The SRO also manages the State archives collection, defined as those government records recognised as having continuing and enduring value for the State and the community and which have been transferred to the SRO's custody. The legislation has its genesis in the recommendations of the 1996 Commission on Government – Specified Matter 9. The Commission on Government was itself the result of the Royal Commission into the commercial activities of government and other matters, better known as WA Inc. The State Records Office maintains approximately 15 linear kilometres of archival records, comprising approximately 2 million items and created by over 1,300 individual State and Local Government agencies, many of which are now defunct or have had significant changes in name or function. The state archives collection is the largest collection of documentary heritage in Western Australia and archives date from the foundation of the Swan River Colony in 1829. The state archives collection includes:   , it was estimated that approximately 53 shelf kilometres of archives were awaiting transfer to the SRO but could not be accepted owing to "a lack of specialised storage space." Since 2003 the Margaret Medcalf award has been given to published and unpublished research utilising the SRO records. Recent winners have been: A list of all previous winners is available on SRO's website. The State Records Office of Western Australia is located on the ground floor of the Alexander Library Building, in the Perth Cultural Centre. State archives can be viewed in the SRO's search room. Online access and provision of digital copies are also available to the general public. Information about the records in the collection can be found using the SRO online catalogue. This article provides a concise account of the developments that led to the appointment of Mollie Lukis in 1945 as the State's first Archivist. Transcript of an address given by Sir Paul Hasluck in March 1982 to the Friends of Battye Library. The original recording also available from the State Library's Oral History Collection (OH1091)