National Archives of Australia - Annual reports

National Archives of AustraliaAdvisory Council Chairman Mr PaulSantamaria SC, Chief Justice of theHigh Court the Hon Robert FrenchAC, Ms Maggie Beer and Councilmember Professor Helen Irving atthe Constitution Founders Lecture,High Court of Australia, Canberra,July 2010.Alanna BishopConstitution Day 2010 activities involving theCouncil included A Constitution for All AustraliansSpeakers Forum, held on 1 July 2010, and theConstitution Founders Lecture, held at the HighCourt on 8 July 2010. Subcommittee membersProfessor Helen Irving and Professor JohnWilliams also provided expert review during thedevelopment of a new exhibition interactive andwebsite, Constitution for a Nation.Council members attended a Constitution DaySpeakers Forum – A Constitution for all Australians:the Top End experience – in Darwin on 30 June 2011prior to the Council meeting on 1 July 2011. Councilmember Professor Mick Dodson was one of fourhigh-profile speakers at this event, and his essay waspublished on the Archives’ Constitution Day blog.Members of the Constitution Day Subcommitteeincluded Professor Helen Irving (Chair), Mr DavidIrvine, Dr Mickey Dewar, Professor John Williams andArchives staff member Ms Zoë D’Arcy (Secretariat).Financial information andsecretariat servicesThe Council’s operation is funded from theArchives’ budget appropriation (Table 1). Majorexpenditure items consisted of members’ sittingfees, travel allowances and fares to attend Council,subcommittee and other associated meetingsas determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. Inaddition to direct financial support, the Archivesalso provides secretariat and administrativeservices to the Council.Table 1:ItemNational Archives of Australia AdvisoryCouncil expenditure, 2010–11Cost($)Remuneration 14 126Travel allowance 8 112Fares 39 804Other travel expenses 2 907Other expenses 10 642Total 75 591Freedom of informationSection 8 of the Freedom of Information Act1982 requires each agency to publish detailedinformation about the way it is organised, itspowers, the kinds of decisions it makes, thedocuments it holds, the ways members of thepublic can obtain access to these documents,and any arrangements for public involvement inthe work of the agency.The main body of this annual report explainsthe establishment and major functions of theCouncil. This statement supplements this generalinformation to meet the requirements of section 8of the Freedom of Information Act.144 Annual Reports 2010–11