Tasmanian Consolidated Acts

ARCHIVES ACT 1983 - SECT 3

      (1) In this Act, except in so far as the context or subject-matter otherwise indicates or requires –

"Archives Office" means the Archives Office of Tasmania and any branch of that office and includes any premises at which State archives are deposited or stored;

"commencement day" means the day fixed under section 2(2);

"Court" means the Supreme Court and includes a judge of that Court;

"Crown record" means a record –

(a) made for the use, or any purpose, of the Crown; or

(b) in the case of a record not so made, kept by an officer or employee of the Crown for any public purpose in accordance with a duty or responsibility imposed, or a power or authority conferred, by or under an Act;

"Government department" means –

(a) a department of the State Service established under the State Service Act 2000; or

(b) a department or service of the State that does not form part of the State Service –

and includes any department which would be a department referred to in paragraph (a), or would be a department or service referred to in paragraph (b), but for the fact that it has ceased to exist, or has been merged with or superseded by some other body;

"local authority" means any –

(a) council; or

(b) body corporate established by or under an Act or in the exercise of prerogative rights of the Crown and having jurisdiction limited to a district, locality or part of the State;

"public State record" means a register or other State record kept in accordance with a duty or responsibility imposed, or a power or authority conferred, by or under an Act, for the information of the public and available under that Act for public inspection;

"record" means a document or an object that is, or has been, made or kept by reason of any information or matter that it contains or can be obtained from it or by reason of its connection with any event, person, circumstance, or thing;

"relevant authority" means –

(a) in relation to a Government department that is established under the State Service Act 2000 – the Head of that department;

(b) in relation to a department or service of the State that does not form part of the State Service – the person who is directly responsible to the Minister concerned for the administration and direction of that department or service;

(c) in relation to a State authority or a local authority that is incorporated – that authority; or

(d) in relation to a State authority or a local authority that is unincorporated – the secretary, clerk, or other principal executive officer of that authority;

"the repealed Acts" means the Archives Act 1965 and, where appropriate, the Public Records Act 1943;

"the regulations" means regulations made and in force under this Act;

"State archive" means any State record or any other record which is for the time being deposited and preserved in the Archives Office;

"State authority" means a body, an authority, a royal commission or a board of inquiry, that is not a Government department or a local authority, whether that body, authority, royal commission or board is incorporated or not, and that is established or constituted by or under an Act or in the exercise of prerogative rights of the Crown where –

(a) that body, authority, royal commission or board, or its governing authority, wholly or partly comprises a person appointed by the Governor, a Minister or another State authority; or

(b) the Crown has a controlling interest, or is a major shareholder, in that body, authority, royal commission or board;

"State record" means –

(a) a Crown record; or

(b) a record of a State authority; or

(c) a record of a local authority; or

(d) any other record that was at any time a record mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) –

but does not include a record of the Parliament of Tasmania.

      (1A) A reference in this Act to a department or service of the State that does not form part of the State Service is a reference to –

(a) the Police Service; and

(b) .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

(c) any other department or service of the State prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph.

      (2) In this Act, a reference to Tasmania includes a reference to Van Diemen's Land and any island which was, at the relevant time, governed as a dependency of Tasmania or Van Diemen's Land.

      (3) In this Act, a reference to an officer of a Government department includes a reference to the Minister responsible for administering that department and a reference to an officer of a State authority or a local authority includes a reference to a member of the governing or managing board, council, or committee of that authority.

      (4) .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

      (5) Without limiting the generality of the definition of the expression "record" in subsection (1) –

(a) the reference to a document in that definition includes a reference to any printed or written material; and

(b) the reference to an object in that definition includes a reference to a sound recording, coded storage device, magnetic tape or disc, microfilm, photograph, film, map, plan, or model or painting or other pictorial or graphic work.

      (6) For the purposes of this Act, records shall be regarded as being deposited in the Archives Office notwithstanding that they may have been lent or temporarily removed from that office or are kept in the custody of a person in accordance with arrangements made under section 8(4).