Index cards to correspondence files - Families SA and predecessors (GRS/13525)

The index cards in this series control the correspondence files created under two classification systems that were used by the Department for Social Welfare and Aboriginal Affairs and its successors. The cards were used to both allocate file numbers to incoming communications, and to track file movements.

These files have been transferred under four separate series (GRS 2401, 2402, 4164 and 10237), and the various consignments also contain files created under a separate classification system of the Department for Community Welfare and the more recent 10/011 prefix file numbering system.

Consignments of control cards with a combined date range of 1970 to 2001 were transferred to State Records in 2006 as consignments 18 and 19 of GRS 4164 (Administrative files and control cards). Those consignments are to be transferred into this new series as consignments 2 and 1 respectively. Consignment 19 of GRS 4164 (now consignment 1) includes cards of the first (or old) indexing system. Consignment 18 (now consignment 2) includes the cards of the later indexing system. For a listing of individual cards in these two consignments, please refer to paper consignment lists.

The third consignment of this new series contains the control cards that were recovered in 2010 from Families SA's Court Services unit, where they had been safeguarded by an employee for a number of years. The classification of the cards is 10/120, ie Administration - Legal. The files relating to this classification have been transferred under GRS 10237 - Client contact sub files: Crown Law referrals, '10/120/XXX series'.

It was around 2002 that the classification (ie section/subject) numbering system was abandoned and all files were given the prefix 10/011/.... The reason for the change is not known. The administrative files, as they were originally called, were registered on a Microsoft Excel electronic spreadsheet from around 2003, and transferred into the Families SA File Tracking System (FiTS) in 2006. The 10/011 numbering system remained in place until the Department for Families and Communities' electronic document and records management system, Objective, was implemented in Families SA in 2008.

The index cards in this series measured 36.5 x 24 cm and they were used on both sides.

Section numbers, Subject names and Subject details were written at the top of the card. The column headings were No., Other reference nos., Date received, Writer, Subject of file, and Referred to. For example, the first entry for Section 10, Subject 120, Subject: Administration - Legal, was file number 10/120/1 with a file subject "Record of Crown Law opinions", and that file was referred to five locations between 1976 and 1990. The subjects of many files included the names of employees, or the names and dates of birth of clients.

Recordkeeping system: Two-tiered numerical indicating classification.