Archives Act 1983

There shall be an organization by the name of the National Archives of Australia.

For the purposes of the finance law (within the meaning of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013):

the Archives is a listed entity; and

the Director‑General is the accountable authority of the Archives; and

the following persons are officials of the Archives:

the Director‑General;

the staff of the Archives referred to in section 9; and

the purposes of the Archives include the functions of the Archives referred to in subsection (2).

The functions of the Archives are, subject to this Act:

to ensure the conservation and preservation of the existing and future archival resources of the Commonwealth; and

to encourage and foster the preservation of all other archival resources relating to Australia; and

to promote, by providing advice and other assistance to Commonwealth institutions, the creation, keeping and management of current Commonwealth records in an efficient and economical manner and in a manner that will facilitate their use as part of the archival resources of the Commonwealth; and

to determine the material that constitutes the archival resources of the Commonwealth; and

to have the care and management of Commonwealth records, other than current Commonwealth records, that:

are part of the archival resources of the Commonwealth; or

ought to be examined to determine whether they are part of those archival resources; or

are required to be preserved (other than permanently preserved); and

to seek to obtain, and to have the care and management of, material (including Commonwealth records) not in the custody of a Commonwealth institution, that forms part of the archival resources of the Commonwealth and, in the opinion of the Director‑General, ought to be in the care of the Archives; and

with the approval of the Minister, to accept and have the care and management of material that, though not part of the archival resources of the Commonwealth, forms part of archival resources relating to Australia and, in the opinion of the Minister, ought to be in the care of the Archives in order to ensure its preservation or for any other reason; and

to encourage, facilitate, publicise and sponsor the use of archival material; and

to make Commonwealth records available for public access in accordance with this Act and to take part in arrangements for other access to Commonwealth records; and

to conduct research, and provide advice, in relation to the management and preservation of records and other archival material; and

to develop and foster the co‑ordination of activities relating to the preservation and use of the archival resources of the Commonwealth and other archival resources relating to Australia; and

with the approval of the Minister, and in accordance with arrangements made with a person responsible for exempt material, to perform any of the foregoing functions in relation to that material as if that material formed part of the archival resources of the Commonwealth.

Nothing in this Part derogates from the powers and functions of any other Commonwealth institution in relation to the keeping of current Commonwealth records.