

Government Recordkeeping

Collection Services

Facilities

VERS

Community Archives

Communications & Online Engagement

Technology 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 Public Record Office Victoria’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.

People & Culture

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OVERVIEW Corporate Plan 2013–2017

Guiding principles

Public Record Office Victoria’s four-year Corporate Plan provides the strategic direction for the period 2013–2014 to 2016–2017.

The plan articulates the mission, primary strategic objectives and values of Public Record Office Victoria; it also describes our current and emerging operating environment in order to set the context for our new program of work over the next four years. The plan introduces Public Record Office Victoria’s three overarching outcomes and our strategic initiatives. It also details the guiding principles that we use when implementing our initiatives.

Outcomes • 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

Initiatives • Build our online presence: Build a new online presence for the organisation in alignment with the development of Public Record Office Victoria’s new collection management environment. This initiative will ensure the online presence interacts effectively with Public Record Office Victoria’s systems and, through its flexibility and scope, will support current and future service and product development and delivery.

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Increase usability of the collection: Pursue opportunities to expose digital content and the structured metadata describing Public Record Office Victoria’s collection through multiple external channels.

• Increase the engagement of communities with their archival heritage: Review community partnership programs and approaches to maximise opportunities and benefits to be achieved through community engagement initiatives.

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Develop the archival collection to increase its value and significance: Develop the archival collection, increasing its value and significance to the community by identifying records that have highest value to the Victorian community and negotiating arrangements for their addition to the collection.

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Improve our digital transfer capability: Deliver a framework, systems and tools that will improve Public Record Office Victoria’s ability to support a high-volume, automated digital transfer capability that minimises the costs and risks involved in mass digital transfers.

• Enhance Government recordkeeping capability: Undertake a range of activities to measure the current status of recordkeeping across the Victorian public sector. Deliver specific information and services to maximise recordkeeping capability, particularly in a digital paradigm.

Five operating principles have been established to guide in the implementation of Public Record Office Victoria’s initiatives, both in decision making and the development of new programs and activities within each initiative.

We will: • Seek and take advantage of partnerships and alternative ways of working collaboratively in order to achieve our outcomes.

• Be open to new ideas and different approaches that will achieve the most effective results.

• Take advantage of our unique mandate to provide leadership in those areas in which we have sector expertise.

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Identify and consult with stakeholder and client groups on matters of relevance to them, using the resulting feedback to shape and improve our strategies, products and services.

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Design our programs in such a way as to increase our stakeholders’ opportunity to preserve and express their cultural heritage and contribute to the social and cultural fabric of Victoria.

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

• Transform our collection management environment: Deliver an entirely new technology environment for Public Record Office Victoria’s collection management environment to meet the expectations of an increasingly sophisticated public sector and general populace.

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Increase organisational capability: Increase the professionalism and diversity of employees through a number of key activities including a Management Development Program and refreshed mentoring for all staff.

Soldier settlers farming in Beaufort. J.Ellis, c1920s. Image courtesy Ray Ellis, Beaufort Historical Society.

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REPORT ON ON PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE REPORT PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE VICTORIA

A demonstration of Mallee rolling arranged by the Murrayville District Reception Committee 1926 (soldier settlers cleared much of the Mallee) Image courtesy State Library of Victoria.

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HIGHLIGHTS 2014–2015 Public Record Office Victoria volunteers honoured with a Melbourne Award

ANZAC Centenary: Battle to Farm: Soldier Settlement Project launched

In November 2014, our volunteers became the proud recipients of a Melbourne Award.

In April 2015 we launched an important new website for historical and family research.

Volunteer program coordinators, Jack Martin and Leigh Kinrade, attended the City of Melbourne’s gala event to accept the Award for Contribution to Community by a Corporation on behalf of our more than 120 volunteers.

Battle to Farm enables public access to 10,000 digitised government records on the Victorian Soldier Settlement Scheme. The scheme helped settle thousands of returned World War One soldiers on farming land across Victoria through government leases, drastically transforming the landscape of regional Victoria.

Jack Martin told the audience that PROV volunteers cover a broad demographic and wide range of backgrounds.

“But one thing they all have in common – and in common with Leigh and myself – is their passion for the State’s archives and for the stories contained in the records.

“Their work is making a permanent contribution to current and future researchers and enhancing Melbourne’s reputation as a centre for research.

For recognising their work with this award, we’re very grateful to the City of Melbourne and the sponsors of this awards ceremony tonight.”

The records are now searchable by soldier name and geographic location, making the Battle to Farm project an extraordinary achievement, placing online one of Victoria’s important military collections.

More than 90 volunteers spent two years digitising these records to bring this important resource to life in time for the ANZAC Centenary.

Battle to Farm was funded by the Veterans’ Branch of the Department of Premier and Cabinet as part of the Centenary of Anzac commemorations. The project was supported by Monash University, the ANZAC Commemorative Committee, Beaufort Historical Society, Stanhope Historical Society, Gippsland Historical Society, and more than 80 volunteers.

Dig the Archives

Online Retention & Disposal Application

On the 2nd of May we hosted our third annual Dig the Archives open day with the National Archives of Australia (NAA).

In 2015 we introduced an Online Retention and Disposal Application (ORDA) service to automate and streamline the process of developing, approving, and publishing Retention and Disposal Authorities (RDAs).

The Hon. Gavin Jennings, Special Minister of State, launched the day’s festivities which saw more than 400 people enjoy tours and workshops at the Victorian Archives Centre, with 50 per cent surveyed as new visitors.

This year, we partnered with Ancestry to present Dig the Archives 2015. Award-winning journalist and author Gideon Haigh gave the keynote address about his research into convicted murderer John Bryan Kerr. This was followed by a series of impressive talks and training seminars hosted by a range of speakers from PROV, NAA and Ancestry as well as guest speakers from across Victoria. Topics included transformative women during colonial Victoria, soldier settlement post WW1, crime and family research, and the launch of our new guide to researching historical houses. We provided a range of different topics to appeal to visitors new and old.

ORDA provides Public Record Office Victoria and our clients with a streamlined workflow process, the ability to benchmark disposal decisions within a wider appraisal framework, capture appraisal reports in context, review draft RDAs and provide feedback using tagged commenting fields. ORDA also enables PROV to capture and store retention and disposal data in a machine readable form that may be imported into agency systems and re-used for other purposes.

ORDA was first developed by the State Records Office of Western Australia, and we have installed, tested, and configured the software for use by Victorian Government Agencies. The archival authorities of Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria have all now installed the application and are sharing upgrades, enhancements, and any resources they develop.

PROV currently has 14 registered active Agency editors, 11 RDAs under development and 65 current RDAs in ORDA.

For more information visit soldiersettlement.prov.vic.gov.au.

Jack Martin and Leigh Kinrade accept the 2014 Melbourne Award from Deputy Lord Mayor Susan Riley for the Public Record Office Victoria volunteer program.

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Volunteers working on the Battle to Farm project.

The Hon. Gavin Jennings MLC launched Dig the Archives 2015 with a speech on the significance of the archives to all Victorians.

New visitors loved the archive tours which ran throughout Dig the Archives 2015.

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HIGHLIGHTS 2014–2015 Software Independent Archiving of Relational Databases The Software Independent Archiving of Relational Databases (SIARD) software was developed by the Swiss Federal Archives and is based upon international standards. It extracts the content and structure of relational databases and saves them in the SIARD format. We have identified the SIARD format as appropriate for long term preservation, and will accept them into the digital archive.

Through 2014-15 we’ve successfully collaborated with the Department of Health and Human Services to establish the capability for preserving public records from relational databases using the SIARD tools. This collaboration is an example for other agencies.

Victorian Electronic Records Strategy Standards and Tools Refresh In 2000, Public Record Office Victoria was among the first organisations in the world to issue a standard for the preservation of digital records.

The standard underpins our digital preservation activities, including the operation of our Digital Archive. This standard has now been thoroughly revised and brought up to date. The new version of the standard (PROS 15/03, Standard for the encapsulation of digital information) was approved by the Director and Keeper of Public Records on 1 June 2015.

Records Management Network Meetings

PROV in the Media

We delivered two Records Management Network (RMN) events for government record keepers this financial year.

Public Record Office Victoria has gained considerable positive media attention this year with more than 130 mentions across print, television, radio and online.

The first was held in March at the Victorian Archives Centre where we delivered a workshop on aspects of digital archiving, including an introduction to transferring relational databases to Public Record Office Victoria.

Held in May, the second RMN event featured presenters from university, government and the private sector. Attracting over 170 records and information management professionals, it covered topics such as understanding information culture, privacy and data protection, information as a business asset and two case studies from government agencies. Highlights included a breakdown of the Department of Health and Human Services Ward Records Plan - a project which involves the identification, indexation, storage, management and digitisation of over 180,000 original ward records. Attendees noted the high quality of presentations and the invaluable opportunity afforded to engage with fellow records managers.

To promote good government recordkeeping, we partnered with Public Sector News for a ten part record keeping tips series attracting 10,000 readers between October and December 2014.

Our January Section 9 openings, records formerly closed to the public, were used in two separate Herald Sun Online features reaching a monthly audience of 1.9 million Victorians.

Great efforts were also put into publicising School Days: Education in Victoria at Old Treasury Building.

The exhibition has so far been covered by 56 outlets including Channel 10 News, Postcards, ABC, Australian Teacher Magazine and Inside History. As a result, we’ve had more monthly visitors to School Days than any other exhibition we’ve had with Old Treasury Building.

The Battle to Farm website launch (soldiersettlement.prov.vic.gov.au) garnered considerable interest from regional and national outlets including Statewide Drive, The Weekly Times, The Australian, Melbourne Leader and Australian Associated Press. The outstanding media coverage attracted 8,413 people to the site in the first month alone.

Our annual open day, Dig the Archives, was also covered 39 times leading up to the event.

The purpose of the revision was to 1) reduce the costs to government in preserving digital records, 2) make the application of the standard to complex digital objects easier and more efficient, 3) take advantage of developments in digital preservation since the standard was last revised, and 4) be ready for the renewal of our digital archive. These goals were achieved while retaining the preservation principles of the original VERS standard.

Recordkeeping Policy Mobile Technologies The use of mobile technologies can improve and streamline government processes and also reduce operational costs. However, any uptake of new technologies also creates new risks. With this in mind, we released the Mobile Technologies and Recordkeeping Issues Paper back in 2013–2014.

With this groundwork completed, a policy paper on mobile technologies was formulated during 2014–2015. The purpose of this policy document is to provide principles for making decisions and implementing actions about the use of mobile technologies for recordkeeping across the Victorian Government.

PROV’s Digital Partnerships In 2014 Public Record Office Victoria entered into a digitising agreement with DC Thomson (Find My Past), a leading online family history provider. This agreement was for DC Thomson to work with Family Search to digitise and index agreed parts of our collection and publish these online, providing us with copies of the digitised images. This follows on from the highly successful agreement we entered into with Ancestry last year.

By entering agreements such as these, we are supporting our strategic aims of preserving records and assisting communities to connect with their history and culture. Working in partnership with family history providers to digitise and publish significant parts of the collection online enables researchers from around the world to easily discover and access our records.

Tools to create and validate digital records according to the new VERS standard have been created. In accordance with State Government policy, these tools will be available to stakeholders (including vendors) under a Creative Commons CC-BY license.

Atendees at the Records Management Network organised and facilitated by Public Record Office Victoria staff.

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The television crew from Postcards visited the School Days exhibition at Old Treasury Building to film a segment for their heritage episode (aired 31 May on Channel 9).

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HIGHLIGHTS 2014–2015 Publication of Historic Homes Research Guide Public Record Office Victoria holds a wide range of records for researching buildings and properties in Victoria. In May 2015 we launched the Historic Homes Research Guide in collaboration with Ballarat City Heritage Unit to provide Victorians with an introduction to government records that can help them when researching the history of their home (see appendix 2 Publications, page 46).

Google Cultural Institute This year we partnered with Google to publish a collection of exhibitions featuring more than 250 individual records. The Google Cultural Institute, a global platform for collecting institutions to showcase their digitised records, launched in Australia in April. We published predominantly photographic records which have been viewed more than 74,000 times since launch.

Environmental Sustainability Public Record Office Victoria is now in the second year of a two year Environmental Strategy which spans 2013–2014 and 2014–2015. The core objectives of our Environmental Strategy are to: • Maintain a reduced carbon footprint at the Victorian Archives Centre.

• Maintain a reduced ecological footprint around our office based activities.

• Continue to support the sustainable management and use of government records.

During the year we focused on major facilities projects that will deliver medium to long-term energy efficiencies to the Victorian Archives Centre: •

We installed a third new chiller unit as part of our multi-year chiller replacement program.

The new units are extremely energy efficient and once the final chiller unit is installed next year they will be configured to run in an energyoptimal configuration.

• We replaced all of our office lights with energy efficient LED lights.

•

We commenced an investigation into the development of a cogeneration facility at the Victorian Archives Centre. Cogeneration allows for both electricity and heating to be generated from one system using a low cost fuel (in our case, gas). We hope to commence a pilot of this facility in the next year.

We will also be undertaking a review of our twoyear Environment Strategy and identifying new opportunities to deliver further efficiencies at our site. These will form the core of a new Environment Strategy that will underpin our commitment to continually reducing our carbon footprint by monitoring and improving the way the Victorian Archives Centre operates.

2011–2012

2012–2013

2013–2014

2014–2015

Energy (megajoules per m)

761

835

806

807

Water (kilolitres per FTE )

15.6

34.6

29.6

22.79

Paper (reams per FTE)

9.2

6.8

6.7

6.8

Waste (tonnes per FTE)

0.82

0.83

0.82

0.61

Greenhouse gas emissions (tonnes CO2)

3834

4067

3607

3662

Volunteers Program Public Record Office Victoria’s team of over 120 volunteers undertake work on under-utilised or difficult to use areas of the collection, conserving records and adding search metadata to allow researchers to more easily discover and use important records relating to Victoria’s history.

Throughout 2014–2015, volunteers contributed a record breaking 30,000 hours of work between the Victorian Archive Centre and the Ballarat Archives Centre undertaking work from all areas of our vast collection.

In November 2014, our volunteers’ hard work was rewarded with a Melbourne Award for Contribution to Community by a Corporation from the City of Melbourne.

Battle to Farm, a major project for 2014–2015, saw volunteers identifying and digitising World War One soldier settlement land files for inclusion on the Battle to Farm website. The website now provides access to the individual records of thousands of World War One returned soldiers who leased farming land across Victoria between 1919 and 1935, thanks to the work of approximately 90 individual volunteers.

those who departed for the First World War from Fremantle, Western Australia in 1914. Over the course of the year, the Melbourne volunteer project re-housed 2,400 boxes of records, indexed 43,400 repatriation case files, digitised the medical files of 816 first departures, resulting in an estimated 62,000 images uploaded.

While the majority of our volunteers work on projects to support collection management, they also manage the catalogue for our in-house technical library and have undertaken projects for our government services division, online engagement and exhibition teams. Excitingly, an ongoing project, indexing the central register of female prisoners has now been completed as part of this work, as has digitising and indexing of numerous series from the Ballarat Archives Centre.

While we have welcomed many new volunteers into our program we recognise the retirement of six long-standing volunteers, who between them have provided over sixty years of volunteer service at Public Record Office Victoria. Julie Chippindall, Barb Addie, Sandra Marshall, Beryl Mainon, Ken and Dawn Walduck, we thank you for your dedication and wish you all the best.

Public Record Office Victoria acknowledges the great contribution that all volunteers have made Public Record Office Victoria volunteers have also assisted the National Archives of Australia’s ongoing during the year and we look forward to an equally productive 2015–2016.

Albany Project: an on site project at the Victorian Archive Centre in 2014–2015. The volunteers’ work involves describing and indexing the repatriation series of personal case files of World War One returned soldiers and digitising a cross section of

Public Record Office Victoria items page from Google Cultural Institute 2015.

26

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HIGHLIGHTS 2014–2015 Volunteers Adrianus Luca Ahnya Chuah Alan Stevens Amber Evangelista Andrea Stella D’Souza Andrew Knopfelmacher Anita Smith Anna Maree Malmgren Anne Field Anne Jones Barbara Minchinton Beth Codling Bethany Wheeler Brian Dixon Carmel Dundas Carol Jenkins Caroline Wareham Catherine Rankin Cathy Dodson Chelsea Gilliland Cheryl Cox Chloe Powell Christine Statham Claire Fitzpatrick Claire Wiltshire Claudia Guli Danielle Ritchie Dannielle Ritchie David Asquith David Morris Dawn Riddel Deanna Bardan Deirdre Evans Delbert Dillingham Des Logan Dianne Carmody Don Beale Dot Skewes

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Edna Lowe Eleni Lambropoulos Elise Fletcher Emily Grant Fay Beslee Fiona Harbridge Flora Walker Gail Thornthwaite Garry Ball Gayle Skipworth Geoff Currey Geoff Paterson Gordon Lee Grace Rennie Graeme Cardillo Graeme Dawson Graham Bence Helen Hargreaves Helen Rowe Helena Nardi Ian Hazewinkel Irene Kearsey Irene McInnes James Gaunt Jeanette Germon Jennifer Smith Jessica Attard Jill Cilia Jim Freeman Joanne Hawkesworth John Killian John MacKinnon Jon Rennison Joy Herman Judith Vardy Judy Bennett Judy Johnston Judy Mason

Julie Christy Julie Cummings Kate Monypenny Katherine Bradstreet Katherine Danford-Storey Kay Rust Keng Chong Kerry Gutowski Kevin Parker Kim Price Larae Dillingham Leanne Alden Leonie Marshall Lesley Jeffrey Lindsay Thomas Liz Buckle Liz Raven Liza Hallam Lorraine Doig Louise Bailey Lucy Davies Lyn Pecchiar Mansoora Syeda Maree Langley Marg Brown Margaret Pope Margaret Wright Marie Rogers Marilyn Freeman Marilyn Kenny Mark Huntersmith Mark Kennedy Marvin Rust Maureen Molloy Maxine Wagerman Melisa Begg Michael Newsome Michelle Rinaldi

Millicent Marsh Mitch Grandell Neil Barrie Neil Morris Neil Paddle Neil Robinson Nicole El Sheik Noel Logan Pamela Baum Patience Grace Patricia Porigneaux Peter Harvey Pulu Lupe Rebecca Williams Renee Weigard Robert Thomas Rosemary Waghorne Ross Oberin Sally Marsden Sandra Mazzocchi Santo Rullo Sara Hardy Shirley Turner Sidonie Lowe Simon Sorrentino Sue Dawson Sue Maclellan Sue Rickard Susannah Tindall Suzanne Napolitano Tim Marriott Val Sterling Vanessa Lau Viranga Ratnaike Vivienne McComb Wendy Griffin

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HIGHLIGHTS 2014–2015 Achievements of Staff

Professional Committees

Awards

Aside from their roles at Public Record Office Tracey Manallack: member, Bendigo Regional Victoria, a number of staff members made a significant contribution to their professions through Archives Centre Operations Committee; member, Collaborative Research Centre in Australian membership of committees during 2014–2015: History, Federation University, Steering Committee; Tsari Anderson: acting editor, Provenance. member, Federation University Australian Historical Lauren Bourke: member, Bendigo Regional Archives Association 2016 Conference Committee; member, Geelong Heritage Centre Advisory Committee; Centre Operations Committee; member, City of member, Victorian Aboriginal Advisory Group.

Ballarat Heritage Advisory Committee; member, chair, Museums Australia Victoria Exhibitions Julie McCormack: chair, Council of Australian Services Advisory Committee; assistant editor, Archives and Records Authorities National Bodies Provenance journal.

Working Group; member, Cabinet Records Working

The work of Public Record Office Victoria staff and volunteers was recognised in 2014–2015: Melbourne Awards 2014 The Melbourne Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of organisations and individuals whose passion and commitment makes Melbourne such a unique place to live, visit and do business.

This year Public Record Office Victoria was the recipient of the following Melbourne Award: Contribution to Community by a Corporation: winner

David Brown: deputy chair, Information Management Working Group; observer, Chief Information Officers Council Meeting; member, Department of Health and Human Services Records Management Steering Committee.

Charlie Farrugia: member, Australian Women’s Archives Project Committee; member, ANZAC Commemorative Naming Project; member, Victorian Association of Family History Organisations Committee.

Sebastian Gurciullo: chair, Archives and Manuscripts Editorial Board; general editor, Archives and Manuscripts; editor and chair, Provenance; webmaster, Committee of the Section on Literary and Artistic Archives of the International Council on Archives.

Graeme Hairsine: chair, Institute of Public Administration Australia (Victoria), ICT Community of Practice; member, Bendigo Regional Archives Centre Committee of Management; member, Department of Premier and Cabinet Information Security Committee; member, Creative Victoria Chief Information Officers Forum.

Volunteers scan soldier settlement files in the Public Record Office Victoria digitisation lab. L-R Gail Thornthwaite, Leone Marshall, Barbara Minchinton, Anna Maree Malmgren, Margaret Wright.

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Justine Heazlewood: chair, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; chair, Monash University Information and Knowledge Management Course Advisory Committee; member, Collections Committee, State Library of Victoria; member, Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities; member, iPRES2014 Local Organising Committee; member, Monash University, Centre for Organisational and Social Informatics Advisory Board; member, Standards Australia, Records and Document Management Systems Committee (IT-21).

Alan Kong: member, Institute for Information Management.

Group.

Alison McNulty: member, Bendigo Regional Archives Centre Committee of Management; member, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; member, Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities; Public Access Working Group; member Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities; Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse Working Group.

Jennifer Rout: member, Open Minds Advisory Board.

Eva Samaras: member, ALIA New Generation Advisory Committee.

Nicole Tighe: member, Australian Human Resources Institute; member, Department of Premier and Cabinet Human Resources Working Group; member, People and Culture Community of Practice.

Andrew Waugh: member, Standards Australia, Records and Document Management Systems Committee (IT-21) Subcommittee on Recordkeeping Metadata.

Daniel Wilksch: member, Victorian Cultural Network Governance Committee.

Rebecca Young: coordinator, Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative; secretary, Public Records Advisory Council.

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HIGHLIGHTS 2014–2015

OUTPUT MEASURES 2014–2015

Conference and Seminar Presentations

Output: Records

In addition to Public Record Office Victoria’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 2014–2015 these included: walata tyamateetj exhibition tour Melbourne, July 2014, February 2015, March 2015 Tsari Anderson, Jessica Reid and Carly Godden The Lads Who Came Home. Conducting Research on the WW1 Discharged Soldier Settlement Scheme at Public Record Office Victoria Blackburn, September 2014 Charlie Farrugia Monash University Professional Practice Seminar Caulfield, September 2014 Tsari Anderson: Ethics and Aboriginal records Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities Residential November 2014 Justine Heazlewood: Cross Jurisdictional Opportunities & Challenges

6th Annual Records and Information Officers’ Forum 2015 February 2015 Justine Heazlewood: Managing Digital Records in the Victorian Government

Quantity

2014-2015 Target

2014-2015 Actual

9

9

12

Public Record Office Victoria records transferred

3887

2000

2,965

Digital records preserved

235,179

200,000

189,398

Significant VERS Strategy projects completed

5

5

4

Number of participants undertaking records management training5

809

400

613

Transfer projects completed6

38

30

36

% Collection storage meeting industry standard

96

92

96

% Client satisfaction (agency)

91

90

97

Response times (agency)

1.4

2

0.9

2013-2014 Actual

2014-2015 Target

2014-2015 Actual

109,461

90,000

129,405

907,469

900,000

1,025,118

20,908

19,500

35,337

946

1000

1,478

97

95

96

93

95

91

Retention and disposal projects undertaken1

Overcoming the Difficulties in Finding World War 1 Soldier Settlement Land Files at Women at War In The Archives, Australian Women’s Archives Project Melbourne, March 2015 Charlie Farrugia

2

3 4

Introduction to Public Record Office Victoria Melbourne, March 2015 Kerry Harding

Quality

Adoption and Wardship Seminar Ballarat, April 2015 Grace Baliviera Convicted and Neglected. Researching Victorian Wards Of State 1864 - c1960 Seminar Ballarat, April 2015 Charlie Farrugia

2013-2014 Actual

7

Output: Access Quantity Visitors8

Appraisal and Disposal in the Digital Age Canberra, November 2014 Emma Fowler and Peter Francis

Online visitors

9

Volunteer hours

10

Community training delivered

11

Battle to Farm. Identifying Files of the WW1 Discharged Soldier Settlement Scheme at Public Record Office Victoria, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Melbourne, December 2014 Charlie Farrugia

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

High demand from agencies led PROV to undertake more than anticipated which was accommodated with process improvements.

2 A greater than anticipated number of agency transfer projects were completed.

3 A technology problem slowed down the rate of transfer of digital records in the latter part of the year.

4 Four projects fully completed. One projected delivered to final draft form but not finalised due to changes in Information

Management governance subsequent to machinery of government changes.

5 Increased records management awareness due to increased Public Record Office Victoria engagement activities.

6 High demand from agencies combined with internal process improvements.

7 Results continously remain under the two-day target.

8 Significant increases in visitors to Old Treasury Building exhibitions as well as both Victorian Archives Centre and regional touring exhibitions.

9 Slightly improved website visitation over previous year and over target attributable to increased focus on social media promotion

to new audiences.

10 A far larger number of volunteers than expected continue to deliver more hours than forecast, including a substantial increase in

hours contributed by on-site FamilySearch volunteers.

11 Increase in numbers due to high attendance at Public Record Office Victoria’s Open Day where sessions included using the

collection and outreach seminars.

1

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STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2014–2015 Reading Room and Record Retrievals Public Record Office Victoria operates two public reading rooms; one at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne and the other at the Ballarat Archives Centre in Ballarat. Records can also be accessed at the Bendigo Regional Archives Centre and Geelong Heritage Centre Reading Rooms, both of which are Places of Deposit.

During 2014–2015, 15,542 visitors utilised the Reading Rooms to view records. 48,949 records were issued to visitors and another 11,942 were issued to Government Agencies and for internal Public Record Office Victoria use.

Our Reading Room staff delivered a number of information sessions to the public on how to use the Public Record Office Victoria collection and sessions focusing on specific areas of the collection.

Build Our Online Presence

Increase Usability of the Collection

We have continued to make progress in our technology change program at Public Record Office Victoria.

Battle to Farm: WW1 Soldier Settlement in Victoria

In 2014–2015 our online enquiry system was launched to manage incoming reference queries.

Over a twelve-month period, the system dealt with on average 759 queries per month; providing a more consistent and seamless approach to customer service.

This year Public Record Office Victoria:

Records Issued

Government users

Public users

Number of records

70,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000

•

Created a new data visualisation tool to assist researchers in navigating the functions and agencies for which we hold records. This exciting new tool will be embedded into our new website.

• Transferred eight static HTML exhibitions onto interactive interface

10,000 2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

Visitors to Reading Rooms

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

Victorian Archives Centre

Bendigo Regional Archives Centre

Ballarat Archives Centre

Geelong Heritage Centre

18,000

•

Commenced planning for the Digital Archive Program, a three-year program to progressively replace all of the components of our current Digital Archive. This will deliver a flexible, scalable and modular system that will be more adaptable to future changes in technology and in digital public record formats.

Over the next three years our technology environment will be transformed to support a more active, engaged, diverse and demanding online user community. We will continue to consult with our users to ensure that our online presence meets their needs, in particular a more responsive online enquiries process, efficient and streamlined digitisation on demand service, a much improved user journey, increased number of digitised records, and a more comprehensive search tool, while also supporting our mandate to both preserve and maximise the utilisation of our unique collection.

16,000

Number of visitors

• Designed an entirely new research topic page and series description page model for the new website.

• Commenced procurement of a new Enterprise Search tool that will enable government and public users to search across all of our data stores in one unified search for the very first time.

60,000

0 Year

• Progressed with planning content migration from the existing website into a new website design.

14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000

As described in this year’s highlights, we successfully completed the Battle to Farm website project, increasing accessibility and usability of World War One soldier settlement files. This project was undertaken with funding received from the Veteran’s Unit of the Department of Premier and Cabinet as part of the centenary of celebrations of World War One. Battle to Farm involved the digitisation of documents from the land files relating to 9,000 individual returned soldiers who leased land from the Victorian Government under the scheme. A website was developed and the records were published on it as a searchable database. To provide further context, we worked with regional community groups to develop six case studies which explored various aspects of the soldier settler experience through video, text and documents.

This project was achieved with the help of 90 volunteers who identified individual soldiers and digitised the records to create over 80,000 images.

We also partnered with the National Archives of Australia to share resources with their Project Albany to digitise repatriation records of returned soldiers.

The Battle to Farm website was launched on 8 April

by Shaun Leane MP, the Parliamentary Secretary for Special Minister for State. This has been a highly successful project with the website receiving 4,400 visits in the first month. We are now working to ensure that the content is heavily promoted and linked to World War One sources published online by other cultural organisations.

0 Year

34

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

35

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2014–2015 Metadata Publication Opportunities This year we became a content partner with the National Library of Australia. We are working with them to extract metadata about the records in our collection and publish it to the Trove online resource. This will increase the discoverability of our collection and greatly assist users by linking our records to related records held by other cultural and heritage institutions. Trove received 1,604,485 visits in June 2015 alone.

Currently, metadata about our 14,000 series of records has been extracted and published to Trove.

Work is being finalised to extract metadata from our system about the 2,500 agencies which have existed within the Victorian government over time and publish this information to Trove, to enable relationships and linkages between records.

Increase the Engagement of Communities with their Archival Heritage Exhibitions at the Old Treasury Building Public Record Office Victoria continues to present popular exhibitions in partnership with the Old Treasury Building to showcase the State’s collection. These exhibitions contribute to our commitment to engage the community with their archival heritage through the display and interpretation of the State’s fascinating documentary heritage.

July 2014 saw the launch of the Sailing into Melbourne exhibition by the Minister for the Arts Heidi Victoria with engaging keynote speaker,

School Days curator Kate Luciano with some of her favourite items from the exhibition.

36

Olympic Sailing Medalist Mark Turnbull OAM. The exhibition showcased Melbourne’s fascinating port history as well as grand voyages, early migration, devastating shipwrecks, and penal hulks. The public records on display included letters, shipping registers, passenger lists, photographs and plans.

Over 38,000 people visited the exhibition during its nine month run.

School Days: Education in Victoria was launched in March by the Hon. Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria with Nick Bastow, great great grandson of Henry Bastow, Victoria’s first Architect and Surveyor.

The exhibition featured the1872 Education Act, establishing Australia’s first public based school system on the principles of free, secular and compulsory education. In a first for Public Record Office Victoria, we hosted two internship students from Monash University to assist with research supporting the exhibition, Amber Evangelista and Nina Sapountsis. The exhibition has attracted extensive media attention across suburban newspapers, nightly television news, lifestyle programs and ABC radio. The nostalgic displays seem to have struck a chord with Victorians as more than 16,000 people have visited the exhibition in less than four months, making it one of the most popular exhibitions we’ve ever held with Old Treasury Building.

Continuing this successful partnership a new Memorandum of Understanding between Public Record Office Victoria and the Old Treasury Building Reserve Committee was signed during the year, effective from 1 July 2015.

Children sit along the fence with their milk bottles VPRS 14517, P1, Unit 17. Image featured in School Days at Old Treasury Building. (School unknown)

The Victorian Archives Centre Gallery

Touring Exhibitions

The Victorian Archives Centre gallery played host to a number of outstanding exhibitions throughout 2014–2015. This year’s exhibitions, featuring records from our collection, included:

Public Record Office Victoria has a range of touring exhibitions, showcasing our collection andrepresenting stories from across Victoria.

All exhibitions are free to loan around the state.

The walata tyamateetj: ‘carry knowledge’ exhibition, which included a number of guided tours and was extended due to popular demand to April 2015. The exhibition received positive feedback from visitors such as; “insightful” “crucial to our history”, and “fantastic information for students”, and will now go on to the free touring exhibition program.

The 2014–2015 year saw a significant increase in the number of visitors to our touring exhibitions including We Saw the Queen, Victoria: On Record and Footprints: the journey of Lucy and Percy Pepper.

The Transporting Art exhibition was launched as part of our Open Day festivities and features artworks and photographs from the ‘Transporting Art’ project.

Between 1978 and 1993 the Ministry for the Arts commissioned upcoming Australian artists to paint Melbourne’s iconic W class trams. The project took contemporary art onto the streets exposing Australian public art in a new and imaginative way, generating world-wide interest.

Around 31,000 Victorian’s experienced the exhibitions on display at libraries, community centres and museums including: MADE Ballarat, Wyndham, Dimboola, Melton, Deakin University, Bacchus Marsh, Moreland, Prahran, Quambatook, Blackburn Lake, and Caroline Springs.

Feedback from hosts has been extremely positive: “The exhibition was great and really resonated with our space and visitors. The film clips made to accompany the panels really helped to engage visitors on multiple levels.” (Footprints, MADE)

Our exhibition features original artworks by some of the project’s artists including Merrin Eirth, Jenny Watson, Michael Leunig, Lesley Dumbrell, Robert Jacks and even pop group ‘Mental as Anything’. The exhibition also includes a photographic history of Melbourne’s beloved trams, from images of horse drawn trams of the 1880s through to the iconic W class tram.

Transporting Art is on show in the Victorian Archives Centre Gallery until November 2015.

Original concept designs by Merrin Erth and Lesley Dumbrell featured as part of the Transporting Art exhibition at the Victorian Archives Centre Gallery.

37

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2014–2015 Bendigo Regional Archive Centre Public Record Office Victoria continues its partnership with the City of Greater Bendigo and the Goldfields Library Corporation in the Bendigo Regional Archives Centre. During the year, we have provided extensive advice and support to enable the centre’s storage facility to reach compliance with mandatory standards and the research centre to substantially improve its level of compliance.

A highlight of the year has been the first external transfer of state archives to the Bendigo Regional Archive Centre, consisting of historical records from the Swan Hill Rural City Council with other government record transfers including Campaspe Shire and McIvor Shire.

Another milestone has been the development and approval of the Bendigo Regional Archive Centre Collection and Acquisition Policy, which paves the way for the donation of historical material to the centre from individuals, community organisations and local businesses.

Local History Grants The Local History Grants Program provides small grants to community organisations to support projects that preserve, record or publish Victorian local history. We administer the program, and this year delivered $350,000 in funding to 62 projects across Victoria, including book publishing projects, oral history recordings, digitising collections, the creation of websites and apps, microfilming, training and education, heritage trails, exhibitions, catalogues and historical collection preservation.

of Victoria. Awards are presented over several categories with the Victorian Community History Award 2014 awarded for the most outstanding project submitted.

Held this year at the State Library Victoria on 20 October 2014, the Awards were attended by over 230 community members. Hon Andrea Coote, MLC, representing the Minister for the Arts congratulated all applicants. Keynote speaker, author Gideon Haigh, spoke of the importance of archives and historical collections in researching his latest book Certain Admissions and throughout his career.

Public Record Office Victoria supports community organisations that care for and provide access to collections of importance to Victorians.

In April 2015 we developed a workshop to assist people to understand and be able to research adoption and wardship records held in Ballarat.

The program Adoption and Wardship: Research and Support Services was held at MADE, with our own Sebastian Gurciullo hosting a panel of experts on the records and resources available in the region.

Speakers included Charlie Farrugia; Grace Baliviera, Koorie Records Unit; Sharon Guy, Child and Family Services; Edith Fry, Central Highlands Library Ballarat; and Kathleen Anderson, Forced Adoption History Project, National Archives of Australia. The session was supported by local media including ABC Ballarat, who featured the event, highlighting the changing nature of public records and the ongoing impacts for people who were taken away from their family without explanation.

The Victorian Community History Award 2014 winner was Anne Vale for her publication, Exceptional Australian Garden Makers.

Winners in other categories included: History Publication Award: Gardens of Fire: an investigative memoir by Robert Kenny.

Multimedia History Award: Gun Alley: The Forgotten Story of Lilydale’s Back Streets 1880 to today by Lilydale & District Historical Society Inc. Historical Interpretation Award: The Garden at La Trobe’s Cottage, Kings Domain, Melbourne by Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage.

Local History - Small Publication Award: Cultured Colonists: George Alexander Gilbert and His Family, Settlers in Port Phillip by Margaret Bowman.

Local History Project Award: The Journal of William Thomas, Assistant Protector of the Aborigines of Port Phillip & Guardian of the Aborigines of Victoria 1839-1867, 4 volumes by Marguerita Stephens (and A full list of grant recipients and further information others for vol.4). on the Program can be found at prov.vic.gov.au Collaborative Community History Award: From (see appendix 7 Local History Grants, page 52).

Apples…To Coffee, the first 90 years of the Heathmont shopping centre, 1923-2013 by Gerry Victorian Community History Awards Robinson and friends.

The Victorian Community History Awards program Judges Award: Postcards: Stories from the has been celebrated annually since 1999 and is Mornington Peninsula (DVD) by Mornington funded by the Victorian government. Managed Peninsula Local History Network and Lavender Hill

by Public Record Office Victoria, in partnership Multimedia. with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, these awards recognise the contributions made by A full list of winners is available at prov.vic.gov.au Victorians to the preservation of Victoria’s heritage (see Appendix 6, Victorian Community History and acknowledge works that contribute to the Awards page 50). development and appreciation of the history

38

Community Training and Awareness

L-R Director and Keeper of Public Records, Justine Heazlewood with Victorian Community History Award winner for 2014, Anne Vale.

39

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2014–2015 Develop the Archival Collection to Increase its Value and Significance Public Record Office Victoria has completed the first year of a strategy designed to develop the archival collection and increase its value and usability through digitisation.

The highlight of the first year has been the undertaking of two large scale partnership agreements with organisations Family Search and Ancestry to digitise collection material. Both of these organisations are copying material for publication through their family history websites; material will also be made available through the Public Record Office Victoria website.

Improve our Digital Transfer Capability We are committed to delivering a framework, systems and tools to improve our ability to support high-volume, automated digital transfer capability.

Significant achievements in this area have been made in 2014–2015 including: •

•

Family Search is copying additional records from

our Wills, Probates and Inquests series, bringing

the date range of digitised material to 1937. Two

teams from the United States, Delbert and LaRae

Dillingham and Marilyn and Jim Freeman, arrived in early 2013 to undertake the work.

Ancestry will be copying microfilmed public records,

currently not available online, held in our Reading

Rooms. This project will make frequently consulted records available on the internet and reduce our • reliance on microfilm technology.

•

L-R: Family Search team members Jim, Delaine, Marilyn, Lupe, LaRae, Sheila, Delbert, Mark Kelly (Asia Pacific Representative) and Garry.

40

Online Retention and Disposal Authority software (ORDA) was developed and implemented to be part of normal business.

ORDA allows greater user control and improved communication when agencies are developing disposal authorities.

Commenced investigations of Software Independent Archiving of Relational Databases (SIARD). The Swiss Federal Archives developed SIARD as an approach and tools to support the archival management of relational databases.

This year Public Record Office Victoria started a pilot program with the Department of Health and Human Services. This pilot resulted in the successful capture of a relational database as an archival record and commenced records transfer to Public Record Office Victoria.

Public Record Office Victoria undertook an analysis of CenITex’s management of Lotus Notes email. Lotus Notes is the most common email platform across the Victorian Public Service. Email records are held on a variety of media dating back to the 1990s. The management is based on back-up techniques and reduces accessibility and increases costs of access. As a result of the analysis, we identified a number of improvements to the management of the email back-up regime. These will be used in 2015–2016 to assist CenITex and agencies find solutions to email management.

Public Record Office Victoria and the Cabinet Office undertook a major review of processes managing Cabinet records, both prior and post the November 2014 election. This collaborative approach resulted in significant improvements in timeliness and quality and was applied to digital and hardcopy records.

Enhance Government Recordkeeping Capability The Victorian Government operates within a large and diverse information communications and technology (ICT) environment. That environment is rapidly changing, with greater expectations from staff and the public to deliver online services and activities.

•

Strategies and processes developed to ensure the Public Records Advisor is engaged with and able to provide advice and guidance on appraisal of records.

•

Extension of information and records management case studies. These case studies are a valuable resource for government agencies when implementing information and records management projects and programs.

In 2014–2015 we aimed to overcome these challenges by enhancing government recordkeeping • The development and communication of a Mobile Technology Policy. This policy supports capability in three ways: the use of mobile technology to improve 1. Improving records management standards and and streamline government processes, reduce policy. operational costs and meet recordkeeping requirements.

2. Documenting whole of Victorian Government

records management environment performance.

3. Providing relevant advice to agencies.

Our key deliverables for the year were: •

The revision and reissuing of two Records Management Standards and associated documentation and tools. The VERS Standard and tool revision extended the functionality and reduced the complexity of requirements for digital archival records (VERS Encapsulated Objects VEOS). The Storage Standard and specifications revision simplified the requirements for the storage of government records irrespective of format or location.

Transform our Collection Management Environment During 2014–2015 we commenced work on redevelopment of our digital archive and collection management environment. This work is based on a 2013-2014 feasibility study and follows a modular architecture.

Following funding in the May 2014–2015 State Budget, we have started on a full program that will see the archive transformed over the next three years.

The modular architecture we are engaging allows for staging of the work in discrete projects, • A variety of surveys and analysis extending our which enables better allocation of resources understanding of government records including and minimisation of disruption. As each project the extent of 19th century records still held completes, government, academic and public users by government agencies, quantity of hardcopy will experience visible improvements in the range records held by Approved Providers of Secondary and performance of online services.

Storage and the total hardcopy records held by The first project, Enterprise Search, commenced local government bodies. in May, and is due for delivery in November 2015.

• A report on recordkeeping findings documented Enterprise Search will see us move to an improved in the Ombudsman Victoria and Victorian Auditor website search tool that will enable greater General’s Office reports (four years 2010-14). access to the archive and the whole range of our This report found extensive and significant information assets. This new interface will enable deficiencies in government recordkeeping. both skilled researchers and casual visitors alike to get the most out of their online search.

• Release of the Appraisal Statement for Public Records required as State Archives. The Statement specifies the areas of government activity that require permanent retention as State Archives and guides the identification of permanent records.

41

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES 2014–2015

APPENDICES PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE VICTORIA

Increase Organisational Capability

Continuous Improvement

Values and Behaviours

The People and Culture team continues to take a proactive approach to reviewing and refining policies, procedures and programs to ensure they align with Public Record Office Victoria’s values and behaviours and meet our legislative obligations.

Throughout 2014–2015, the People and Culture team has continued working to embed Public Record Office Victoria’s values and behaviours into all areas of the organisation.

To ensure our values and behaviours underpin the work we do, staff are now required to demonstrate how they meet each value as part of their end of year performance appraisal. Position descriptions have also been updated asking all members of staff to model appropriate behaviours.

The People and Culture team has also updated its Reward and Recognition program to enable staff to informally reward their colleagues who demonstrate good behaviour and performance.

This program has proven popular with staff, who most commonly recognise their colleagues for collaboration and responsiveness.

A Recruitment and Selection policy has been introduced to ensure our practices are transparent and that a consistent approach is taken across the organisation in line with the public sector employment principles.

The policy is also designed to ensure that recruitment processes actively enable applicants from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, people who are culturally and linguistically diverse or who are disabled to apply for all advertised positions.

Closely aligned to the Recruitment and Selection policy, the People and culture team also implemented a Higher Duties Framework. Public Public Record Office Victoria’s 2014–2015 Record Office Victoria aims to be fair and consistent Organisational Learning Program was also designed when managing the development of staff and this to further embed values and behaviours. Learning Framework sets clear parameters for advertising and Development included sessions on how to and selecting candidates for higher duties manage stress, build resilience and a detailed opportunities. session on how our values and behaviours interact To help better capture data, we also reviewed and with our legislative obligations. updated Public Record Office Victoria’s learning and Staff were also offered opportunities to partake in development data collection. We are now able to either an internal or an external mentoring program. report on learning and development spends based on a number of factors including grade and gender.

Aboriginal Awareness and Inclusion An Aboriginal Awareness and Inclusion Action plan has been developed and rolled out across the organisation. This plan focuses on initiatives which aim to embed Public Record Office Victoria’s commitment to Aboriginal awareness and inclusion into our every day activities.

The implementation of the plan will be followed by a comprehensive Aboriginal Cultural Awareness training program in 2015–2016.

We’ve also updated the information we collect in exit interviews. This new data collection asks the employee questions around job satisfaction, management behaviours, organisational culture, remuneration and benefits. The information from exit interviews is then used to update Public Record Office Victoria’s policies and programs.

Right image: William Bradshaw’s letter to his mother while serving in WW1 expressing his interest in the Victorian soldier settlement scheme. 1918.

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43

APPENDICES Appendix 1: Assets, financial statement and workforce data Assets The assets include both community and operating assets in the following four categories: Community assets

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.

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 in 2012 -2013 and is now valued at $59.9m.

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

Ongoing Employees

Financial statement

These assets are the State’s archival collection. The collection was re-valued in 2012 - 2013 at $258.3m.

Motor vehicles

Workforce data

Plant and operating equipment

Number (Headcount)

Full-time (Headcount)

Part-time (Headcount)

FTE

FTE

June 2014

66

43

23

52.4

7.0

June 2015

59

37

22

48.6

3.2

2013–14

2014–15

Operating

4,545,428

3,846,539

Salary and on-costs

5,347,236

5,292,128

Sub-total

9,892,664

9,138,668

Capital1

586,810

483,867

Depreciation

3,811,861

3,367,727

Number (Headcount)

Capital Assets Charge

4,452,000

4,482,000

Gender

Total Expenditure

18,743,335

17,572,262

Capital investment includes investment against the PROV asset management plan.

1

Fixed-term & Casual

June 2014

June 2015

Ongoing

Fixed-term & Casual

Ongoing

Fixed-term & Casual

FTE

FTE

Number (Headcount)

FTE

FTE

Female

42

31.9

4.4

35

26.8

2.4

Male

24

20.5

2.6

24

21.8

0.8

Age Under 25

0

0

0

0

0

0

25-34

18

12.8

2.8

17

12.3

1.6

35-44

16

11.6

1.8

13

11.8

0

45-54

17

15.4

0.6

13

12.1

0

55-64

13

10.8

1.0

13

10.4

0.8

Over 65

2

1.8

0.8

3

2

0.8

Classification

44

Executive

1

1.0

0

1

1.0

0

STS

1

0.8

0

1

0.8

0

Grade 6

6

4.9

0.8

6

4.9

0.8

Grade 5

9

7.8

1.0

7

6.6

0

Grade 4

19

14.4

2.2

14

10.7

1.2

Grade 3

15

11.5

2.0

16

13.8

0.4

Grade 2

16

12.2

2.0

14

10.8

0.8

45

APPENDICES Appendix 2: Publications

Appendix 3: Standards and Advice Issued

Public Record Office Victoria produces a range of publications including books, newsletters and journals. For a full list of current Public Record Office Victoria publications see: www.prov.vic.gov.au/publications

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.

Hardcopy publications are also available from Public Record Office Victoria’s online shop which you can access online or by contacting: Publication Sales Public Record Office Victoria PO Box 2100 North Melbourne VIC, 3051

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

Standards Public Record Office Victoria’s standards and specifications establish requirements for the creation, management and use of Victorian public records.

Standards issued in 2014–2015 PROS

Title of authority

Issue date

Expiry date

Publications 2014–2015

PROS 11/01 S1

Agency Records Storage Specification

08/07/2014

08/07/2019

Public Record Office Victoria produced the following publications during 2014–2015:

PROS 11/01 S2

Storing and Managing State Archives Specification

08/07/2014

08/07/2019

Historic Homes A research guide to help Victorians discover the history of their home through public records.

This is also available online at prov.vic.gov.au

PROS 11/01 S3

APROSS Specification

08/07/2014

08/07/2019

Records Storage Guideline

08/07/2014

08/07/2019

Finding your Mob Researching Aboriginal family history at the Victorian Archives Centre.

This is also available online at prov.vic.gov.au

PROS 11/01 G5 PROS 11/01 G6

Records Storage: Authorisation and Inspection Programme Guideline

08/07/2014

08/07/2019

PROS 11/01 FS1

Becoming an APROSS Fact Sheet

08/07/2014

N/A

PROS 11/01 FS2

Maintaining APROSS Certification Fact Sheet

08/07/2014

N/A

PROS 15/03

Standard for the encapsulation of digital information http://prov.vic.gov.au/government/vers/standard-2/management-of-electronic-records

01/06/2015

01/06/2020

PROS 15/03 S1

Constructing VERS Encapsulated Objects

01/06/2015

01/06/2020

PROS 15/03 S2

Adding metadata to VEOs

01/06/2015

01/06/2020

PROS 15/03 S3

Long term preservation formats

01/06/2015

01/06/2020

Newsletters and journals Government Services Record A quarterly e-newsletter of information and resources for records management professionals.

Koorie Records Unit Newsletter A bi-annual e-newsletter from Public Record Office Victoria’s Koorie Records Unit.

Provenance: The Journal of Public Record Office Victoria Public Record Office Victoria’s refereed scholarly journal, published annually in October, latest issue published 2014, issue 13, ISSN: 1832-2522.

Public Record Office Despatch Public Record Office Victoria’s monthly e-newsletter of events and activities.

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APPENDICES Appendix 4: Approved Public Record Office Victoria Storage Suppliers (APROSS)

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

Policies issued in 2014–2015 Number

Title of advice

Issue date

Expiry date

Mobile Technologies Policy

13/10/2015

N/A

Appraisal Statement for Public Records required as State Archives

17/02/2015

N/A

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

For a complete list of APROSS sites see http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/government/archival-supplies-and-storage APROSS facilities approved in 2014–2015 - Nil Reappointments - Nil

Appendix 5: VERS-Compliant Products

Retention and Disposal Authorities Authorities issued in 2014–2015

After testing conducted by Public Record Office Victoria, 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.

PROS

Title of authority

Issue date

Expiry date

14/01

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Transport Accident Prevention and Assistance Functions

15/08/2014

15/08/2024

14/03

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Transport Asset Management Function

06/10/2014

N/A

14/04

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Telecommunications Asset Management Function

06/10/2014

N/A

Product

Vendor

Spec 1

Spec 2

Spec 3

Spec 4

Spec 5

July 2014

August 2014

August 2014

August 2014

Retention and Disposal Authority for Cemetery and Crematoria Records

26/02/2015

N/A

Parashift Pty Ltd

July 2014

15/01

Alfresco VERS (version 1)

AvePoint, Inc.

May 2015

02/04/2015

N/A

February 2015*

April 2015

Retention and Disposal Authority for Medico-Legal Death Investigation Records

February 2015*

May 2015

15/02

Records Automation (version 3)

15/04

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of Alternative Dispute Resolution Services

24/04/2015

N/A

ELOprofessional/ ELOenterprise (version 9)

ELO Digital Office AU/NZ Pty Ltd

March 2015*

March 2015*

March 2015

March 2015

March 2015

RecFind 6 (version 2.6)

Knowledgeone Corporation

September 2014#

September 2014#

September 2014#

September 2014#

September 2014#

Technology One ECM (version 4.03)

Technology One

July 2014#

July 2014#

July 2014#

July 2014#

July 2014#

Total Number of Authorities issued: 6

Variations to existing authorities issued in 2014–2015 PROS

Title of authority

02/01

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records for Higher and 18/11/2014 Further Education Institutions - Variation 7 - Extension of the application of this Standard until 30/09/2015

30/09/2015

13/07

Retention and Disposal Authority for Administrative Records of National Bodies - Variation 1 - inclusion of classes to authorise of cardholder data to meet the requirements of the Payment Card Industry - Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

04/02/2015

N/A

05/05

Retention and Disposal Authority for Records of the Mental Health Tribunal – Variation 2 – title broadened to cover records of the Mental Health Review Board (19872014), Mental Health Tribunal (2014-ct) and Psychosurgery Review Board (1987-2014); amendment of classes 1 and 2, inclusion of class 3

26/02/2015

N/A

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Issue date

Expiry date

Please note the products listed below were certified as VERS-compliant in 2014–2015. For a complete list please refer to the VERS compliance page on the Public Record Office Victoria website: prov.vic.gov.au/government/vers/implementing-vers/vendor-assessment.

* Denotes conditions associated with certificate. # Denotes a product that was self-certified by the vendor, attesting that the VERS functionality remains unchanged from a previous version of the product that was assessed by PROV staff members.

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APPENDICES Appendix 6: 2014 Victorian Community History Award Winners

Multimedia History Award

Victorian Community History Award

Local History Project Award

Recognising the most outstanding community history project submitted in any category ($5000).

Award recognising activities that enhance access to records of significance to local communities ($2000).

For the best presentation of history which uses non-print media ($2000).

Exceptional Australian Garden Makers, Anne Vale (Lothian Custom Publishing) Many great gardeners have also been great writers.

In this beautifully presented book which focuses heavily on Victoria, the author concisely explores the major influences on Australian gardening and designs.

History Publication Award Award for the best non-fiction publication or e-publication on Victorian history ($2000).

Gardens of Fire: an investigative memoir, Robert Kenny (UWA Publishing) Gardens of Fire: an investigative memoir is a moving account of the author Robert Kenny’s experiences during and after the devastating Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 in the small central Victorian community of Redesdale.

Local History - Small Publication Award Award for the best small publication ($1500).

Cultured Colonists: George Alexander Gilbert and his family, settlers in Port Phillip, Margaret Bowman (Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne Athenaeum & State Library of Victoria) George Gilbert and his family arrived in Melbourne in 1841. This book skilfully reconstructs the lives of these ‘cultured colonists’ as they try to make their way in the developing society of Port Phillip, Victoria, in the 1840s and 1850s.

The Journal of William Thomas, Assistant Protector of the Aborigines of Port Phillip & Guardian of the Aborigines of Victoria 1839-1867, 4 Volumes, Marguerita Stephens (et al. for vol.4) (Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages) Described in the foreword as ‘the best white man any Aboriginal was likely to meet in Melbourne in 1839’, Thomas left very substantial journals covering nearly 30 years of almost constant contact with Aborigines in Victoria.

Collaborative Community History Award Recognising the best community collaborative work which involves significant contribution from several individuals, groups or historical societies ($2000).

Gun Alley: The Forgotten Story of Lilydale’s Back Streets 1880 to today, Lilydale & District Historical Society Inc. This remarkable website (www.lilydalehistorical. com.au/gunalley) is the result of an ambitious project to capture online the history of the people and buildings in John Street, Lilydale.

Historical Interpretation Award This Award recognises unique formats of historical representation, such as exhibitions, artistic interpretation, history walks and tours ($2000).

The Garden at La Trobe’s Cottage, Kings Domain, Melbourne, Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage This is an intriguing historical project - the recreation of the garden that surrounded Charles and Sophie La Trobe’s Jolimont cottage 1839-1854.

From Apples…To Coffee, the first 90 years of the Heathmont Shopping Centre, 1923-2013, Gerry Robinson and friends (Penfolk Publishing)

Judge’s Special Prize for Excellence

This substantial book, the product of the author and a group of four friends, is the result of an admirable collaborative effort. Focused on the Heathmont Shopping Centre, it tells much about its area and people over the past 90 years.

Postcards: Stories from the Mornington Peninsula (DVD) Mornington Peninsula Local History Network and Lavender Hill Multimedia Local History Touring Exhibition

Key note speaker Giedon Haigh at the 2014 Victorian Community History Awards.

Judges Choice Award ($1000).

Postcards: Stories from the Mornington Peninsula is a travelling exhibition that brings together stories from eight local historical societies. Each society focused on a local heritage theme, for example the development of holiday attractions and local industries in the Mornington Peninsula.

Winner, Victorian Community History Award 2014, Exceptional Australian Garden Makers, Anne Vale, Lothian Publishing.

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51

APPENDICES Appendix 7: Local History Grants Program The Local History Grants Program provides small grants to community organisations to support the cost of projects that preserve, record or publish Victorian local history. For more information on the program visit: www.prov.vic.gov.au/community-programs/grants-awards/local-history-grants.

Local History Grant Recipients 2014–2015

Funded Organisation

Project

Funding

Friends of Flagstaff Hill

Flagstaff Hill Collection cataloguing

$3,000.00

Geelong Heritage Centre

Digitising and indexing of the Geelong Valuation and Rate Books Records

$9,000.00

Gippsland Heritage Park

Cataloguing of Buildings and Collections at Old Gippstown

$1,340.00

Funded Organisation

Project

Funding

Harrow Bush Nursing Centre

Pathways to Harrow 2015

$3,238.00

3CR Community Radio

Radical Radio - 40 Years of 3CR

$8,500.00

Heidelberg Historical Society Inc.

Map Backlog Completion Project

$1,063.70

Axedale Our Town - Our Future Inc.

‘A Town Once Divided, Now United’ - Axedale Historical Loop App

Horsham Historical Society Inc.

Digitise old Films

$1,100.00

Horsham Saints Cricket Club

Ballarat and District Genealogical Society Inc.

Taking Ballarat Courier to the world

$7,500.00

Horsham Saints Cricket Club Premiership Photos Refurbishment

JOY 94.9

History of JOY 94.9

Ballarat Base Hospital Trained Nurses League

Ballarat Base Hospital, School of Nursing Educator Project 1888-1988

$3,300.00

Beaumaris Primary School

Retracing Beaumaris Primary School’s lost history - a preservation, publication and heritage panel project

Bellarine Historical Society Inc.

Digitise Shire of Bellarine Rate and Valuation books

$3,520.00

Benalla Historical Society Inc.

Conservation of Edward Harcourt Paintings

$8,584.40

Birchip Historical Society Inc.

Purchase of archival quality storage products and display cabinets for railway research

Bruthen & District Citizens Association Inc.

Bruthen Heritage Precinct - Development of historic displays

$6,930.00

Burke Memorial Museum

The Early Beechworth Potteries

$2,556.00

Castlemaine Historical Society Inc.

Fryerstown Court Records

$1,430.00

Chinese Museum

Cantonese opera in Australia: Bridging communities and cultures

$10,200.00

City of Warrnambool Rowing Club

Warrnambool Rowing Club- 140 years on the Hopkins River

Cohuna A. P. & H. Society

100 Years of Showing Off

The Committee for Drouin

‘Stories of Drouin’ from our Local Knowledge Identities

Commonwealth Clydesdale Horse Society Victorian Branch

The Centenary of Clydesdales at the Royal Melbourne Show 1914-2014

$6,930.00

Darebin Libraries

Digitising Darebin - 1980’s Northcote images

$6,700.00

Devon Meadows Primary School

DMPS Centenary Celebrations

$5,500.00

Emerald Community House Inc.

Emerald Heritage Walk - Stage 2

$8,680.00

Euroa Agricultural Society Incorporated

The publication of 130 years of the Euroa Agricultural and Pastoral Society 1885-2015

$6,050.00

52

$12,051.60

$931.70 $14,357.00

Kerang Pony Club Inc.

55 Year History of the Kerang Pony Club

$3,520.00

Kew Historical Society Inc.

Survey Maps of Kew

$3,081.10

Knox Historical Society Inc.

Audio Recording Digitisation

$2,057.00

Korumburra & District Historical Society Inc.

Digitising the Great Southern Advocate

$8,250.00

Korumburra Golf Club Inc.

A History of the first 100 years of the Korumburra Golf Club

$3,000.00

Lalbert Progress Association Inc.

Lalbert Primary School 2990 History Preservation

$1,650.00

Melbourne Library Service

Graeme Butler Heritage Image Collection

Mount Evelyn RSL Sub-branch

The Vagabond in the Yarra Valley Publication

$6,000.00

Multicultural Arts Victoria

Stories from The Pier

$9,956.00

North Wangaratta Community Group

$2,812.70

North Wangaratta’s Walking/Bike Trail from Reedy Creek to The Vine - reliving indigenous & early European stories

Nyah District Primary School

Memories of the Rail School

$5,475.00

$9,159.70

Poowong Football & Netball Club Inc.

Poowong Football & Netball Club - Celebrating 125 Years

$5,500.00

Pyramid Hill & District Historical Society

Preservation of fantastic old photographs

$2,411.20

$10,956.00

$397.10

$10,454.40

$12,632.00

$10,326.00

Riddells Creek Social History Group Heritage Walk

$5,401.00

Scout Association - Victorian Branch (Scout Heritage Victoria)

Digitisation of Australia Jamboree Newspapers/Book Conservation

$4,455.00

Societa’ Isole Eolie

90th Anniversary Aeolian Commemorative Project

$6,325.00

Southern Sherbrooke Historical Society Inc.

Oral History Preservation And Access

$5,500.00

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GLOSSARY PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE VICTORIA Funded Organisation

Project

Funding

St Anthony’s Parish

Preserving the Past

Stratford and District Historical Society

Tyers Street Walk Book

$1,400.00

Theatre Heritage Australia Inc.

Digitising J C Williamson Ltd Scene Books c.

1890s-1930s

$9,894.50

Toora Bowls Club

History of the Toora Bowls Club publication

$2,200.00

Toorak College

Toorak College Archive Image Digitisation Project

$2,076.00

Travellers Aid Australia

Travellers Aid Australia’s 100th Anniversary

United Jewish Education Board

UJEB 120

$4,880.00

Upwey Belgrave RSL Inc

Museum Workshop Archive Project

$2,684.00

Victorian Women’s Cricket Umpires Association Inc.

Victorian Women’s Cricket Umpires Association 80 Seasons 1936/37 - 2015/16

$2,979.90

West Gippsland Relic, Mining and Heritage Protection Inc.

Aberfeldy Tracks

$5,500.00

Winters Flat Junior Football Club

Honor Boards for Junior Football in Castlemaine

$2,167.00

Wodonga District Girl Guides

The Past, the present and the Future: Protecting & Preserving our History

$3,477.00

Yaapeet Community Club

Yaapeet History Trail Stage 1

$4,985.20

Yackandandah & District Historical Society Inc.

Unlocking the Yackandandah Primary School WW1 Memorial Journal

$2,035.00

Yallourn Association

Yallourn - Open Cut Timeline, Contour Lines on Map & Housing

$10,725.00

Yarra Ranges Regional Museum

Oil Paint and Ochre: The Story of William Barak and the de Purys

$14,080.00

Yarrambat Heritage Museum

Yarrambat Heritage Museum Development

$600.00

$15,000.00

$3,520.00

Right image: A photographic memento of the Fire Brigade Dance at the Beaufort Hall. 1936. J. Ellis. Courtesy Ray Ellis.

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55

GLOSSARY Please refer to the Master Glossary for records management terms used by Public Record Office Victoria: prov.vic.gov.au/government/standards-and-policy/all-documents/master-glossary.

disposal authority

A legal document that defines the retention periods and consequent disposal actions authorised for specific classes of records (AS 4390.1 -1996).

Retention and Disposal Authorities (RDAs): Standards issued by the Keeper under section 12 of the Act that defines the minimum retention periods and consequent disposal action authorised for classes of records which are described in it. RDAs provide continuing authorisation for the disposal of these classes of records. RDAs may be specific to an agency or applicable to more than one agency.

advice

A document issued by Public Record Office Victoria providing advice to Victorian agencies on a recordkeeping issue. (Includes formal advice about standards, policies, as well as forms and other tools to help Victorian government agencies manage and use public records.)

Approved Public Record Office Storage Supplier (APROSS)

A commercial storage facility which has been appointed by the Keeper of Public Records under s.12 of the Public Records Act 1973 following an inspection regarding its suitability for the storage of public records. Records held in an APROSS are deemed to be under the custody of the controlling agency.

archives

Records that are 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.

permanent records

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.

A public record which has been appraised by the Keeper of Public Records as required to be kept as part of Victoria’s State Archives. Permanent records are specified in Retention and Disposal Authorities issued by the Keeper.

place of deposit (POD)

A facility or area appointed under s.14 of the Public Records Act 1973, to store specified classes of records. A POD may be appointed to hold temporary records which would otherwise be destroyed; or certified by the Keeper of Public Records as a POD Repository to hold State Archives on behalf of Public Record Office Victoria. Records held in a POD are deemed to be under the custody and control of the Keeper of Public Records.

public record

(a) Any record made or received by a public officer in the course of his duties; and

digital / electronic record

digitised record / digital An electronic reproduction of a picture, photograph or physical item (e.g. image 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. disposal

A range of processes associated with implementing appraisal decisions which are documented in disposal authorities or other instruments.

These include the retention, destruction or deletion of records in or from recordkeeping systems. They may also include the migration or transmission of records between recordkeeping systems, the transfer of ownership or the transfer of custody of records, e.g. to Public Record Office Victoria.

Within the Victorian public sector, records are appraised to determine their significance (business, legal or historical) and then judged to be either of temporary or permanent value to the state. Government bodies are guided by standards or schedules issued by Public Record Office Victoria to regulate the disposal of records.

Single Instance Disposal Authorities (SIDAs): A formal instrument issued by the Keeper in accordance with this Standard that authorises the retention period and consequent disposal action for the records which are described in it. Unlike an RDA, a SIDA does not authorise continuing disposal of the classes of records that have been appraised within it.

(b) any record made or received by a court or person acting judicially in Victoria— but does not include— (c) a record which is beneficially owned by a person or body other than the Crown or a public office or a person or body referred to in s. 2B [of the Public Records Act 1973]; or (d) a prescribed record held for the purpose of preservation by a public office to which it was transferred before the commencement of the Arts Institutions (Amendment) Act 1994 by a person or body other than the Crown or a public office; or (e) a record, other than a prescribed record, held for the purpose of preservation by a public office to which it was transferred, whether before or after the commencement of the Arts Institutions (Amendment) Act 1994, by a person or body other than the Crown or a public office.

Public records may be divided into business records, ephemeral records and personal records.

56

57

GLOSSARY reading room

Area set aside at Public Record Office Victoria centre for public access to records.

record

Something that documents a particular event or decision, or a document and its contents that have some evidentiary value.

A record can take many forms: A document in writing A book, map, plan, graph or drawing A photograph A label marking or other writing which identifies or describes anything of which it forms part, or to which it is attached by any means whatsoever A disc, tape, soundtrack or other device in which sounds or other data (not being visual images) are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom A film, negative, tape or other device in which one or more visual images is embodied so as to be capable (as aforesaid) of being reproduced therefrom Anything whatsoever on which is marked any words, figures, letters or symbols which are capable of carrying a definite meaning to persons conversant with them (AS ISO 15489.1).

recordkeeping

‘Making and maintaining complete, accurate and reliable evidence of business transactions in the form of recorded information.’

records management

‘Field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records.’

repository

The building (or part of the building) in which the archival collection or holdings are housed.

retention and disposal authority

See Disposal Authority

series

‘A group of records which are recorded or maintained by the same agency (or agencies) and which:

temporary records

A public record which has been appraised by the Keeper of Public Records as being required to be kept for a specific period of time for legislative or other requirements, before it can be destroyed. Destruction must be in accordance with standards issued under section 12 of the Public Records Act. Temporary records are specified in Retention and Disposal Authorities issued by the Keeper.

transfer

The removal of public records from the offices which have created or inherited them to another location or body. Change of custody, ownership and/or responsibility for records. (e.g. from the agency to Public Record Office Victoria).

unsentenced records

Records which have not yet been appraised and whose status is therefore not yet determined (Public Records Act 1973).

VERS

Victorian Electronic Records Strategy: a framework of standards, guidance, training, consultancy and implementation projects, centred on the goal of reliably and authentically archiving electronic records

VERS Encapsulated Object (VEO)

A record which has been encapsulated using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) as outlined in PROS 99/007 Specification 3, conforms to the VERS metadata scheme as outlined in PROS 99/007 Specification 2 and which contains documents expressed in a long term preservation format as outlined in PROS 99/007 Specification 4.

VPRS

An abbreviation for Victorian Public Record Series. A VPRS number is allocated to each record series when it is transferred to Public Record Office Victoria.

Are in the same numerical, alphabetical, chronological or another identifiable sequence; or Result from the same accumulation or filing process, perform the same function or may be of similar physical shape or information content.’ standard

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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 compliance-oriented or oriented towards best practice.

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Victorian Archives Centre 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne 10am–4.30pm Monday to Friday (and 2nd and last Saturday of the month) Ballarat Archives Centre Cnr Mair and Doveton Streets Ballarat 9.30am–4.30pm Monday and Tuesday Bendigo Regional Archives Centre 1st Floor Bendigo Library 251–259 Hargreaves Street Bendigo 10am–4.30pm Wednesday and Thursday Geelong Heritage Centre CONTACT US prov.vic.gov.au enquiries@prov.vic.gov.au 03 9348 5600