Historians,writers and international experts have raised fears about the state of the Archives afterThe Age andThe Sydney Morning Heraldrevealed in April the extent of problems facing the institution.
At risk of being lost forever are a series of radio addresses made by Curtin during World War II,surveillance films taken by ASIO,video of the 1998 Constitutional Convention and one of thefew original documents recording Pitcairn Island and its Bounty descendants.
A series of funding and staffing cuts over recent years has left the National Archives struggling to protect and digitise its 384 kilometres of records that are growing rapidly every year.
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A review of the National Archives by former Finance Department head David Tune recommended an urgent $67.7 million boost to save the most at-risk records,as well as an overhaul of government record-keeping to keep up with the digital age.
Internally,the government,which is still in consultation with document-producing agencies such as Prime Minister and Cabinet,Defence and Treasury,has decided it has to deliver the boost in funding for the most at-risk documents,in line with the Tune review recommendations.
A key player in the efforts to save the National Archives’ material is Treasurer Josh Frydenberg,who drew on its resources during his High Court battle toprove his citizenship to remain a member of the Federal Parliament.