| FROM ROSS GIBBS, DIRECTOR GENERAL Thank you for your message - I appreciate your concern with regard to the impending closure of Archives' offices in Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart. The Government announced a number of efficiency measures in its Mid-Year Economic Fiscal Outlook in early November 2009. The National Archives of Australia (NAA), along with other Government agencies, is required to find savings as part of the Government's medium-term fiscal strategy, of which one aim is to return the budget to surplus. To achieve savings, in addition to reducing costs in its Canberra office, NAA will close offices in Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart over the next two and a half years as building leases expire. The decision to close these offices was difficult but a responsible one. It will place NAA on a more sustainable financial footing in the long term and enable it to better meet the future demands of its clients. Most people now access NAA records online and public demand for NAA toprovide services online is increasing significantly each year. In 2008-09, 1.9 million records were accessed online compared to 57,000 records accessed in reading rooms across the country. Having a permanent, physical presence in each state/territory capital city has been hard to sustain, particularly with the increased demand by the public for delivery of services via the Internet. The timing of the closures from August 2010 will allow for a planned approach. NAA is working closely with associated state and territory cultural heritage organisations to find local solutions for the storage of records of significance to the particular state or territory. However, many records relating to Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory are already held in other NAA repositories in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth. A plan to proactively digitise the collections in Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart is also being developed. Access arrangements remain unchanged with the public able to access information via the NAA website www.naa.gov.au or by contacting the Archives' National Reference Service: PO Box 7425 Tel: 1300 886 881 Canberra Business Centre Fax: 1300 886 882 ACT 2610 Thank you again for your email. Kind regards Ross Gibbs Director-General |
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