Administration of the State Records Act 1997
Deputy Premier
Attorney-General
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs
Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector
Special Minister of State
This annual report will be presented to Parliament to meet the statutory reporting requirements of the State Records Act 1997 and the requirements of Premier and Cabinet Circular PC013 Annual Reporting.
State Records of South Australia is a business unit within the Attorney-General’s Department and as such the administrative reporting required under PC013 is included in the 2024-25 annual report for the Attorney-General’s Department.
This report is verified to be accurate for the purposes of annual reporting to the Parliament of South Australia.
Submitted on behalf of State Records of South Australia by Stephanie Coleman, Director.
State Records of South Australia has continued to provide valuable services to the community and South Australian state and local government agencies in the 2024-25 reporting year.
Enquiries received from the National Redress Scheme and Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme continued to increase, up 54 percent on the last reporting year.
Enhancing access to the archives and services relating to Aboriginal peoples and culture continues to be a key focus. This has included a recommitment to the Tandanya Declaration and the publication of an updated response, which includes our achievements since the 2019 commitment was made. These achievements include:
- the establishment of the Aboriginal Reference Group, a joint initiative with the State Library of South Australia
- the installation of artwork by artist Tony Wilson in the Gepps Cross Research Centre
- the employment of additional Aboriginal staff, ensuring Aboriginal people work with Aboriginal records
- the commencement of a review of a restricted record series in the archive collection, with an aim to improve access.
Significant progress has been made with our Deadline 2025 project, with 878 at risk magnetic media items in the collection being digitised to preservation standards. Digitisation will continue into 2025-26, which will also include the implementation of a preservation system to store and maintain the digitised files. This project will facilitate access to over 3,500 items in the collection that, due to item format, wasn’t previously possible until now.
State Records continues to meet regularly with agencies. Following the results of the Information Management Maturity Survey, a focus this year has been assisting agencies with key priorities aimed at improving their information management programs. Common themes of key challenges being faced by agencies are:
- an ageing workforce and difficulty attracting new employees to the information management profession
- managing the digital sprawl of records
- the speed of technological advancements and uptake of artificial intelligence.
To assist agencies with these challenges State Records published advice covering Artificial Intelligence and Information Management, and also an Information Asset Register template, developed in partnership with the Office of the Chief Information Officer.
Stephanie Coleman
Director, State Records of South Australia
Our purpose | State Records of South Australia is responsible for the administration of the State Records Act 1997 on behalf of the Attorney-General. |
Our vision | Information assets of the State are created, preserved and accessible. |
Our values | Our advice and services facilitate information governance maturity that supports a modern and trusted government by improving the integrity and accessibility of information assets. We preserve records of enduring value and share the state's recorded history. |
State Records of South Australia has the following functions under section 7 of the State Records Act 1997
- receive official records into its custody in accordance with the State Records Act 1997
- ensure the organisation, retention, conservation and repair of official records in its custody
- make determinations (with the approval of the State Records Council) as to the disposal of official records
- publish, or assist in the publication of, indexes of, and other guides to, the official records in the custody of State Records or official records whose delivery into State Records' custody has been postponed or is subject to an exemption granted by the Director
- provide for public and agency access to the official records in the custody of State Records in accordance with the State Records Act 1997
- assist in identifying official records in the custody of State Records the disclosure of which might constitute a contravention of Aboriginal tradition
- provide advice and assistance to agencies with respect to their record management practices
- issue standards (following consultation with the State Records Council) relating to record management and assist in ensuring that agencies observe the best record management practices
- promote awareness of State Records and its functions
- perform any other functions assigned by the State Records Act 1997, or any other Act or by the Minister.
In accordance with section 7(j) of the Act, State Records also supports the:
- Attorney-General is the administration of the Freedom of Information Act 1991 and South Australia’s Information Privacy Principles Instruction
- State Records Council
- Privacy Committee of South Australia
- State Government's copyright use agreements.
As at 30 June 2025, State Records' operational activities had two broad functions:
Archive
Responsible for archival advice and assistance to agencies, receiving official records into the archive, the arrangement, description, preservation and conservation of the archive, and the provision of access to the State’s archival collection.
Provides an on-demand digitisation service and manages third party digitisation agreements, develops finding aids to improve accessibility to the archival collection, and delivers public programs to targeted audiences to enhance knowledge of State Records and its collection.
Information Governance
Provides advice, policies, and education to agencies on records and information management and assists Ministers, agencies, and the public on administering and interpreting the Freedom of Information Act 1991 and the Information Privacy Principles Instruction (PC012).
Changes to the agency
During 2024-25 there were changes to the agency’s structure as a result of an internal review.
From 30 June 2025 a new structure was implemented to ensure:
- a continued commitment of State Records legislated services
- a commitment to the Tandanya Declaration and improving services for the Aboriginal community
- an additional ongoing resource to support services for the Aboriginal community, which also aids succession planning; workload pressures; and staff wellbeing measures
- State Records operates within the salary budget allocated.
State Records reports to the Attorney General, the Hon Kyam Maher MLC. The Attorney-General is also responsible for other information management legislation including the Freedom of Information Act 1991 and the Premier and Cabinet Circular (PC012), the South Australia’s Information Privacy Principles Instruction.
- State Records Act 1997
- Freedom of Information Act 1991
State Records is a business unit of the Attorney-General’s Department. As a result, information related to activities in the following categories is included in the Attorney-General’s Department 2024-25 Annual Report:
- corporate performance summary
- employment opportunity programs
- agency performance management and development systems
- work health, safety and return to work programs
- executive employment in the agency
- financial performance
- consultants disclosure
- contractors disclosure
- risk management
- fraud detected in the agency
- strategies implemented to control and prevent fraud
- public interest disclosure
- public complaints
- service improvements
- audited financial statements.
Requirement | Reports in 2024-25 |
|---|---|
| Section 16 If the Director is of the opinion that the record management practices of an agency are inadequate, the Director must report the matter to the Minister | No reports of inadequate record management practices were made during the reporting year |
Performance
State Records upholds the South Australian Public Sector Values and contributes to whole of Government objectives by:
- facilitating and supporting public and agency access to government records in the archive to preserve records of enduring value and share the state’s recorded history
- developing and maintaining information management policies for public sector agencies to improve the integrity and accessibility of information assets
- providing advice and education on recordkeeping
- investing in technology to ensure that records in the archive are maintained and available
- engaging with our customers and the South Australian community
- providing awareness on best practice approach to protecting individual’s personal information privacy.
Specific objectives under the State Records Act 1997
| Indicators | Performance |
|---|---|
| Agencies are required to transfer their permanent official records to State Records if they are no longer required for administrative purposes | In the reporting year a total of 76 transfers were processed and archived. Transfers totalled 686 linear metres of records. At the start of the reporting year repository storage capacity was at 91%, by the end it decreased to 88% occupied. This decrease is due to additional repository space being available from July 2024 due to vacation of a sub-tenant. |
| A significant transfer of permanent official records was received from the Office of the Valuer-General | This transfer consisted of 446.6 linear metres of records and included valuation field books dating from the 1960's to 2000s. |
| 2024-2025 transfers were primarily sourced from public schools and local councils | These transfers totalled 238 linear metres of records and included: Records held by the Tumby Bay Museum featured many local schools:
Index cards from the West Terrace Cemetery were also received. The cards cover standard burials and the Australian Imperial Forces section. Date range 1840 to 1987. |
| Indicators | Performance |
|---|---|
Deadline 2025 project progressed – the digitisation and preservation of at risk magnetic media formats in the collection | 903 films were tested for acid detection and levels of degradation. 991 items were digitised as part of the Deadline 2025 project. The following agencies are responsible for the items digitised:
|
| Digitisation services for members of the public, agencies and for at risk records progressively expanded in the reporting year | In the reporting year a total of 3,273 items were digitised.
The 3,273 items equate to 95,493 images. |
| Indicators | Performance |
|---|---|
| Conservation, digitisation and rehousing of glass plate negatives | 531 glass plate negatives were cleaned, digitised, listed, and rehoused. Captured in these digitised images are moments from South Australian history during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Highlights include the:
|
| Conservation treatment, including cleaning and repairs for items being digitised or item listed | 144 plans underwent conservation assessment in preparation for digitisation. 285 railway employee sheets were repaired and item listed. |
| Environmental monitoring | Environment monitoring reports were undertaken monthly at Gepps Cross and Collinswood sites. Gepps Cross results The climate controlled sector consistently remained at optimal temperature and humidity levels all year round.Sectors without climate control (3/4 of all items on site) on average spent 30% of the time out of the recommended temperature range and 17% of the time out of the recommended relative humidity range. Many large fluctuations* in relative humidity were recorded in sectors without climate control, particularly in the peak of summer and winter. Collinswood results All sectors are climate controlled. On average all sectors spent 4% of the time out of the recommended temperature range and 12% of the time out of the recommended relative humidity range. Five of the seven sectors experienced little change in relative humidity levels, but two sectors experienced large relative humidity fluctuations regularly*. *Recommended temperature range 15°C - 25°C |
| Managing the safe storage of mould affected items, including bagging, labelling, registering and organising quarantine | 144 items were identified as mould affected, either when transferred to the archive or when a request to access was made. These items were assessed and placed into quarantine to minimise the risk of transmission to other items in the collection. Importantly, all items were dry mould, so not active, and would have been transferred to the archive in that condition. |
| Installation of a cool room to house films and other cellulose acetate material in the archive collection at 5 degrees that would otherwise degrade with age | Cool room shelving was completed by June 2025. Planning for rehousing films into the store commenced. Preliminary environmental testing has been undertaken to monitor the cold store environment. |
| Promotion of buying local South Australian goods in 1929 One of the glass plate negatives, cleaned, digitised and rehoused   | |
| Indicators | Performance |
|---|---|
Develop and review general disposal schedules for state, local government and universities. Support and provide advice in the development of agency operational records disposal schedules. | In the reporting year the following schedules were developed and approved:
|
| Indicators | Performance |
|---|---|
| Third party agreements to improve access to the indexes | A total of 375,241 index views were made via the Ancestry website (equivalent to 43 index views every hour). |
Indexes are updated annually in January when additional restricted records become open access | The following indexes were updated:
|
| Indicators | Performance |
|---|---|
| The State Records Research Centre is open by appointment to view original records and the reference collection | 696 visitors to the Research Centre 4,400 items viewed in the Research Centre 1,206 public enquiries in relation to reference and access services 4,060 items loaned to government agencies |
| Enhance access to archives and services relating to Aboriginal peoples and culture | 4 Aboriginal Reference Group meetings were held in the reporting year. For current membership details visit Aboriginal Reference Group. The working group to improve access to records under the responsibility of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation progressed key improvements. An updated response and action plan to the Tandanya Declaration was also published June 2025. |
| Provide opportunities for online research via the State Records website and online catalogue | 213,367 searches on the State Records’ website 102,535 searches on the online catalogue ArchivesSearch |
| Provide digital access to records | 954 items provided to members of the public through the digitisation service. 668 items provided to government agencies through the digital copying service. |
| High demand records are digitised through the State Records’ Volunteer Program | For the reporting year the program had a total of 20 volunteers, with 14 volunteers active at 30 June 2025. Volunteers contributed 515 days to the program. Volunteers created over 71,000 images through digitisation projects, a large portion of this was generated through the FamilySearch program which concluded in September 2024. |
| The State Records’ Volunteer Program also includes listing and indexing of records to improve access to the archive | More than 34,000 names have been indexed to enhance the collection’s discoverability. 2024-25 projects included:
|
| Indicators | Performance |
|---|---|
Provide advice and assist agencies in records management, record transfers, record retrievals, data management, disposal, and digitisation | A total of 1,574 agency enquiries: 761 related to the National Redress Scheme 326 related to Freedom of Information 243 related to records management 232 related to archives 10 related to privacy 2 related to copyright. |
| Respond to agency enquires within service delivery timeframes | 96% of enquires actioned within service delivery timeframes. |
| Indicators | Performance |
|---|---|
| Issue standards that assist agencies in implementing best practice records management | The Transfer of Official Records Standard was reviewed and updated by State Records with approval provided by the Attorney-General in February 2025.
|
| Indicators | Performance |
|---|---|
| Conduct Information Sessions | Information Management Maturity Survey Information Session held September 2024. Transfer of Official Records Standard Information Session held June 2025. |
| In-person promotion | Presentations Agency Security Personnel Community of Practice forum, August 2024. The University of Adelaide's Indigenous Archives Symposium on State Records’ involvement with the Reconciling the Frontier Project, August 2024. In collaboration with State Library of South Australia and National Archives of Australia a presentation was held August 2024 to explore railway employee records held at each organisation. Records and Information Management Practitioners Alliance conference, September 2024. Local Government Information Technology South Australia conference, September 2024. Tandanya Declaration Symposium, October 2024. A roundtable event in Mount Gambier, organised by the History Council of South Australia, November 2024. Two team members featured on the Aboriginal Way Podcast, February 2025. State Records partnered with National Archives of Australia, State Library of South Australia and the Migration Museum to provide an information session on migration records, March 2025. Information Management Forum, May 2025. Staff attended the Reconciliation in the West event during Reconciliation Week, May 2025. |
| History Festival events were undertaken in May 2025 | Events An Information Hub setup at the State Library of South Australia from 5-9 May 2025. A presentation, in collaboration with the National Archives of Australia and the State Library of South Australia, titled ‘Tourism Tussle’. A behind the scenes tour of the repository and Research Centre at Gepps Cross. |
| Digital promotion | Digital images of the Adelaide Christmas Pageant collection were showcased electronically and made accessible at several locations in Adelaide from November to December 2024. |
| Social media promotion | The social media group continued to develop and post items of interest across a variety of platforms including Facebook, Instagram, vireo, flickr and LinkedIn. The most viewed post on State Records’ Facebook page was posted on 26 January 2025. The post was of a competition for followers to vote on their favourite photograph in the archive collection. The post received over 24,000 views. The post featured a photograph of the Adelaide City Baths in the 1950s. The winning image for this competition however features a man travelling by horse and cart along Mount Barker Road in 1909.  |
State Records Council
State Records Council was established under section 9 (1) of the State Records Act 1997.
The functions of Council are specified in section 10 and require it to:
(a) approve disposal determinations for official records
(b) provide advice to the Attorney-General and Director of State Records on policies relating to records management or access to official records.
Section 9 (2) of the Act requires that the Council consist of nine members appointed by the Attorney-General. Appointments align with prescribed criteria defined in the Act.
The appointment term for all current members is 29 January 2023 - 28 January 2026.
For the reporting year, Council had full membership with each representation actively involved:
Amanda Paul a historian, nominated by the minister for the Arts Jennifer Scott a representative of the Australian Society of Archivists Kerry Hazel a representative of the Records and Information Management Practitioners Alliance GlobalKeith Nicholas - Chair a public sector practitioner nominated by the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment
Judith O-Connor a person nominated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Deanne Hanchant-Nichols an Aboriginal person engaged in historical research, nominated by the Executive Director of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Dr Herbert Stock a member of the public that makes use of official records |
During 2024-25 there were no changes to membership.
Executive support for State Records Council is delivered within the resources of State Records. The Executive Officer for the reporting period was Tegan Hartweg up to 17 March 2025 and Adrienne Martin from 18 March 2025.
In 2023-24 State Records Council held seven meetings. The number of meetings attended from each member was:
- Amanda Paul (5)
- Deanne Hanchant-Nichols (3)
- Deborah Horton (5)
- Dr Herbert Stock (7)
- Karen White (4)
- Judith O’Connor (6)
- Keith Nicholas (7)
- Kerry Hazel (6)
- Jennifer Scott (6)
In 2024-25 the State Records Council reviewed and approved a total of 18 disposal schedules.
The State Records Council does not administer a budget.
The State Records Council has not engaged any consultants.
The State Records Council has not engaged any contractors.