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Past recipients of the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards are listed below.

Note that prior to 2015, the Awards were held annually. After this time, the Award format changed to be held every two years.

2022-2023 Winners

The comprehensive and effective decommissioning project undertaken in a very tight timeframe with a major challenge appearing to have been very well addressed. A comprehensive and achievable approach was undertaken to ensure success, that again recognised the value of collaboration. 

Commendation. Cardinia Shire Council took a bold leap into M365, when other councils had not. The result was a whole environment that built in records governance and compliance throughout the records lifecycle.

Commendation: The judges recognised that this project resulted in the collection and digitisation of records and a new website where such records are made available, as well as a clear picture of the history of education. The project successfully combined celebrating an anniversary milestone with practical improvements to recordkeeping and archiving. The broad reaching project is commended for increasing the support for school records across the state, and the establishment of a high-quality in-house digitisation team.

Commendation: The project turned the organisation around in its approach to records management, with the implementation of a full business classification system creating a clear structure, with automated sentencing according to appropriate records disposal authorities.

Most valuable transfer - In response to PROV advice, Monash Health committed skilled archival resources to complete the transfer work promptly in accordance with PROV requirements. The records are now available for public access. The Hospital was established in 1896 by eleven female doctors to provide medical services to women and children and for decades was a significant institution in support of community health. Its records are an important addition to the PROV collection, supplementing existing holdings of 19th to mid 20th century medical records, including from the Royal Children’s and Royal Women’s hospitals. 

This project integrated their EDRMS with their digital preservation repository system to provide long-term preservation and access given their responsibilities as a Class A Place of Deposit. The team delivered an important and innovative digital preservation project which has the potential for many ongoing positive recordkeeping benefits when dealing with live intranet sites. To ensure success, the project clearly recognised the importance of a collaborative work program, involving a distributed workforce across a large organisation. 

This project integrated their EDRMS with their digital preservation repository system to provide long-term preservation and access given their responsibilities as a Class A Place of Deposit. The project captured large volumes of records within a new customised records management system. The system made it much easier for staff to work in ways that support records management compliance. The project highlighted the value of working collaboratively to enable a best practice approach to the use of SharePoint across a vast organisation. It also achieved additional benefits with accessible training and user engagement.

2017-2018 Winners

Cardinia Shire Council investigated and then successfully implemented an automated mail processing system, utilising artificial intelligence to reduce costs and improve service, while still remaining compliant with PROV standards.

Ruth Edge, Roger Buhlert, Derek Madden and Katy Friend from Cardinia Shire Council with Tim Newbegin, Justine Heazlewood and the Hon. Gavin Jennings at the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards, 3 May 2018

The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) initiated a project to transform into a ‘digital by default’ office, proving that auditors can audit and transact successfully and compliantly using electronic means. By replacing ‘wet’ signatures with digital versions they eliminated significant costs, reduced likelihood of error and saved 70kms of paper being used!

Victorian Auditor-General’s Office receiving Hamer Award 2018
Jenny McCallum and Molly Ap-Thomas, Victorian Auditor-General’s Office with Justine Heazlewood and the Hon. Gavin Jennings.

 

Demonstrating an innovative approach to improving user engagement and service standards, this project focused on enhancing and making better use of existing technology rather than deploying new tools. This approach achieved significant improvements within a narrow budget.

Philip Lee, Mark Skilton, Fiona Park, Rebecca Burns and Benjamin Cox from Manningham City Council with Justine Heazlewood and the Hon. Gavin Jennings at the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards, 3 May 2018

An early adoption of the revised “VERS 3” Standard, this project involved combining existing permanent born digital records with previously digitised records and a collaboration with PROV to test and develop processes, tools and guidance material, which would in turn assist all agencies with future transfers.

Victorian Auditor-General’s Office receiving Hamer Award 2018
Jenny McCallum and Molly Ap-Thomas, Victorian Auditor-General’s Office with Justine Heazlewood and the Hon. Gavin Jennings.

 

Victoria Police, MFB, Ambulance Victoria, Country Fire Authority, DELWP and SES shared resources, knowledge and responsibility between agencies to deliver a common records management goal.

Ross Elford and team with Justine Heazlewood and the Hon. Gavin Jennings at the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards, 3 May 2018

The Royal Commission into Family Violence records transfer included the key records documenting the work of the Commission. The transfer is almost entirely digital, and involved:

  • analysis of complex systems and work processes;
  • mapping of those systems;
  • transformation of the digital records from various systems into PROV VERS Encapsulated Objects; and
  • first conversion of 180,000 emails into VEOs.

Mark Sells from the Department of Premier and Cabinet with Justine Heazlewood and the Hon. Gavin Jennings at the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards, 3 May 2018

2015-2016 Winners

Summary of project: This project involved the digitisation of 21,000 large format hardcopy plans into an electronic document and records management system. By replacing hardcopy with digital records, and linking these digitised records to a document management system, management databases and CAD system, the project delivered significantly improved management, increased accessibility on and off-site, allowed version control, drawing annotation and increased workflow management.

Award recipient
Ann Goode from Wannon Water receiving her award from the Hon. Gavin Jennings, 24 June 2016.

 

Summary of project: According to the judges this project was described as an ‘innovative, integrated approach which capitalised on existing technology but took a fresh approach.’ The Department introduced a flagship program to make best practice and compliance easy for all staff by creating one platform for document management and collaboration, resulting in a faster, easier to use document and records management system.

Award recipient
Juliette Cox from DET receiving her award from the Hon. Gavin Jennings, 24 June 2016.

 

Summary of project: Agriculture Victoria holds many thousands of critical records in many forms including documents, images and videos. Agriculture Victoria has previously tried a number of ways of managing this information with varying degrees of success. Recognising the limitations of these previous approaches, Agriculture Victoria contracted two companies to design, develop and implement a metadata driven product (The Knowledge Curation Tool).  This approach allowed a single point of access for all digital /physical assets and records across the organisation. This approach resulted in a quick and efficient way to connect and search all of its databases, regardless of their function, design or location.

Award recipient
Kieran Murphy from Agriculture Victoria receiving his award from the Hon. Gavin Jennings, 24 June 2016.

 

Summary of transfer projects: 

Two valuable archival collections were transferred to Public Record Office Victoria in the last year. These transfers from the Royal Women’s Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital together ensured that a large number of significant historical health records were able to be preserved for the future and accessible to all Victorians.

The records of the Royal Women’s Hospital are considered highly significant internationally, being an intact collection of 19th and 20th century women’s medical records. Over 50 records series were transferred from the Royal Women’s Hospital, comprising 93 metres or 746 boxes. The records of the Royal Children’s Hospital are equally significant, being an intact collection of 19th and 20th century children’s medical records. Over 80 records series were transferred from the Royal Children’s Hospital, comprising 48 metres or 501 boxes.

The hospitals established a productive work program to complete the required archival description, access documentation and physical preparation of the respective collections which comprise traditional files, volumes, and photographs.

Award recipient
Robyn Waymouth from Royal Women's Hospital and Bronwyn Hewitt from Royal Children's Hospital receiving their awards from the Hon. Gavin Jennings, 24 June 2016.

 

Summary of projects: The DHHS received a commendation for a combination of three projects which made an outstanding contribution to records management. For the last three years this Department has undertaken a considerable amount of work to improve their records management focusing on:

  • improving the management of their very large archive of important records holding personal information about many Victorians,
  • setting up a regime to enable digitising of important records, and
  • establishing better recordkeeping outcomes in non-government organisations that provide services on behalf of the Department.
Award recipient
Arieta Lumani, Philip Punshon and Chris Hofmann from DHHS receiving their commendation from the Hon. Gavin Jennings, 24 June 2016.

 

Summary of project: In 2014 the Records Manager at this agency identified that improvement to records management would require a non-traditional approach. The Records Manager together with the Records Team created a change program that included a lighthearted internal “infomercial”, with the tag-line “rough enough is good enough”.  The “infomercial” created awareness among staff and caused them to review their recordkeeping habits and practices, and seek assistance from the Records Team.

Award recipient
David Campbell and Lynette Morgan from TAC receiving their award from the Hon. Gavin Jennings, 24 June 2016.

 

2013-2014 Winners

Agency Project Category
Cardinia Shire Council Paper Independence: Supporting the activity based working environment- a cultural revolution Small Agency
Mildura Rural City Council Electronic Records Capture Project – Family Day Care Medium Agency
No award given No award given Large Agency
Department of Human Services Records Management Program – addressing storage issues to meet regulatory and community expectations Large Agency – Certificate of Commendation
The Royal Women’s Hospital and Alfred Health Womens@Sandringham Medical Record Project Large Agency – Certificate of Commendation
No award given No award given Regional Agency
Alpine Shire Council Barcode Central Regional Agency – Certificate of Commendation
Wannon Region Water Corporation

Renovating Recordkeeping at Wannon Water

Regional Agency – Certificate of Commendation
Murrindindi Shire Council Pilot Tenders and Contract electronic Content Management (ECM): A Paperless System Regional Agency – Certificate of Commendation
Office of Public Prosecution Transfer of Prosecutions and Litigation Records Most Valuable Transfer

 

Community Archives Project Category
Gold Museum, Ballarat Onsite and online: Expanding access to the Gold Museum collections Preservation of Records of Significance
Australian Jazz Museum Taking it to the World – a Jazz Digitisation Project

Providing Enhanced Records Access

 

2012-2013 Winners

Agency Project Category
Agricultural Victoria Services

AVS Technology Transfer Management System Implementation

Small Agency
Melbourne Water The Info Program Medium Agency
No award given No award given Large Agency
Latrobe Regional Hospital Records Management Archiving Project Regional Agency
Land Victoria Transfer of Crown Grants, Titles and Leases Most Valuable Transfer

 

Community Archives Project Category
Loddon Shire Council Digitisation of the East Loddon “Soldiers Medals & Memorial Register 1915-1920″ Preservation of Records of Significance
Box Hill Historical Society

Digitising the City of Box Hill Rate Books

Providing Enhanced Records Access

 

2011-2012 Winners

Agency Project Category
Supreme Court of Victoria Preserving court records: creating a records storage and disposal regime Small Agency
City of Kingston The Policy Portal Medium Agency
Department of Justice Records Management Strategy 2011-2014 Large Agency
Greater Shepparton City Council Going Digital with Financial Information Regional Agency
Department of Sustainability and Environment Surveyor’s Field Books and Indexes Most Valuable Transfer

 

Community Archives Project Category
Shepparton Family History Group Preservation of Shire of Rodney Rate Books Preservation of Records of Significance
Geelong Heritage Centre Online Image Library Providing Enhanced Records Access

 

2010-2011 Winners

Agency Project Category
Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission Management and Transfers of Royal Commission Digital Records Small Agency
Land Victoria Project to archive the historical documents of Land Victoria Medium Agency
Northern Health

Semi-electronic scanned medical record system

Large Agency
Greater Shepparton City Council

Digital Consent Model, which has improved recordkeeping practice within their EDRMS

Regional Agency

 

Community Archives Project Category
Mount Alexander Shire Council Digitisation of Shire of Maldon Minute Books 1858-1995 Preservation of Records of Significance
Colac and District Historical Society Collaboration with Duke University to transcribe, digitise and index the first Court of Petty Sessions Register for Colac 1849-1865

Providing Enhanced Records Access

Knox Historical Society

Digitisation and indexing of photo collections of local primary schools, secondary schools and kindergartens

Providing Enhanced Records Access

 

2009-2010 Winners

Agency Project Category
Municipal Association of Victoria’s ECM Steering Committee The Better Practice Guide Small agency
City of Boroondara Operation Accountability Medium Agency – Certificate of Commendation
Department of Human Services Linking Vulnerable Victorians to the Records of their Past Large Agency – Certificate of Commendation
Department of Transport The Spotswood Exit Project Large Agency
No award given No award given Regional Agency

 

Community Archive Project Category
Bellarine Historical Society Inc. Digitising and Indexing Original School Registers for PROV’s Collection Preservation of records of significance to the local community and the state
No award given No award given Providing records access in the local community
Brighton Historical Society Inc Cataloguing the Map and Plan Collection Projects or programs that provide greater understanding and accessibility to the Community Archives’ archival collection
Shire of Campaspe Recognising Area Significant Records Innovative programs that ensure local records of significance are accessible and that support community archives in operating, expanding and maintaining their collections

 

2008-2009 Winners

Agency Project Category
Rural Finance Corporation Rural Finance Corporation Records Management & Disposal Program Small Agency – Certificate of Commendation
Victorian Auditor-General’s Office Records Management Checklist – A tool to improve records management Medium Agency
Department of Human Services Records Management Improvement Strategy Large Agency
City of Greater Dandenong Historical Scanning Project: Scanning the past to build the future Large Agency – Certificate of Commendation
University of Melbourne Web Archiving @ the University of Melbourne Large Agency – Certificate of Commendation
No award given No award given Regional Agency

 

Community Archive Project Category
No award given No award given Preservation of records of significance to the local community and the state
Castlemaine Historical Society Inc. Metcalfe Shire Council Sundry Correspondence Files Providing records access in the local community
Royal Historical Society of Victoria Mac Robertson’s Round Australia Expedition 1928 Projects or programs that provide greater understanding and accessibility to the Community Archives’ archival collection
Bellarine Historical Society Inc Geelong and District Potpourri Database Projects or programs that provide greater understanding and accessibility to the Community Archives’ archival collection – Certificate of Commendation
East Gippsland Shire Council Project Innovative programs that ensure local records of significance are accessible and that support community archives in operating, expanding and maintaining their collections

 

2007-2008 Winners

Agency Project Category
Department of Planning and Community Development Commonwealth Games Records Disposal Project Inner Budget
Department of Justice Preservation of records of permanent value to the State and innovation in records management through the Department of Justice ‘Taking Responsibility Program Inner Budget - Certificate of Commendation
Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Online Plant Census Project Outer Budget
La Trobe University Electronic Recordkeeping – Central Student Files (ICT Project 130) Outer Budget - Certificate of Commendation
East Gippsland Shire Council Archives Store project Local Government Authorities
East Gippsland Shire Council Better Access to Documents Project Local Government Authorities – Certificate of Commendation
Baw Baw Shire Council Project Local Government Authorities – Certificate of Commendation
Barwon Region Water Corporation Plans and Drawings Rationalisation and Capture Regional Agency
No award given No award given Small Agency

 

Community Archives Project Category
Castlemaine and District Historical Society Inc. Identification and transfer of permanent public records to PROV Preservation of records of significance to the local community and the state
Birchip Historical Society Inc. Student and volunteer engagement program Providing public record access in the local community
Castlemaine and District Historical Society Inc. Commemoration of 150 years of responsible government Providing public record access in the local community – Certificate of Commendation
Wycheproof Historical Society Inc. Opening of the restored court house and display of archival material Providing public record access in the local community – Certificate of Commendation
Benalla and District Historical Society Inc. Archival storage, research and reading room project Projects or programs that provide greater understanding of and accessibility to the PoD’s archival collection
Wycheproof Historical Society Inc. Developing a web presence for the Archives Projects or programs that provide greater understanding of and accessibility to the PoD’s archival collection – Certificate of Commendation
GWM Water Places of Deposit outreach project Innovative programs that ensure local records of significance are accessible and that support places of deposit in operating, expanding and maintaining their collections

 

2006-2007 Winners

Agency Project Category
Department of Education and Training Closed School Project Inner Budget
Department of Justice Southern Cross Records Project Inner Budget - Certificate of Commendation
Metropolitan Ambulance Service Victorian Ambulance Clinical Information System Project Outer Budget Agency
City of Whitehorse Pathway/TRIM integration Local Government Authorities
Greater Shepparton City Council Moving Memorabilia Madness Local Government Authorities - Certificate of Commendation
Department of Sustainability and Environment Archiving of Regional Land Office Plans Regional Agency
Victorian Institute of Teaching Flight of the Hummingbird Small Agency

 

Material in the Public Record Office Victoria archival collection contains words and descriptions that reflect attitudes and government policies at different times which may be insensitive and upsetting

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples should be aware the collection and website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.

PROV provides advice to researchers wishing to access, publish or re-use records about Aboriginal Peoples