A panel hand-picked by the government has warned the National Archives may not survive unless its funding is nearly doubled and an extra 200 staff are hired.
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The plea was handed to a review examining major problems with the institution, including concerns by Australia's top historians that sustained funding cuts had led to extraordinary processing delays and abandoned research projects.
The chair of the National Archives of Australia Advisory Council, former Queensland Liberal Party leader Denver Beanland, said the institution was in jeopardy after being overlooked by the federal government for years.
"The National Archives is now in an unsustainable budgetary and resource position and is unable to properly meet its legislated requirements," Dr Beanland wrote in the submission.
The archives has lost roughly 10 per cent of its budget each year since 2014, and has shed 74 jobs since 2012.
Dr Beanland wrote that essential plans to digitise hundreds of thousands of items close to ruin had been delayed and warned there were cybersecurity risks to maintaining records in outdated systems.
"The digital archival records of the Commonwealth are currently fragmented across hundreds of separate systems and government entities exposed to compromise, obsolescence or loss," he warned.
The chair called for an extra 193 full-time equivalent staff on top of the existing 343 and an extra $65 million per year over the forward estimates to eventually reach a near-doubling of its annual budget to $153 million by 2026.
The archives will be handed $92 million this financial year - less than the total grants to the National Gallery of Australia and National Library of Australia but more than Old Parliament House and the National Portrait Gallery of Australia.
The council also noted the archives is the only national collecting institution without a purpose-built home in Canberra and asked for $5 million to explore a new national archives building on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin.
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Former Department of Finance secretary David Tune is leading the review, which has attracted submissions from high-profile Australians.
Former High Court justice Michael Kirby expressed frustration with the archives and a lack of resources, while top constitutional law expert Anne Twomey lamented waiting seven years before documents she requested were released.
The documents were eventually released years after her book on the topic had been published.
The director-general of the National Archives of the United Arab Emirates praised his Australian counterpart David Fricker in one submission.
But other peak bodies questioned whether he was best suited for the role given he was once a top official with the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation. Academics complain the archives is held back by a culture of secrecy because it will not release sensitive historical documents without receiving proper advice from other government departments, meaning embarrassing or harmful information could be withheld.
Mr Fricker confirmed earlier this month that his requests for advice were often languishing in departments for years.
Attorney-General Christian Porter said he spoke often with the archives on whether it had adequate funding.
"I engage constantly with all my agencies to ensure funding is fit for purpose and any adjustments are made through the regular budget process," he said on Wednesday.
"The government will await the final report of the review before commenting on individual submissions."
The Tune Review will be handed down in August.
- SMH/The Age
