Libraries Act 1943
When the Queensland Government passed the Libraries Act of 1943, Part IV of the Act dealt with public records. However, there was a provision in Part IV to postpone its implementation and archival legislation was not implemented for another 15 years. In 1953 the Government claimed that "it has not been possible to implement this portion of the Act owing to difficulties which have arisen, chief of which has been a lack of suitable space in which to store and display these documents.”
While some records were transferred to the State Library of Queensland for preservation, it was not until 31 July 1958 that Part IV of The Libraries Act 1943-1949 was proclaimed and became effective. In 1959, Robert Sharman was appointed as the first Archivist within the State Library, and Queensland State Archives commenced its activities.
The Act placed archival authority in the hands of the State Librarian and made the Library Board of Queensland responsible for the destruction of records. The official position of State Archivist was not created until more than 20 years later in September 1981.
Read more about this topic: Queensland State Archives
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