The inability of the WA State Records Office to accept physical or digital records from government agencies has been highlighted as a cause for concern in the 2013/2014 Annual Report for the WA State Records Commission

Chairperson Colin Murphy is concerned about the ongoing lack of adequate, specialised archival accommodation for the State‘s archives and in particular with “the increasing volume of digital information stored within systems which may not provide the best protection and preservation of that unique government information.”

“The SRO has been unable to accept transfers of State archives since 2001 and is still waiting to secure a purpose built State Archive (incorporating a Digital Archive).”

The WA State Records Office holds the largest documentary heritage collection in the State. It comprises over 2 million archives from 1,838 government agencies that occupy nearly 15 linear kilometres of shelving

“Because of its inability to accept the transfer of hard copy archives from State government agencies due to a lack of specialised storage space, approximately 53 kilometres of identified State archives, numbering over six million records, are stored within government agencies or amongst temporary records in commercial records storage facilities that do not meet archival storage standards. 

“The annual increase of State archives awaiting transfer to the SRO is estimated to be between 1.5 to 2 linear kilometres. The SRO has estimated the value of these archives to be approximately $A250 million.”

The report also highlighted the ongoing need for a Digital Archive to accommodate an increasing proportion of State archives in digital format. 

“As with State archives in physical format, the responsibility is currently on each government agency to manage its digital archives. This is an onerous task given the fragile nature of electronic information. 

“Digital Archives are being established in other Australian Government jurisdictions but WA is yet to meet the needs of government in this area.”

Victoria is the only Australian state to implement a dedicated digital archive. The NSW State Records Office has now successfully completed its pilot and is now in production mode.

Other states are still in the research phase and working to obtain budget.

NSW Minister for Finance and Services Dominic Perrottet announced this week, “We recognise the important role that records provide, allowing insights into our shared history, and as part of the 2014/15 Budget we committed new funding to continue the operation of the Digital State archive to ensure the long-term preservation and access of born-digital archives.”

Facing greater volumes of born-digital information, the NSW Government is seeking alternative approaches to collecting and storing records generated by public sector agencies.

Minister Perrottet said the growing amount of digital records in addition to new and archived physical records meant a review of record collection management and storage was needed.

“Currently, NSW Government agencies collectively generate terabytes of data and information each day and this is expected to increase over the next few years,” Mr Perrottet said.

“The way government works and the types of records it generates have and will continue to change, so too must the ways in which we collect and store our records.

“The strategic review will examine current record management services offered by the NSW Government’s Records Repository and its competitors. It will determine whether any improvements or efficiencies can be made, including through greater competition.

“Records management is an important function of Government and it is necessary that Government reviews existing operations periodically, so we are best equipped to manage the diverse range of government agency records and data formats in the digital age.

“We want to make sure that state records are collected, stored and managed in a cost-effective and responsible manner and that the physical and digital records which become State archives are preserved for long-term future access.”

Mr Perrottet said the preservation of historical documents as State archives and the protection of personal and departmental records were essential elements of the review.

“Government records are legislated under the State Records Act 1998 and there remains a strong legislative requirement to collect, manage and store public sector records regardless of format,” he said.