The records in the collection of National Archives of Australia (NAA) relating to child endowment payments demonstrate how the status and significance of records are transformed by changing social and political climates. These records provide an example of the processes at play when records enter the pluralised, fourth dimension of the Records Continuum, and take on new value and meaning for different communities. This article argues that advocacy by the people whose lives are documented in records plays a crucial role in the transformation of the meaning and purposes of records, and has been an impetus for change in archival processes and practices in Australia. In this case, Care Leavers have harnessed the history of the Commonwealth paying child endowment to children’s institutions around Australia to argue successfully that the Australian government undeniably facilitated the institutional child welfare system and thus has a moral duty to help remedy the wrongs inflicted on so many in these institutions. The author argues that NAA has greatly improved the accessibility of its child endowment records, but radical transformation is required for these records to be truly reclaimed by Care Leavers.

中文翻译：

---

澳大利亚国家档案馆中儿童end养记录的重要性转移

澳大利亚国家档案馆（NAA）中有关儿童end养金的记录表明，社会和政治气候的变化如何改变记录的地位和重要性。这些记录提供了一个示例，说明当记录进入记录连续体的多元第四维度并为不同社区带来新的价值和意义时，这些过程正在发挥作用。本文认为，被记录在案的生活的人们的倡导在转变记录的含义和目的方面起着至关重要的作用，并且一直是改变澳大利亚档案程序和做法的动力。在这种情况下，休假照顾者利用联邦向澳大利亚各地的儿童机构支付儿童end赋的历史，成功地论证了澳大利亚政府无可否认地促进了机构性儿童福利制度的发展，因此在道德上有责任帮助纠正在这些机构中许多人犯下的错误。作者认为，NAA极大地改善了其儿童捐赠记录的可访问性，但是要使这些记录真正被Care Leaves收回，就需要进行彻底的转换。