🇦🇺 Australian Government Intelligence & Advisory Platform
YourGov.com.au
Federal
Non-corporate Commonwealth Entity
Transport and Infrastructure

National Archives of Australia

Portfolio: Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts

https://www.naa.gov.au/

Annual Budget

$92M

2026-27 Budget (Budget Paper No. 4)
-8.2%vs prior year ($100M)
Total Revenue

$80M

2024-25 Total Revenue
Staff

450

Headcount (2024-25)
Budget Commentary

Material downward shift in 2026-27 funding (-8.2%, $8M change). 2025-26 estimated actual $100M → 2026-27 budget $92M. Source: Budget Paper No. 4, Agency Resourcing tables.

Major Digital Projects
5

New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) Regulator and IT Build

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts

Tier 2
DCA: Medium
Active

Total Budget

$79.2M

Digital Budget

$23.8M

July 2024January 2026

The establishment of a NVES for light vehicles will deliver more fuel-efficient cars for Australians and support the government’s commitment to achieve net zero by 2050. This investment is for the development of an effective ICT environment in which to manage the regulatory obligations around the NVES, such as data capture from vehicle suppliers/importers, reporting, facilitation of compliance and audit functions, and the establishment and maintenance of a NVES credit trading scheme.

Reporting and Program Management (RPM) System

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts

Tier 2
DCA: High
Active

Total Budget

$30.8M

Digital Budget

$14.2M

July 2023June 2026

The RPM project is improving the administration of grant payments to states and territories for land transport infrastructure projects. Following recommendations from the Australian National Audit Office, the department is developing a new system, which has been designed to address evolving business needs and transition the current legacy system to a more scalable and flexible system. The RPM Project Objectives are: (1) Develop a new system to automate, simplify and streamline business processes; (2) Provide a single source of data for all grant process stages that is validated and accurate, easy to access and analyse; (3) Ensure the new system is intuitive, easy to use and flexible, and can be extended to meet future needs; and (4) Migrate data from the existing data sources into a consolidated source of truth for infrastructure investment.

Digital First (DF) Program

National Archives of Australia

Tier 3
Active

Total Budget

$25.1M

Digital Budget

$20.6M

July 2023June 2026

The National Archives of Australia has established the DF Program to uplift its ability to manage, preserve and provide meaningful access to an increasingly digital collection of records that hold national significance. In late 2025, the DF Program was rescoped to realign the work of the program to support implementation of the new Strategy 2025–2030: Evolving National Archives. The program will finish in June 2026, with additional scope relating to account and workload management to be addressed through strategy implementation.

Fighting SMS Scams

Australian Communications and Media Authority

Tier 3
Active

Total Budget

$10.9M

Digital Budget

$3.2M

October 2024July 2026

This project is enabling the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to develop, operate and maintain an SMS ID registry to help prevent scammers from impersonating brands and entities in texts, using message headers (such as myGov), and to create a trusted communications channel.

Spectrum Management

Australian Communications and Media Authority

Tier 3
Active

Total Budget

$22.7M

Digital Budget

$20.9M

October 2022May 2027

The digital spectrum management system will include a range of new and enhanced digital and ICT capabilities to support improved spectrum management.

Ideas relevant to this department

8 tagged

Reform proposals on YourGov that name this department as a delivery partner — drawn from citizen voice, government strategy, research, international examples and gap analysis.

STRATEGY SUMMARY

National Archives provides leadership in best practice management of the official record of the Commonwealth and ensures that Australian Government information of enduring significance is secured, preserved and available to government agencies, researchers and the community. Our work strengthens trust in democracy and improves government transparency and accountability by connecting Australians to government decisions and activities. National Archives embodies the 5 pillars of the National Cultural Policy, Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place. [AR p.18]

PURPOSE

National Archives provides leadership in best practice management of the official record of the Commonwealth and ensures that Australian Government information of enduring significance is secured, preserved and available to government agencies, researchers and the community. Our work strengthens trust in democracy and improves government transparency and accountability by connecting Australians to government decisions and activities. National Archives embodies the 5 pillars of the National Cultural Policy, Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place. [AR p.18]

Corporate Plan 2025-26

Strategic priorities

· 5

1

First Nations First

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.9
2

A Place for Every Story

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.9
3

Centrality of the Artist

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.9
4

Strong Cultural Infrastructure

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.9
5

Engaging the Audience

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.9

Outcomes

· 3

Enable best practice information management by Australian Government entities

National Archives developed the Building trust in the public record policy to help Australian Government agencies improve how they create, collect, manage and use information assets. The policy outlines actions agencies can take to implement best practice information management and help reduce areas of information management inefficiency and risk. [CP p.19]

KEY ACTIVITIES

  • Enable best practice information management by Australian Government entities

Secure and preserve nationally significant Australian Government information

National Archives is responsible for setting information management standards to guide Australian Government agencies’ best practice to secure, preserve and provide access to Commonwealth records. [CP p.21]

KEY ACTIVITIES

  • Secure and preserve nationally significant Australian Government information

Connect Australians to the national archival collection

National Archives makes the national archival collection discoverable and accessible to the public, to enrich and inform Australians of who they are today and into the future. [CP p.24]

KEY ACTIVITIES

  • Connect Australians to the national archival collection

Values

· 3

Inclusion

Collaboration

Innovation

Performance measures

· 19

CodeMeasureTarget 2025-26Latest resultStatus

E1.1

Percentage of agencies that have implemented mandatory actions in the Building trust in the public record policy: Action 1: Assess information management capability annually by completing the National Archives annual Check-up survey

≥ 99% of agencies

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.19

Annual Report 2024-25

E1.2

Annual Check-up survey national average index shows an improvement in Australian Government agencies’ information management maturity on the previous year

Same as 2024–25

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.19

Annual Report 2024-25

S1.1

Engagements with at least 60% of agencies that have not transferred archival records identified as RNA to National Archives in 10 years or more

Engagements with at least 60% of agencies that have not transferred archival records identified as RNA to National Archives in 10 years or more

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.21

Annual Report 2024-25

S2.1

Digitisation targets are delivered

As per 2025–26

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.22

Annual Report 2024-25

S2.2

20% or more of at-risk physical collection items are digitised

≥ 20% of at-risk physical collection items are digitised

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.22

Annual Report 2024-25

S2.3

95% or more of digital collection items confirmed to be in low-risk stable formats

≥ 95% of digital collection items confirmed to be in low-risk stable formats

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.22

Annual Report 2024-25

C1.1

70% or more online visits/ sessions are engaged

Same as 2025–26

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.23

Annual Report 2024-25

C1.2

Case studies of programs show that more than 80% of audience expectations were met

Same as 2025–26

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.23

Annual Report 2024-25

C2.1

At least 85% of reference enquiries are actioned within service standards

As per 2025–26

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.24

Annual Report 2024-25

C2.2

At least 90% of digitisation on demand requests are actioned within service standards

As per 2025–26

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.24

Annual Report 2024-25

C2.3

At least 80% of access applications are examined within legislated timeframes

As per 2025–26

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.24

Annual Report 2024-25

C3.1

Case study demonstrates improvement in culturally appropriate record descriptions for First Nations related collections

As per 2025–26

Corporate Plan 2025-26 · p.25

Annual Report 2024-25

E1

Australian Government agencies actively apply best practice in the creation, collection and use of Australian Government information assets

Partially achieved

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.19
Partially achieved

S1

Nationally significant archival records (meaning those identified as ‘retain as national archives’ (RNA)) are appropriately transferred to National Archives

Achieved

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.21
Achieved

S2

Managing an evolving national archival collection

Achieved

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.22
Achieved

S3

At-risk collections are preserved

Partially achieved

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.23
Partially achieved

C1

The way audiences engage with and use the collection meets their expectations within a digital-first approach

Achieved

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.24
Achieved

C2

National archival collection is discoverable and accessible

Achieved

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.25
Achieved

C3

Commitments and values of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Strategy are recognised, enabled and realised

Achieved

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.26
Achieved

Ideas distilled from this entity's strategy & evidence

· 8

Regulation & Policy

Mandatory annual information management capability assessments

Implement mandatory annual information management capability assessments for all Australian Government agencies to ensure best practices.

Impact: High
Effort: High
Large

NAA-Annual-Report-2024-25.pdf [AR p.19]

Regulation & Policy

Adopt Deloitte’s Government Transparency Framework

Adopt Deloitte’s Government Transparency Framework to enhance transparency and accountability in government information management.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
Large

government-public.html

Regulation & Policy

Enhanced Best Practice Information Management Workshops

Conduct advanced workshops focusing on best practice information management tailored to specific agency needs.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Medium
Medium

NAA-Corporate-Plan-2025-26.pdf#page=19

Data & Performance

Digitisation Progress Dashboard

Create a real-time dashboard to monitor digitisation progress and report on key metrics.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

NAA-Corporate-Plan-2025-26.pdf#page=22

Regulation & Policy

Enhanced At-Risk Collection Preservation Program

Implement a more rigorous preservation program for at-risk collections to ensure long-term viability.

Impact: High
Effort: High
Large

NAA-Annual-Report-2024-25.pdf#page=23

Citizen Participation

Interactive Online Archive Exploration Tool

Develop an interactive online tool to allow users to explore and engage with the national archival collection.

Impact: High
Effort: Medium
Medium

NAA-Corporate-Plan-2025-26.pdf#page=24

Citizen Participation

First Nations Cultural Advisory Group

Establish a cultural advisory group comprising First Nations representatives to guide engagement and preservation efforts.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

NAA-Annual-Report-2024-25.pdf#page=26

Regulation & Policy

World Bank Governance Framework

Adopt the World Bank Governance Framework to enhance transparency, accountability, and performance in government information management.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
Large

governance

Regulation & Policy

Mandatory annual information management capability assessments

Implement mandatory annual information management capability assessments for all Australian Government agencies to ensure best practices.

Impact: High
Effort: High
Large

NAA-Annual-Report-2024-25.pdf [AR p.19]

Regulation & Policy

Adopt Deloitte’s Government Transparency Framework

Adopt Deloitte’s Government Transparency Framework to enhance transparency and accountability in government information management.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
Large

government-public.html

Regulation & Policy

Enhanced Best Practice Information Management Workshops

Conduct advanced workshops focusing on best practice information management tailored to specific agency needs.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Medium
Medium

NAA-Corporate-Plan-2025-26.pdf#page=19

Data & Performance

Digitisation Progress Dashboard

Create a real-time dashboard to monitor digitisation progress and report on key metrics.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

NAA-Corporate-Plan-2025-26.pdf#page=22

Regulation & Policy

Enhanced At-Risk Collection Preservation Program

Implement a more rigorous preservation program for at-risk collections to ensure long-term viability.

Impact: High
Effort: High
Large

NAA-Annual-Report-2024-25.pdf#page=23

Citizen Participation

Interactive Online Archive Exploration Tool

Develop an interactive online tool to allow users to explore and engage with the national archival collection.

Impact: High
Effort: Medium
Medium

NAA-Corporate-Plan-2025-26.pdf#page=24

Citizen Participation

First Nations Cultural Advisory Group

Establish a cultural advisory group comprising First Nations representatives to guide engagement and preservation efforts.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

NAA-Annual-Report-2024-25.pdf#page=26

Regulation & Policy

World Bank Governance Framework

Adopt the World Bank Governance Framework to enhance transparency, accountability, and performance in government information management.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
Large

governance

Legislation administered

· 3

Act

1983

Archives Act 1983

National Archives of Australia is responsible for securing, preserving, and making accessible the archival resources of the Commonwealth.

Act

2013

Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013

National Archives of Australia is a non-corporate Commonwealth entity under this Act.

Act

1999

Public Service Act 1999

National Archives of Australia is an Executive Agency under this Act.

Want the full analysis?

Download this month's report covering National Archives of Australia