Tasmanian Museums Australia Events Blog

Museums Australia has already posted some information and a petition regarding the closure of National Archives offices in Australia. If you are concerned about the closure of the Hobart office and want to write to your politicians you may find some useful information below.

Background information

Financial

• The National Archives in Hobart moved from its purpose built facility to rented space because of a Howard initiative. It is now a victim of leases and rents which continually rise. (& obviously the Archives can’t continually move to seek cheaper accommodation.)

Timing

• To be closed when leases run out. Most of the Tasmanian collection is stored at the old Melville Street Post Office building and that lease runs out next August. (Includes compactuses, map plans & about 2/3 of rail plans). Macquarie St building lease runs out in April 2012.

The collection

• About half of the collection is railway archives. Now that the State has purchased the railways it may take over the railway archives which it had refused previously.
• Only about 2% of the collection is available on line (less than 2% in Tas) and this is not user friendly
• The Archives acts as a repository (but not an owner of records) for Fisheries, CSIRO, Antarctic Division etc. Loss to the mainland of the current collections as well as all future records would be a loss of Tasmanian intellectual property and would make it much more difficult for scientists to access archived records.
• The collection is a valuable resource which reflects Tasmania’s corporate and community memory, surely worth the relatively small cost of keeping the State office open.

Case study?

Already about 90% of the collection from Adelaide has been moved to Sydney. Staff there are not familiar with the collection and not really interested. (Probably don’t have time to become familiar?) The collection has become ‘dead storage’.

Loss to Hobart researchers

There is more interest in family history in Tasmania than in any other state and Tasmania also has a much more active local publications industry than would be expected from its size.  

Solutions?

• Archives staff in Hobart have been told that they have to find a solution. They don’t want the collection to be moved interstate and don’t want it broken up or ‘cherry picked’.
• Perhaps the National Archives in Hobart could become a partner in a bigger enterprise/repository which would be supported financially by both Commonwealth and State Governments.

Political lobbying

• Need to act before the State election
• Need to remind Rudd that he severely criticised the Archives for lack of consultation when downsizing in his electorate 
• Write to the relevant Commonwealth minister, Senator Joe Ludwig: Senator the Hon. Joe Ludwig, Cabinet Secretary and Special Minister of State, GPO Box 2477, Brisbane QLD 4001 or E-mail: senator.ludwig@aph.gov.au 
• Write to your local Federal minister

Posted by Rona Hollingsworth, Curator, Maritime Museum of Tasmania