71:) and in 1990 a Records Management Branch, (now called Recordkeeping Services), was established to enable more active engagement in records management matters at both state and local government levels. In 1995 the State Archives was renamed the Public Records Office and the responsibility for private archives was transferred to the Battye Library in 1996. In April 1999 the SRO moved to the ground floor of the Alexander Library Building and was officially christened with its current name.
55:. Concern about the destruction of valuable records prompted the formation of the Public Records Committee (chaired by Dr Battye) in 1923, which was later revived as the State Archives Board in 1929, which functioned until 1943. In March 1945, Mollie Lukis was appointed as the first archivist overseeing the development of the state's archival collections and, in 1956, the state archives collection became part of the
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Parliament. Membership of the
Commission is at a level commensurate with the high degree of accountability and transparency that are hallmarks of the legislation. The four members of the Commission are the Auditor General, the Information Commissioner, the Ombudsman, and an appointee with recordkeeping experience from outside Government.
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The State
Records Act 2000 replaced the archives and recordkeeping aspects of the Library Board of Western Australia Act 1951–1983. Providing for an independent State Records Commission (SRC) with standards-setting, auditing and reporting responsibilities, the SRC is accountable directly to
121:
The State
Records Office maintains approximately 15 linear kilometres (9.3 mi) of archival records, comprising approximately 2 million items and created by over 1,300 individual State and Local Government agencies, many of which are now defunct or have had significant changes in name or
109:
The legislation has its genesis in the recommendations of the 1996 Commission on
Government – Specified Matter 9. The Commission on Government was itself the result of the Royal Commission into the commercial activities of government and other matters, better known as
38:
The State
Records Office operates under its own legislation, the State Records Act 2000, which was formally proclaimed in the Government Gazette on 30 November 2001. The SRO is an independent government agency within Western Australia's
81:
Since 2020, public access to the SRO collections has been colocated with the State
Library of Western Australia, on the 3rd Floor of the Alexander Library Building. Archives can be accessed in the Leah Jane Cohan Reading Room.
105:
also manages the State archives collection, defined as those government records recognised as having continuing and enduring value for the State and the community and which have been transferred to the SRO's custody.
202:
2022: Joint winners: Emily Lanman for
Prisoners, Power and Panopticon: Investigating Fremantle Gaol, 1831-1841; and Leigh Straw for The Petticoat Parade: Madam Monnier and the Roe Street Brothels from Fremantle
187:
As of 2014, it was estimated that approximately 53 shelf kilometres (33 mi) of archives were awaiting transfer to the SRO but could not be accepted owing to "a lack of specialised storage space."
215:
2018: Joint
Winners: Joanna Sassoon - Agents of Empire: How E.L. Mitchell's Photographs shaped Australia, & Leigh Straw - After the War: Returned Soldiers and the Mental and Physical Scars of WW1
40:
574:
Transcript of an address given by Sir Paul
Hasluck in March 1982 to the Friends of Battye Library. The original recording also available from the State Library's Oral History Collection (OH1091)
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625:
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Online access and provision of digital copies are also available to the general public. Information about the records in the collection can be found using the
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Since 2003 the
Margaret Medcalf award has been given to published and unpublished research utilising and referencing State archives held by the SRO records.
122:
function. The state archives collection is the largest collection of documentary heritage in Western Australia and archives date from the foundation of the
51:
The nucleus of the state archives collections is the Colonial Secretary's Office records acquired in 1903 by the first librarian of the Public Library,
74:
In November 2000 the State Records Act was passed, the State Records Commission was established and the State Records Office became independent of
563:
This article provides a concise account of the developments that led to the appointment of Mollie Lukis in 1945 as the State's first Archivist.
669:
212:
2019: Dr Robin Barrington for her journal article A Race War: Tracing emotions on the Murchison frontier in Western Australia 1880-1915.
464:
516:
429:
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State archives held by the State Records Office of Western Australia can be accessed via the Reading Room on the third floor of the
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2017: Criena Fitzgerald - Turning men into Stone: A Social and Medical History of Silicosis in Western Australia from 1890 to 1970
486:
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government authority with responsibility for identifying, managing, preserving and providing access to the state's archives. The
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In 1988 the State Archives became a separate directorate within the Library and Information Service of Western Australia (
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has legislative responsibility for ensuring government records are appropriately created and maintained.
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Court records; including those of the Supreme Court dating from 1832 until the mid-20th century.
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also delivers best-practice records management services to state and local government agencies.
578:"The State Archives of Western Australia" by Tom Reynolds and Christopher Coggin, published in
365:
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Records of convicts transported to Western Australia, 1850-1868. These have been inscribed on
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555:"Towards a State Archive in Western Australia, 1903–1945", by Michael Nind, published in
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Records of land surveys, grants and purchases from the 19th and early 20th centuries
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2020: Dr Tiffany Shellam for The Collective Nyungar Heritage of an “Orphan Letter”.
52:
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2021: The Carceral Colony an edition of Studies in Western Australian History.
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309:. Vol. XLVI, no. 8, 766. Western Australia. 28 July 1930. p. 7
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Colonial/Chief Secretary's Office records from 1828 until early 20th century
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Western Perspectives: Library and Information Services in Western Australia
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The SRO is a separate entity, although it is sometimes confused with the
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The architectural and engineering plans of the Public Works Department
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337:. Perth: National Library of Australia. 22 May 1931. p. 16
567:"The Pre-history of the State Archives" : address by Sir
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A list of all previous winners is available on SRO's website.
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Harbour and shipping records and 19th-century passenger lists
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Records of the Education Department and various state schools
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Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
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465:"'Turning Men Into Stone' wins 2017 Margaret Medcalf Award"
582:(edited by Robert C. Sharman and Laurel A. Clyde) in 1990.
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at State Records Office of WA. Retrieved 21 October 2017
329:"State Archives Board: Preserving Historical Records"
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at WA State Law Publisher. Retrieved 21 October 2017
57:J. S. Battye Library of West Australian History
598:Information about the State Records Commission
543:. Official website. Retrieved 21 October 2017
531:. Official website. Retrieved 21 October 2017
420:. Official website. Retrieved 21 October 2017
408:. Official website. Retrieved 21 October 2017
8:
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174:Police Department and police station records
133:Records about Aboriginal Western Australians
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95:
32:
467:. State Records Office of Western Australia
317:– via National Library of Australia.
177:Premier, cabinet and parliamentary records
183:Records about the development of railways
21:State Records Office of Western Australia
129:The state archives collection includes:
675:Statutory agencies of Western Australia
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165:Health Department and hospital records
168:The records of local government in WA
7:
436:2014-2015. Retrieved 21 October 2017
16:State archives of Western Australia
14:
446:State Records Commission (2014).
234:, in the Perth Cultural Centre.
515:, a historic collection of the
406:About the State Records Office
256:National Archives of Australia
226:Accessing the state's archives
1:
364:(4): 347–348, November 2009,
670:History of Western Australia
356:"Mollie Lukis (1911-2009)",
151:Memory of the World Register
613:National Archives Australia
276:"James Sykes Battye papers"
696:
529:Changes to services (2016)
358:Australian Library Journal
232:Alexander Library Building
198:Recent winners have been:
559:(Vol. 11, Pt. 3) in 1997.
117:State archives collection
394:State Records Commission
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171:Mines Department records
448:Annual Report 2013/2014
603:State Records Act 2000
382:State Records Act 2000
274:Battye, J. S. (1891).
680:Perth Cultural Centre
665:Archives in Australia
453:(Report). p. 21.
53:Dr James Sykes Battye
641:31.9490°S 115.8605°E
618:J. S. Battye Library
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487:"Events and Awards"
334:The West Australian
306:The West Australian
646:-31.9490; 115.8605
241:online catalogue.
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86:Legislation
659:Categories
629:31°56′56″S
557:Early Days
550:References
341:21 October
63:Separation
370:0004-9670
126:in 1829.
27:) is the
245:See also
541:Welcome
251:Archive
112:WA Inc.
47:History
497:5 June
471:1 July
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313:19 May
285:19 May
203:Press.
147:UNESCO
451:(PDF)
280:Trove
262:Notes
76:LISWA
69:LISWA
499:2024
473:2017
366:ISSN
343:2017
315:2024
287:2024
101:The
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239:SRO
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