National Archives of Australia - Annual reports

This advice includes links to other specialisedinformation on disaster recovery. The Archivesalso developed a records authority to streamlineapproval to destroy records damaged beyondrecovery (see page 17).The Archives’ Agency Service Centre, whichresponds to requests from government agenciesfor advice on information management, received811 enquiries during 2010–11. Of these, 90 percent were responded to within five working days,and 7 per cent within 10 working days. Commonenquiries concerned requirements for keepingand destroying records, requirements forscanning physical records, managing records inbusiness systems and databases, application of asuperannuation records disposal freeze (preventingthe destruction of specified superannuation andpersonnel records until 31 December 2015),machinery of government change issues andarchiving websites.During 2010–11, the Archives participated in aworking group convened by the Australian PublicService Commission to improve advice to agenciesfollowing machinery of government changes.Machinery of government changes may involve themovement of functions within the same portfolioor from one portfolio to another. Following theAugust 2010 federal election, the Archives joinedwith the Australian Public Service Commissionand the Department of Finance and Deregulationto present a forum to provide up-to-date adviceon machinery of government changes. The forum,held in Canberra, was attended by 110 agencyrepresentatives.GAIN AustraliaDuring 2010–11, the Archives launched GAINAustralia (Government Agencies InformationNetwork Australia) to support the sharing ofinformation and records management expertiseand experiences across agencies, including thosein regional centres. The GAIN Australia initiativeincorporates face-to-face forums, an e-bulletinand an online discussion forum. Face-to-faceforums provided updates on recent changes andinitiatives for managing digital information, and wereheld throughout the reporting period in Sydney,Hobart, Canberra, Brisbane and Darwin. Staff from67 agencies attended the forums, and providedpositive feedback.The GAIN Australia online discussion forumsupplements face-to-face forums and providesanother mechanism for sharing information. Topicssuch as the application of the superannuationrecords disposal freeze, establishing vital recordsprograms, and using social media in governmenthave been discussed in the forum. The onlineforum was accessed by 448 agency staff duringthe reporting period.Christine Johnston, Director,Agency Relations, GovernmentInformation Management, speaksto participants at the Machineryof Government Forum held at theNational Archives of Australia,September 2010.Angus KendonReport on performance 15