Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is the archive of the Victorian State Government. Based in North Melbourne, it houses a staggering 99 km of historic documentation, maps and audio-visual material relating to the establishment of Melbourne and wider Victoria.
PROV's team of over 120 volunteers undertake work on under-utilised or difficult-to-use areas of the collection, conserving records and adding search metadata, allowing researchers to easily discover and use important records relating to Melbourne's history.
Their volunteer program has run for over 20 years, with volunteers providing an astonishing 21,000 hours annually, enabling researchers to easily discover previously hidden links to people, places and decisions that have shaped Melbourne's history. Volunteers create and upload digital records to the internet, allowing free and easy access to researchers anywhere in the world, forming the basis of books, articles and journals that cement Melbourne as one of Australia's most prominent and historic cities, while ensuring this unique collection of records and memories are preserved for future generations.