Publications

Position Paper : Restructuring of Archives New Zealand and National Library

Issued: May 10, 2010

The government has announced that it proposes to "amalgamate" the National Library and Archives New Zealand into the Department of Internal Affairs. While details are not known, ARANZ is concerned about this move, as all New Zealanders should be.

ARANZ is not opposed to continual efforts to increase government efficiency (such as greater sharing of ‘corporate’ services by government departments) but this must not occur at the expense of our democracy and protecting the rights of New Zealanders to access information about the decisions and actions of their governments.

Independence

Archives New Zealand has a unique role in monitoring government performance and accountability in recordkeeping, more like that of the Auditor-General or the Ombudsman in terms of independence. Placing the Chief Archivist in the position of reporting to another head of department will remove his or her ability to comment and take action on recordkeeping practices which do not meet the standards expected by all New Zealanders and required under current legislation.

The statutory role of the Chief Archivist in ensuring the accountability of government recordkeeping must be preserved, not only in legislation but in practice. The Chief Archivist’s independence is critical to fulfilling his/her statutory responsibilities:

"to authorize disposal of public records" (PRA S.11(1)(b)(i)
"to monitor and report on the compliance of public offices" (PRA S.11(1)(b)(vi)
"to issue criteria for the independent auditing of public offices" (PRA S.11(1)(b (viii).

The Chief Archivist must therefore be at a level of public service management which ensures that he or she is able to effectively carry out these functions. This would be compromised if he or she was not the head or CEO of an independent government body.

Roles and functions

Archives New Zealand is far more than a repository for historic government information, or a department that deals in information. Item 44 of the Cabinet Paper on the restructuring released on March 25 states that Department of Internal Affairs is an appropriate home for Archives New Zealand because "it is experienced in being the trusted custodian of New Zealanders’ records and information". This is a spurious argument as many government departments are also trusted custodians of New Zealanders’ records and information. Item 42 of the Cabinet Paper also focuses on the provision of information by Archives New Zealand. This is only one role of Archives New Zealand. Archives New Zealand, unique among government departments, has the role of ensuring that all government entities create and maintain records of their activities.

The Minister for Archives New Zealand, Hon. Nathan Guy, seems to have little understanding of the role of a national archives. He states that Department of Internal Affairs, National Library and Archives New Zealand should be amalgamated because they have "a common focus on using digital technology and making government information widely accessible to citizens through the internet" [press release 25.3.2010]. Again, these are modes of communication used by most government departments today, not only Archives New Zealand or the National Library. He further comments that the "major roles and functions . . . will not change", yet if this is how those roles and functions are viewed this is not a statement in which New Zealanders can put a great deal of trust. If the rationale for this exercise is to combine all departments which deal with information, use digital technology or make government information widely accessible through the internet, the government would combine most departments into one.

Level and quality of services

The skills and knowledge of recordkeeping specialists and archivists must continue to be valued in any re-organised entity. Such skills should not be confused with those of other professions including librarians, records managers and historical collections managers. The specialist recordkeeping and archival skills and knowledge of its staff are essential to the successful operation of Archives New Zealand, for the Chief Archivist to fulfil his/her statutory responsibilities, and for the efficient and effective accountability of the New Zealand government to the public through public records. Services in appraisal, arrangement and description and other archival areas, while not public-facing, are core services of any national archives, and must not be downgraded at the expense of digitisation.

The level and quality of service to users of archives must also not be not reduced as a result of any re-structuring of Archives New Zealand and prohibitive charges must not be introduced for access to historical government records as they have been by other sections of the Department of Internal Affairs. Access to archives by the public is an essential part of the accountability process that government records provide.

In this respect, ARANZ is also concerned about the impact of the restructuring on the Alexander Turnbull Library and any potential reduction in services to users of its archival collections.

Costs and savings

The Cabinet paper has stated that a restructuring will cost $2.5 million (to come out of current budgets) but that, over three years, savings of only $3-9 million will be achieved. It is clear from this that savings could be as little as $500,000. For this small amount of money, the government is prepared to eliminate one of the key planks in our democracy – our ability to keep governments accountable for their actions through the records they create and maintain.

In addition, press releases and the Cabinet Paper imply that a restructuring into the Department of Internal Affairs, along with the National Library, will allow increasing "digitalization". We seriously question how there can be an increase in digitisation by both organisations when they may have only a share of $500,000 over three years, on top of other business requirements.