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Yesterday

The Archives by A. Hay 1931

South Australia's State Archives Department, established in 1919, was the first state archives in Australia and an early leader in the preservation of the corporate memory of an Australian state.

Originally located in the former colonial military store at the rear of the Art Gallery (North Terrace), the South Australian Archives opened its doors to researchers in 1920. Holdings included both government and private records.

Legislation enacted in 1925 prohibited the destruction of South Australian Government records without the approval of the Libraries Board of South Australia. The legislation empowered the Board to take records into its custody and provided for the recovery of government documents in the hands of 'unauthorised persons'. The Act, in modified form, was incorporated into the Libraries Act, 1982. The State Records Act was enacted in 1997.

Although originally established as a department in its own right, effective control of the Archives passed to the State Library in 1961. This situation was further consolidated in 1969 when the Archives, which still incorporated both public and private records, moved to the basement of the State Library building (North Terrace).

The next major change occurred on 1 October 1985, when the South Australian Archives divided into government record holdings and private collections.

The government archives became the Public Record Office, a division of the Department of Local Government. The archival records of private individuals, churches, societies and businesses held by the South Australian Archives were combined with published material from the South Australian Collection of the State Library to establish the Mortlock Library of South Australia (December 1985).

Progressively from December 1987, the Public Record Office left the confines of the State Library basement. In June 1988, the purpose-built Gepps Cross facility (Cavan Road) was officially opened and operated as a shared facility with the Australian Archives - the first such arrangement between a state and commonwealth archival agency. The Public Reading Room operated out of the Norwich Centre building (King William Road), North Adelaide.

The dismantling of the Department of Local Government in 1990 saw a further significant change with the Public Record Office becoming State Records of South Australia under the umbrella of the Department of State Services (1990-95).

In 1995, the Norwich Centre Reading Room was closed and a new Public Reading Room was opened at Netley Commercial Park. Additionally, the National Archives (formerly the Australian Archives) began to reduce its holdings at the Gepps Cross Repository and, by 1999, State Records had taken over the entire site.

From 1995-1997, State Records sat under Services SA and in November 1997 was incorporated into the Department for Administrative and Information Services (DAIS). In 2006, as part of South Australia's State Budget, a restructure of the South Australian public sector was announced, which included the abolition of DAIS. As a result, on 1 October 2006, State Records became a business unit of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

Today

City Research Centre 2004

The Netley Reading Room closed in January 2004 and, after extensive redevelopment of the site, the new Gepps Cross Research Centre was opened to the public on 19 April 2004. Improvements included a more spacious reading room, an on-line client search facility, a public tea-room, an outdoor area and improved accommodation for staff.

In addition to extending the records storage capacity at the Gepps Cross Repository, a sector has been redesigned to store the most valuable and fragile records in climatically controlled conditions. The entire collection, which has been bar-coded for the first time, is now consolidated at the Gepps Cross Repository. The holdings now total 69kms of records with the repository having a total capacity for 75kms.

The City Research Centre, in the heritage listed Bickford North Building in the City of Adelaide, opened to the public on 26 October 2004. The City Research Centre includes modern reading and search room facilities, staff accommodation, training and project rooms and the first State Records exhibition Scabby Knees, Hopes and Dreams - a child's experience of Government 1840-1990.

Related Information:

• City Research Centre and Training Facility
• Gepps Cross Research Centre
• Research Centres
• Scabby Knees Hopes and Dreams