National Archives

A government department in Canberra has nearly finished moving 15 million documents and artefacts to a new home. We join them as they transported some delicate material samples to find out what's involved and why these artefacts are so important to our national history.

These big, heavy leather books are getting some pretty special treatment. They're being boxed up, wrapped in plastic and placed in trucks on their way to a new purpose-built home. But what's inside these mysterious books that deserves such care and attention?

CHERYL JACKSON, NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA: This particular volume can contain line drawings, fabric swatches, early photographic processes, letters and annotations in all sorts of different inks.

Okay, so they might not sound too exciting. But according to the National Archives of Australia, they're an important part of our nation's history and deserve to be protected!

The National Archives has been described as the memory of our nation. It was set up more than 50 years ago to do a few big jobs. Collect, preserve and allow the public access to Australia's most valuable government records and documents and to make sure the government and its agencies keep track of them.

There are more than 40 million items in the Archive's collection from records on births, deaths and marriages to confidential documents like this one from the 60s about an apparent UFO sighting in South Australia. There are also books, artwork and photos and even scientific artefacts like this whale tooth from 1964. Most of this stuff is held in Canberra, but there are storage sites in each state and territory too.

REPORTER: A lot of the items have been digitised so people can easily find what they need on the National Archives website. So for example let's look up a lighthouse I visited in South Australia - let's see what we can find.

Or you can come in and see it in real life.

REPORTER: So you found something?

NICK GLEGHORN, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL ARCHIVES SA: I did, so this is a lighthouse keeper's logbook for Sturt Lighthouse, Kangaroo Island from 1857 as you can see it's not that easy to read.

REPORTER: Very hard to read!

NICK: And this book sort of details daily weather conditions but occasionally there'll be things like wrecks that have happened and a bit an insight of what life was like for a lighthouse keeper.

But with so much new stuff being sent to the National Archives each year, the head office in Canberra was running out of room. So they decided to build a new home with specially designed thick concrete walls and plenty of cold storage to keep all of their important documents and items protected for the future.

Moving more than 15 million items into the new site has been a huge task but they're almost done. And while it hasn't been easy, the organisation says that it will not only allow them to continue preserving Australia's cultural heritage, but make it easier for everyone to learn about the people and events that helped shape our country.

• Natasha Thiele | Reporter
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