State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales
The State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales (commonly known as State Archives and Records NSW) is the archives and records management authority of the Government of New South Wales in Australia. It can trace its history back to the establishment of the office of Colonial Secretary and Registrar of the Records of New South Wales in 1821. However, in the early years of the Colony's history, little attention was paid to the management and preservation of non-current public records. This was mainly because the government of the day was fully focussed on the administration of the convict system, law and order, immigration and land settlement. Documents which were not required for the day-to-day running of the government were usually neglected or were destroyed. Background It was not until the late nineteenth century, with the approach of the Centenary of the Colony, that an awareness of the value of public archives as fundamental sources for Australian history was recorded. This interest led to the appointment of an Archivist of New South Wales, and the publication of Historical Records of New South Wales. At the time the term 'archives' was used broadly to include manuscripts, pictorial material and maps