Transfer of Permanent Records to Public Record Office Victoria - Overview

Overview | Guidelines Online | Transferring Physical Records | Transferring Electronic Records | Checklist | After Transfer | Glossary | Archival Supplies at PROV

This section is designed primarily to assist agency staff and service providers undertaking documentation and transfer projects. It outlines the documentation and transfer process and gives specific guidance on how to prepare the records and transfer them into the custody of PROV.

An online version of the guidelines have been developed for quick reference, along with specific guidelines for physical and electronic records. Other useful pages in this section include a checklist to help ensure that all required tasks have been completed.

Please note: the guidelines are avalable for download below in MS Word or Adobe PDF format. There is also a glossary defining terms used throughout this section.

Introduction

Records identified in an approved Retention and Disposal Authority as ‘permanent’ must be transferred to Public Record Office Victoria (PROV).

Under Section 8a of the Public Records Act 1973, public records that are more than 25 years old and no longer required for administrative purposes must be transferred to the custody of PROV. This does not mean that records less than 25 years old may not be transferred. Records no longer required for administrative purposes should be transferred to PROV as soon as practicable.

Records proposed for transfer to PROV must be documented and prepared according to these Guidelines.

The guidelines and forms are also available for download in PDF and Word formats below.

Temporary records may not be transferred to PROV. Details about the commercial storage program for temporary physical records are provided in PROS 97/004 Specification 3: Transfer of Records to an APROSS.

Guidelines	PDF
Guidelines for the Documentation and Transfer of Permanent Records to Public Record Office Victoria	(142 Kb)
Transferring Physical Records to PROV	(84 Kb)
Transferring Electronic Records to PROV	(70 Kb)
Forms	PDF	Word
PRO21A - Proposal to Document Sentenced Permanent Public Records	(36 Kb)	(324 Kb)
PRO21B - Series Identification Report	(60 Kb)	(927 Kb)
PRO21C - Request to Transfer Documented Public Records	(36 Kb)	(904 Kb)

After Transfer

Where will the records be stored?

In most cases, permanent public records will be stored at PROV’s purpose-built facilities in North Melbourne. However, some public records which were created by government offices located in the Central Highlands region are stored at PROV’s Ballarat Archives Centre.

The primary digital repository is located at PROV in North Melbourne. There is also a backup offsite repository in the outer metropolitan area.

There are no charges for the storage of permanent records.

Retrieval of records after transfer to PROV

Once records are transferred into PROV custody they remain available to the agency responsible. For access purposes, you can search, order and view your electronic records through PROV’s website www.access.prov.vic.gov.au. Open access records may be viewed in PROV reading rooms, while records closed to public access may be retrieved by the agency responsible.

For information about registering as a Government User go to:
http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/PROVguides/PROVguide012/PROVguide012.jsp

For information about accessing physical records in PROV custody go to:
http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/PROVguides/PROVguide004/PROVguide004.jsp

Further information

For further information about the documentation and transfer process please contact:

Documentation and Disposal
Record Services
Public Record Office Victoria
Ph: + 61 3 9348 5600
E-mail: prov.agency.queries@prov.vic.gov.au

For further information about VERS compliance please contact:

Standards and Compliance
Record Services
Public Record Office Victoria
Ph: + 61 3 9348 5600
E-mail: prov.vers.compliance@prov.vic.gov.au
Web: www.prov.vic.gov.au/vers/compliance

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