ISSN 1321-6260
June 2024 - No 165
Recordkeeping
New Circular – Managing Records in NSW Government
On 11 June 2024 the Premier’s Department issued C2024-02 Managing Records in NSW Government, following from the review of all circulars after the change of government.
The Circular highlights that records are at the core of government business and are valuable assets. You may find it helpful to refer to the mandatory requirements of the Circular in promoting good recordkeeping within your public office.
The Circular:
- emphasises the need for all staff to be aware of their responsibilities under the State Records Act 1998 to make and keep records of their work, including consciously documenting conversations, meetings and decisions
- describes how records are in any format, including digital records stored in network servers or in the cloud
- provides guidance on determining how long to keep records, in line with Retention and Disposal Authorities issued by State Records NSW
- provides guidance on transferring records identified as State archives to the State Archives Collection, and the new requirement for public offices to submit a transfer plan to Museums of History NSW by the end of 2024.
There is a range of guidance on our website and the Museums of History NSW website which can help your organisation to create, manage, store and dispose of records correctly.
2024 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise
Thank you to all the public offices that participated in this year’s Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise. We will publish the “2024 State of Recordkeeping in NSW Public Sector” report on our website by the end of July. The report will provide the overall records management maturity score for the jurisdiction as well as summary level information about the results of each question. The report will also list the public offices that did not make a submission to the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise.
We will also update information in the Service Portal to enable public offices to review their overall maturity score in their 2024 assessment against the overall performance of the jurisdiction.
For public offices that participated in the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise, scorecards benchmarking performance against whole‑of‑government results will be sent to Chief Executives and Senior Responsible Officers (SRO) by the end of August.
If your organisation has – or expects to have – a new Chief Executive or SRO, please let us know their contact details at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au.
2025 planning year for Monitoring Exercise
We would like to give public offices advance notice that we will not conduct a Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise (RME) in 2025.
The main reasons for this are:
- during the rest of 2024 we will be conducting consultation with public offices on drafts of revised standards and the revised code of best practice (see article in this edition of For the Record). Subject to the consultation outcomes, public offices may need some time to implement any changes flowing from the revised instruments. This may make the usual RME timetable unworkable
- the Records Management Assessment Tool (RMAT) will need to be updated to reflect the revised standards. We won’t be able to provide the updated tool until late this year or early in 2025. This would hinder preparation by public offices for an RME on the usual timetable
- the results of the annual RMEs to date have highlighted that many public offices are working on improvements in their records and information management programs, often with multi-year timeframes. After three consecutive RMEs we believe it would be beneficial to allow extra time for this implementation work to take effect.
We will use 2025 as a planning year for the future roll-out of the RME program, reflecting the responsive regulatory approach outlined in our Regulatory Framework. We intend to conduct the RME in 2026 and will provide more information early next year about the approach for 2026 and future years.
We encourage all public offices to continue implementing improvements in their records and information management programs and to voluntarily use the RMAT to conduct regular assessments of records management in areas of business which are high risk or high value.
If you have any concerns or queries about the RME program, please contact us at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au.
Satisfaction Survey key findings
Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer the joint State Records NSW and Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) Public Office Satisfaction Survey.
The survey was completed by 33 respondents, with 76% of respondents from NSW Government agencies (including 6% from Local Health Districts) and 24% from local government.
The majority of respondents reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of advice or service provided by the State Records NSW and MHNSW teams. This positive rating was also reflected in how likely participants were to recommend the teams for recordkeeping advice.
The survey highlighted a number of areas for improvement, including:
- difficulty finding information due to website navigation and organisation
- limited and unreliable search functionality
- relationship between the MHNSW and the State Records NSW website
- missing content from the old website (such as the training modules)
- need for more contemporary advice on managing digital records (such as Artificial Intelligence)
- difficulties using the service portal to transfer records.
How we are responding to the survey findings
- Website improvements: The State Records NSW website will become part of the whole‑of‑government nsw.gov.au website to create a customer‑centric digital experience, with a focus on improving usability and findability (see article in this edition of For the Record about the OneCX Program)
- eLearning refresh: The entire suite of eLearning modules has been updated and refreshed and will begin targeted user testing in coming weeks (see article in this edition of For the Record)
- Record Managers Forum topics: Future Record Managers Forum will reflect the topics and priorities identified in the survey
State Records NSW has joined the OneCX Program
State Records NSW has joined with the Department of Customer Service (DCS) on a project to migrate to the nsw.gov.au website under the OneCX Program , with a target “go-live date” at the end of October 2024.
OneCX aims to make it easier for users to find and use NSW Government information and services by: focusing on user journeys centred around customer needs, not the structures of government; offering an improved search function and consistent user experience; and using data insights for continuous improvement.
We are working closely with the DCS team to tailor our web presence and content to your specialised needs as public office employees and records and information managers, and to deliver improved navigation and usability.
The migration will include significant review and refresh of existing content.
The Public Sector Advisory Committee (PSAC) has already provided input to initial development work on improving the website information architecture (IA) and content categories and we will keep you informed throughout the transition process.
eLearning refresh
Over the past few months, we have been working intensively with a specialist eLearning provider to refresh our suite of eLearning modules.
The content and design of the modules has now been updated to reflect the current regulatory framework and eLearning best practices. We will soon carry out some targeted user testing – please let us know if you would like to participate via govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au.
We will provide further details on using the modules once they have been published.
Consultation on draft standards and Code of Best Practice
The State Records Act 1998 requires State Records NSW to keep standards and codes of best practice under review (section 13(4)), and to consult with public offices regarding any proposed standards or codes of best practice (section 13(3)).
Generally, standards and codes of best practice have a five-year cycle before they are reviewed. The Standard on records management, the Standard on the physical storage of State records and the Code of Best Practice (AS ISO 15489.1: 2017) have now been in operation for over 5 years. In 2023 we consulted with public offices seeking your feedback on the existing Standard on the physical storage of State records and Standard on records management. We have used your feedback and developments in national best practice in revising the standards.
Codes of best practice are industry standards which codify and describe best practice, and are a benchmark for measuring processes, practices and systems. Codes of best practice provide further information about processes, practices or systems, and underpin and support mandatory requirements in standards issued by State Records NSW. In 2018 the State Archives and Records Authority issued AS ISO 15489.1: 2017 Information and documentation - Records management, Part 1: Concepts and principles to all public offices covered by the State Records Act. State Records NSW proposes to renew AS ISO 15489.1: 2017 as the code of best practice.
We will contact all public offices in late July as part of our consultation process, seeking your comments on the revised standard on storage and the proposal to renew the Code of Best Practice. Consultation on a revised standard on records management will take place later in the year.
Retention and disposal authorities
The State Records NSW Board recently approved Retention and Disposal Authorities (RDAs) for:
- Legal Profession Admissions Board (revised)
- Rural Fire Service (revised)
- Primary Industries and Mining (revised)
These disposal authorities will be made available over the coming weeks on the website from the main Retention and Disposal authority page. A listing of approved disposal authorities is available on our website, including a directory of the disposal authorities that can be used by each public office.
Medical Certificates
An amendment has been made to General retention and disposal authority: administrative records (GA28) for records documenting applications for sick leave from employees.
A note was added to the entry to provide clarification that medical certificates can be sighted and returned provided that a record is made that the certificate was sighted. If a risk assessment indicates that certificates should be retained, then public offices may do so.
This amendment will also be made available on the website in the coming weeks.
For further advice regarding medical certificate retention please view our guidance.
Museums of History NSW updates
Records Managers Forum on Transfer Plans
A special Records Managers Forum was held on 24 May 2024, dedicated to the new requirement for public offices to submit Transfer Plans. The recording of the session has now been published to the Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) Agency Services webpage: Records Managers Online Forum- 24 May 2024.
Please see our FAQs page for further information on Transfer Plans and please don’t hesitate to contact the Agency Services team via transfer@mhnsw.au if you have further questions.
Retirement of OpenGov NSW
The OpenGov NSW site has been retired and the upload of additional material is no longer possible.
The site is in the process of being deactivated and its current contents are being preserved online. When this process is complete, www.opengov.nsw.gov.au will redirect to the inactive site which will have all its current contents.
For electronic publications that are required as State archives, such as Annual Reports, transfer into the State Archives Collection will be via the usual transfer processes. Information is available on the MHNSW website regarding the transfer of digital records into the State Archives Collection at Transferring State archives.
Specific advice relating to the transfer of Annual Reports has been published to the Agency Services page on the MHNSW website to support this change and can be accessed here.
Please contact the Agency Services team via
transfer@mhnsw.au if you have any questions regarding the transfer of digital records into the State Archives Collection.
First Nations Community Access to Archives
We acknowledge the incredible work that local communities are doing to reclaim and revitalise First Nations languages across NSW. In support of this work, MHNSW, in partnership with the Aboriginal Languages Trust, has begun an exciting initiative to unearth First Nations language, culture and heritage materials in the State Archives Collection, and prepare these for community access.
Join the webinar on Friday 5 July to learn more about the project's journey of storytelling, truth-telling and revitalisation. Register online to receive your link.
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