The National Archives of Australia (NAA) is facing substantial challenges primarily caused by shrinking financial resources over the past 5 years, according to a major review submitted to the Attorney-General in January 2020, which has just been publicly released. The government has said it is considering the report which found there has been there has been a 16% staff reduction at the NAA between 2014–15 and 2019–20.

David Tune AO PSM undertook the review, also known as the Tune Review, which has recommended “increased investment to address important areas such as IT and cyber-security upgrades to stay contemporary in the digital age, to digitise and preserve important records, to ensure quicker access for the release of records to the public and, with agencies to enable policy development, better decision-making and better service delivery.”

The review supports additional funding for the NAA, with priority given to the 5^th Generation Digital Archive and an ongoing boost to the digitisation of records.

The report also recommends the establishment of a new Government Information Management Model (GIMM), with the NAA having responsibility for information management across Australian Government agencies.

Analysis by consultant firm Deloitte has suggested this proposal would save the government around $A142 million through “efficiencies in information management staff (after taking account of redundancy costs)” and $A48 million in overall storage savings through the earlier sentencing of physical records.

The Tune Report concludes that while the NAA’s mandate to set and enforce information standards across government is clear, the authority requires greater clarity.

“To enable these outcomes, the Archives Act 1983 needs updating, with adoption of a new National Archives Bill. The Act is pre-digital and requires modernisation to meet the rapid and ever-evolving challenges of the digital world, support the transformation of government and government business, and achieve efficiencies both for the National Archives and across all Australian Government agencies.”

The deterioration of many physical records held in the NAA’s archive is highlighted as an issue of immediate concern with the report noting that many records will be lost if action is not taken.

“As such, the National Archives could potentially be in breach of Part 5 Section 24 of the Act due to unauthorised loss of records.”

Other major issues noted by the report include:

• The inability to respond to requests for records within the period defined in the Act.
• A requirement for stronger cyber security measures
• The need for a secure 5^th Generation Digital Archive (5^thGDA) for Australian Government information estimated to require $A93.8 million over four years.

The review received 104 submissions, with authorisation received to make public and publish 86 submissions on the review’s web pages at https://www.naa.gov.au/about-us/tune-review/public-submissions-tune-review. The other 18 submissions were received with requests for confidentiality, including four submissions received from government agencies involved in declassification and release of their records.

The report notes “Funding and resourcing levels of the National Archives was the single greatest concern identified, with submissions noting the flow-on effects on the functions and resulting reductions in National Archives staffing.

“Access to records, including backlogs and delays, and need for greater description of records was the next most significant issue for users.”

The Tune report found that the information management environment in Australian federal government is “fractured and duplicated, with a focus on data as a separate concept to information and records.”

“Since 2013 five out of seven royal commissions have highlighted poor information management practice across government and the private sector. One-quarter of all Commonwealth Ombudsman investigations in 2018 found information management was deficient and did not support good decision making. The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) identified information management deficiencies in more than a third of all audits undertaken in 2016–17 alone.”

The report sheets home much of the blame for these failings to the “laborious task” of developing records authorities for the creation and disposal of information which must be done by agencies themselves.

It highlights he current information management arrangement which involves a complicated information flow with numerous manual processes, limited connectivity and access backlogs. It is further characterised by:

• Increasing volume of record creation
• Manual transfer of records
• Lack of sentencing completed by agencies
• Multiple ingestion points
• Unnecessary storage of records; and
• Description and transference often overlooked by government entities.

“The National Archives is working with the private sector through the Australian Government’s Business Research and Innovation Initiative, to develop a new solution to records authorities using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, for “automating complex determinations for Australian Government Information”. It is anticipated this will enable improved processes for developing and maintaining RAs.”

A proposal to implement a new Government Information Management Model (GIMM) would radically alter the current structure of current government recordkeeping practices.

“Under the model, around 63 per cent (approximately the largest 20 agencies) of the 1,000 staff employed by agencies on records and information management (source: National Archives Check-Up PLUS surveys), would transfer to National Archives to undertake these functions in line with the Archives standards, policies and legislative requirements.  These staff would largely remain in their existing agencies but be employees of the NAA. Whole-of-government efficiencies would be achieved through economies of scale, with the new approach phased in over a number of years. In addition, the new model is expected to lead to significantly better records management practices across government.

“A further benefit is that these staff could focus on the earlier sentencing of records (as appropriate), thereby addressing concerns about timing between the creation of records and the decisions related to their retention, which increases unnecessary storage costs.”

The report found the NAA suffers a skills gap in the areas of data analytics, understanding data structures and formats, ability to select and apply appropriate technological solutions, knowledge of e-discovery, and digital forensics.

“The lack of these skills poses risks for archival functions such as transferring digital records from agencies, examining digital records for sensitive information, and selecting the best delivery channels for digital data.”

It notes that recruiting people with digital skills is difficult because the National Archives must compete with other agencies with higher pay rates.

As well as Australian state and territory archives and records authorities, the Tune review consulted with international bodies such as the National Archives of the United Kingdom and US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

“The National Archives of Australia in comparison with its peers, was found to be dealing with common challenges including in the areas of transition from paper to digital, digital information policies, and agency digital transformation. 

“Funding pressures, storage capacity, demand for digitisation, preservation of at-risk collections, and declassification challenges were also in common with the experiences in the UK and the US. Both institutions have also experienced budget reductions and loss of staff.”

The full report is available at https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/publications/tune-review