VPRS 14040 Register of Applications, Melbourne, Land Acts (Melbourne District Land Office)

From about 1901 there was a steady decline in new applications being made under the Land Acts. In mid-1907 a circular was sent to District Land Officers notifying them that from that time onwards, all applications regardless of Act and Section of the Act, were to be recorded in a single register, as in this series, kept at the District Land Office and allocated an annual single number. Details recorded were the number allocated the application, the date of receipt, the name and postal address of the applicant, the location and extent of the land and the details of the recommendation by the Local Land Board and the disposal of the application (ie where it was forwarded or filed). A weekly return of all applications received was to be forwarded to Melbourne as well as a list of the cases to be considered by the Local Land Board prior to hearings. Records of a number of Local Land Boards are currently in custody.Once applications had been ruled upon by the Local Land Board, details of those which had been successful were to be entered in the register to be kept at the District Land Office for specific Sections of an Act. These registers contained the same details as in the general application register and then annotations relating to the Local Land Board, the dates of issue of any license and references and remarks. Details may include the dates of the issue of any lease or Crown grant or of entries in the Government Gazette as well as references to correspondence or file management.Successful applications had cards created at the Occupation Branch replacing the registers. One card was to record the details of the application and subsequently, record correspondence and file management matters and the other was to record the payments of rent instead of these being entered in rent rolls.Unsuccessful applications were to be sent to Melbourne, marked with the application number written inside the District Office stamp to be 'Put Away'. These would continue to be available in case of appeal against the decision of the Local Land Board.District Survey Offices and the Lands Enquiry Office in Melbourne could receive applications for any Land District. These were recorded in special registers, without being allocated a number, with the papers then being sent to the Land Officer of the District in which the land applied for was situated this being noted in the register.The system of District Land Offices parallelled by similar 'District Offices' in the Occupation Branch continued, with a smaller number of physically separate offices outside Melbourne. Within the Occupation Branch itself, officers dealt with the business of a number of District Offices with the number of Divisions within the Branch fluctuating relative to the amount of business to be transacted, this in turn being affected by legislative enactments.

自1901年左右起，依据《土地法》（Land Acts）提交的新申请数量持续呈下降趋势。1907年中期，相关部门向地区土地官员（District Land Officers）下发通告，要求自即日起，无论依据哪部《土地法》及其哪一条款提交的申请，均需纳入本系列所收录的单一登记册进行统一管理：该登记册由地区土地办事处（District Land Office）留存，并为每份申请分配唯一的年度编号。登记内容涵盖申请分配编号、收件日期、申请人姓名及通讯地址、土地位置与面积、地方土地委员会（Local Land Board）出具的推荐意见，以及申请的处置情况（即申请被转递至何处或归档状态）。此外，需每周将本周收到的所有申请汇总报表，以及听证会前待地方土地委员会审议的案件清单一并报送至墨尔本。目前留存有部分地方土地委员会的相关档案。待地方土地委员会对申请作出裁定后，需将其中获批申请的详细信息录入专门针对特定《土地法》条款、留存于地区土地办事处的登记册中。此类登记册除包含通用申请登记册的全部信息外，还额外增设与地方土地委员会相关的批注、各类许可证的签发日期，以及参考文献与备注内容。登记详情还可能包括租赁协议或王室授产（Crown grant）文件的签发日期、《政府公报》（Government Gazette）的相关刊载条目，亦或是往来函件与档案管理的相关引用信息。获批申请会由土地占用科（Occupation Branch）制作专属卡片，以替代原有的登记册：其中一张卡片用于记录申请详情，并后续补充往来函件与档案管理相关事项；另一张卡片则用于记录租金缴纳情况，无需再将租金信息录入租金名册（rent rolls）。未获批准的申请需加盖地区办事处印章并标注申请编号后报送至墨尔本，按要求‘归档留存’。此类档案仍可供后续对地方土地委员会的裁决提起上诉时查阅。地区勘测办事处（District Survey Offices）及墨尔本的土地查询办事处（Lands Enquiry Office）均可接收任意土地辖区的土地申请。此类申请无需分配编号，直接录入专门的登记册，随后将申请材料转送至申请土地所在辖区的土地官员，该信息需同步记录于登记册中。由土地占用科下辖类似‘地区办事处’所配套的地区土地办事处体系持续运行，墨尔本以外地区设有少量物理独立的分支机构。在土地占用科内部，工作人员需处理多个地区办事处的业务；科内分部的数量会随待办业务量波动，而业务量又会受到立法颁布的直接影响。