National Archives of Australia
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | March 1961 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Australia |
| Headquarters | Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes ACT |
| Employees | 441 |
| Annual budget | A$86.98 million (2007-08) |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Attorney-General's Department (Australia) |
| Website | www.NAA.gov.au |
The National Archives of Australia is a body established by the Government of Australia for the purpose of preserving Commonwealth Government records. The organisation sits within the Attorney-General's Department, reporting to the Attorney-General George Brandis. The national office is in Canberra with offices in each state capital and Darwin. As of June 2007, the National Archives had 437 staff, of which 246 (56.3%) were women. The Archives' budget for 2007-2008 was $86.98 million, with $66.8 million provided by the Commonwealth government. The chief executive officer is the Director-General. The agency is divided into five branches: National Coordination, Access and Communication, Archive Operations and Preservation, Government Information Management and Corporate, each headed by an Assistant Director-General.
In addition to caring for its collection, the National Archives develops and tour exhibitions, publishes books and guides to the collection and delivers educational programs. It also advises other government departments and agencies on records management.
The foundation stone for a National Archives was laid by Edward, Prince of Wales in Canberra in 1920 but no building was constructed after the ceremony. The Federal Parliamentary Library (later the National Library of Australia) was responsible for collecting Commonwealth Government records after World War I.
Dr Theodore Schellenberg, Director of Archival Management at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., visited Australia in 1954 on a Fulbright Scholarship and advocated the separation of Australia's national archives from the National Library. In March 1961 the Commonwealth Archives Office was formally separated from the National Library of Australia with offices spread across several Canberra suburbs, including in Nissen huts. The organisation was renamed the Australian Archives in 1975.
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