Auckland City Council archives

Introduction

Auckland City Council was established in 1871. Since then the council's boundaries have expanded. The most substantial change was in 1989, which saw the amalgamation of 11 territorial local authorities to form Auckland city. The surviving archival records of all the former authorities are now part of the Auckland City Council archives and are available for research by the public.

The documents kept in the archives relate to former and existing functions and activities undertaken by the council.

Over time, these have included responsibilities for:

baths and swimming pools
cemeteries
drainage
electricity
fire fighting
health
housing
libraries
the art gallery
the zoo
milk
parks, reserves and domains
policing
refuse disposal
roads

town planning
traffic, trams and buses
water
rating
municipal elections
valuation
unemployment relief
civil defence
council staff
council properties/facilities
resource management
district schemes
bylaws
annual reports and accounts
the municipal abattoir.

Our responsibility

We have the responsibility to identify records that are of continuing or archival value, to preserve them and make them available to council and the public. The Public Records Act 2005 requires us to keep and make publicly available, records of archival value.

Records are considered to have continuing or archival value if they:

provide concise evidence of the deliberations, decisions and actions of the council relating to key functions and programmes and significant issues.
preserve evidence of the source of authority, foundation and machinery of the council.
contain evidence that is essential to the protection and future well being of the people of the city and their environment.
have a special capacity to illustrate the condition and status of the city, its people, the impact of council activity on them, and the interaction of the people of Auckland with council.
have a substantial capacity to enrich knowledge and understanding of aspects of New Zealand's development, history, society, culture and people.

Updated June 2007