1 January 2025
Every year on the 1st of January, hundreds of Victorian archival records are made public as part of Public Record Office Victoria’s Section 9 openings. Under Section 9 of the Public Records Act 1973, records of a private or personal nature are closed to prevent the violation of privacy.
On the 1st of January 2025, files opened for the first time include files of a 1949 Ferntree Gully bank robbery and Pentridge prison escape. Also opened for the first time are files collated by the Victorian Railways Commissioners Board of Inquiry into the 1969 Violet Town train crash.
On 7 February 1969, the Sydney to Melbourne Express passenger train, the Southern Aurora, collided with a Melbourne to Albury goods train near Violet Town. Nine people died and 117 people were injured.
Contained within three archival boxes are various photos and maps of the site, train controller charts, reports on staff, witness statements, track and signal plans, log books, as well as the coroner’s and commissioner’s findings. Many of the photos show rescue efforts of crew and volunteers. Station Master McQuillan and Conductor Hyatt are singled out in the reports as two who “worked heroically and tirelessly and without regard to their personal safety.”
Criminal trial briefs opened for the first time include the 1949 trial of Albert Edward Skeggs, accused of a daring Ferntree Gully bank robbery. Though police traced stolen cash certificates back to Skeggs, the jury found him not guilty. Unfortunately for Gordon Thomas Howard, the jury didn’t believe his excuses. They found him guilty of escaping from Pentridge, his second successful prison escape in two years, and stealing explosives while on the run.
Director and Keeper of Public Records, Justine Heazlewood, says the records opened will be invaluable to family and community historians.
“Public records provide Victorians with an insight into the past. The records now available for researchers date back as far as the early 1900s revealing much about what our ancestors and communities experienced at the time. From the heroism of first responders to the devastation of lives lost, it’s important to remember and continue to learn from the past.”
A broad guide to time periods for closure under Section 9 is:
- Records primarily concerning adults may be closed for 75 years from the year created.
- Records concerning children as the primary subject may be closed for 99 years.
- Records such as staff records where the individuals concerned may still be in the workforce may be closed for a lesser period such as 30, 40, or 50 years as appropriate.
See attached for the full list of records opened, or visit our blog.
