A review of the functionality and efficiency of the National Archives of Australia (NAA) has found the Archives to be underfinanced, struggling to meet its obligations under the Archives Act 1983 and in danger of breaching its own Act by failing to protect the nation’s records by investing in the systems needed in the digital age.
Conducted by former Secretary of Finance, David Tune, the Functional and Efficiency Review of the National Archives of Australia also found Archives was losing records to deterioration and faced potential additional losses due to limited storage capacity.
In his Review, Mr Tune said the NAA’s authority to set and enforce information standards across Government required greater clarity under the Functions and Powers of the Archives Act.
“The National Archives has struggled to fulfil its mandate and to invest in the systems it needs in the digital age to meet this mandate,” Mr Tune said.
“Resources are needed to invest in contemporary technologies that will meet the volume of digital transfer, preservation, storage, declassification, and public access required under the Act,” he said.
“Stronger cyber security measures are also an urgent priority, and the mandate to require better recordkeeping needs strengthening.”
Mr Tune said the performance of the National Archives was measured, in part, by its ability to respond to requests for records within the period defined in the Act however, it was failing to deliver against this.
He said part of the criticism related to the time it took NAA to obtain advice from other Agencies (particularly for security related and other sensitive records) before it could make decisions on whether to declassify records and release them.
“The challenges facing the National Archives are substantial; it would be possible to take an incremental approach to each of them and deal with them individually,” he said.
“This Review, however, considers that a more fundamental, structural reform process is needed.”
Mr Tune made 20 recommendations, proposing a new integrated, whole-of-Government model for information management and record keeping as well as for the storage, digitisation and preservation of Government records across.
He also recommended that the Archives Act 1983 be updated, with adoption of a new National Archives Bill.
Director-General of NAA, David Fricker welcomed the Review, which he said provided a sound exposition of the issues affecting the National Archives and its ability to effectively undertake its core functions.
David Tune’s 109-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
