managing public sector records: a study programme - International ...

Instructor’s Notes
Analysis of case study elements
Background:
The Immigration Department is in a country which is
popular with many visitors, including migrants and
tourists as well as refugees. The Government of the
country therefore places a high priority on the
monitoring and regulation of movements in and out of
its borders. This monitoring is important in screening
potential new citizens as well as for guarding the fragile
and pristine environment of the continent against over
population.
The Department of Immigration and the Monitoring
Function
The Department of Immigration includes amongst its
primary functions the monitoring and processing of
international traveller movements into and out of the
country by air and sea. To support this function, Ports
around the nation conduct the activity of recording
international traveller movements both in and out of the
country. This activity is in turn supported by a process
which involves passengers receiving cards at the port
they are leaving from or on the flight/vessel they are
coming in on, completing them on their arrival or
departure and submitting these to Immigration Officers.
Clerical staff then enter this information into a database
on a local computer, which weekly produces computer
output microfiche COM on a strict chronological basis.
Copies of the microfiche are then distributed from each
Port to all other Ports, for reference purposes. Master
sets of microfiche are retained in their ‘home’ Ports and
subsequently sent to semi-active storage.
Prior to the introduction of the current International
Traveller Movements (ITM) system in 1977, a paper
manifest prepared by masters of vessels or aircraft
recorded passenger movements. There is a large
quantity of records of passenger movements from both
these systems, including paper manifests, paper cards,
16-mm microfilm, and some electronic tapes and discs
from an early scanning experiment. Many of these
records are held by the Department in semi-active
storage and some of the pre-1950 manifests are in the
CASE STUDIES 14: FINDLAY
9
Broader context of the
monitoring of traveller
movements
Monitoring and processing
of international traveller
movements into and out of
Australia by air and sea is
a key function of the
Department
Recording traveller
movements is an activity
supporting this function
Process of recording
passenger movements
described. This is a good
source for the mapping of
workflow
There is a business need for
all ports to have access to
these records.
Previous system/s described.
Legacy data / records.
There is a ‘cultural’ need for
these records in the long
term, for research.