New website documents Australia's founding charters

19/06/00
An arranged marriage of history and technology has produced a bouncing new website certain to draw admiring glances from Australians everywhere.
For the past 18 months, the National Archives has been searching for Australia's birth certificates.
In a collaborative project with the State and Territory Government archives, the quest was to locate, identify, assess and collect Australia's key legal and constitutional charters for inclusion in a website gallery of our founding documents.
The resulting 'Documenting a Democracy' website was launched simultaneously today in each State and Territory capital.
Arts Minister Mike Board, who launched the site for WA at the Alexander Library Building, said it had been a visionary project, employing the newest technology to present the charters of our democracy.
"This major endeavour involved more than 80 people in project teams around Australia identifying, researching, writing, conserving, photographing, digitising, and designing and building the website", Mr Board said.
'It is estimated that the text on the website would fill at least two encyclopaedia-size volumes, which shows what a valuable resource it is for students, researchers and historians."
Mr Board said WA organisations had provided significant input to the site.
"I am pleased to say the Library and Information Service of WA was an active contributor to the development of Documenting Democracy, providing an important selection of documents," he said.
"Special thanks must also go to the WA Constitutional Centre for funding the photography of two documents in the House of Lords, Supreme Court of WA for the loan of one of the key documents for photography and digitisation, the WA Museum for photographic assistance and the Art Gallery of WA for supplying the image of George Pitt-Morrison's painting 'The Foundation of Perth'."
While the nation's archives held much of the material, loans were also provided by State and Territory libraries, art galleries, Government departments, Supreme Courts, the High Court, the Public Record Office and the House of Lords Record Office in London.
Mr Board said some of the most intriguing aspects of the project were the unexpected places where some of the 99 documents were found.
"Many had been confined to vaults and safes all around the country and most had not seen the light of day for 50 years or more - some had never left Great Britain," he said.
The project received funding from the National Council for the Centenary of Federation under its History and Education program.
It was guided by an eminent advisory panel which included seven consultant historians - former SA Premier John Bannon, Associate Professor David Black (the WA project historian), Richard Ely, Helen Irving, Stuart Macintyre, Alan Powell and Clive Moore.
Also advising the project team were experts in constitutional law, indigenous issues and constitutional development including
Dr John Williams from the University of Adelaide Law School, Professor Leslie Zines, leading constitutional lawyer from the Law Program in the ANU's Research School of Social Sciences and Mick Dodson, Chairperson of the Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
State Records Office archivist Damien Hassan located the Western Australian-related documents and co-ordinated their digitisation.
"The Documenting a Democracy website is much more than a series of ancient charters and elaborate documents," Mr Board said.
"There are online transcripts for all the documents which can be downloaded so browsers can read such treasures as a true copy of James Cook's Secret Instructions or Queen Victoria's Assent to the Commonwealth Constitution.
"The website is certain to be a major resource for understanding the constitutional processes underlying everyday life, not only for the target audience of students and teachers, but for all Australians."
Documenting Democracy can be found at: http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au
Media contact: Minister's office - Tamatha Smith, 9222 9211
Library and Information Service of WA - Doug George, 9427 3150