Information is often spread through multiple records, record types and formats. These important records and issues to consider if you have records about out of home ‘care’ will assist your organisation to provide important information to people who were in out of home care.
Royal Commission
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse ran from 2013-2017. It handed down its Final Report on December 15, 2017. The Final Report and Case Studies contained many recommendations about recordkeeping relevant to organisations holding records relating to Care Leavers. Read a summary of the Royal Commission’s recommendations about recordkeeping and follow links to the relevant reports.
Access and privacy
Providing and managing access to records is fundamental to any organisation holding records and archives. In 2015, the Department of Social Services published Access to Records by Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants: Access Principles for Records Holders. The Principles and Guidelines form a component of the response to the National Apology to Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants.
The Principles and Guidelines discuss Care Leaver expectations of records and the impact records can have on Care Leavers; privacy, redaction and the principles of “maximum access”; processing requests from Care Leavers; providing information to Care Leavers; and providing support to Care Leavers accessing records.
The Access and Privacy document assists organisations in developing access and privacy policies.
Assessing archive management
The Archives Management Survey will assist your organisation to assess the management of your archives. It focuses on key aspects of archival practice and provides a framework to evaluate the steps you may need to take to gain better control over your records. It is designed as a working document and should be regularly reviewed.
A more detailed option for assessing your archive and record keeping practices is the Self Assessment Tool for Archives.
There are many more resources on the web which can help you manage your archival collection. If you know of other resources which you would like to add to this list, please contact us.
Digitisation
- “Just Digitise It: Guide for Community Groups”, Public Record Office Victoria. PDF guide
- “Digitising your collection”, series of posts from the blog ‘Archives Outside’ on starting a digitisation program
- “Managing Digitisation Programs and Projects”, State Records NSW guide (intended for NSW public offices but with relevant information for all)
- Information from the National Archives on digitisation
- National Library of Australia guidelines on digitisation
- Digital Access to Collections toolkit from GLAM Peak (includes digitisation guidelines): https://glampeak.org.au/toolkit/
Standards on archival description
- General International Standard Archival Description [ISAD(G)]
- International Standard Archival Authority Record For Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families [ISAAR(CPF)]
The Find & Connect web resource, through funding from the Department of Social Services and its predecessors, has coordinated two rounds of Records Access Documentation grants. You can read about the successful applicants here.