What is the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise?
As noted in the Regulatory Framework, State Records NSW conducts annual monitoring of records management and recordkeeping in NSW public offices. The Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise will occur in the first half of each year.
Each public office needs to conduct an assessment using the Records Management Assessment Tool (RMAT) and submit the results of the assessment to State Records NSW. This is the primary way that your organisation is able to meet its reporting obligations under section 12(4) of the State Records Act 1998.
Public office assessment reports give State Records NSW an overview of the state of records management in NSW Government.
Each year, State Records NSW will contact all public offices about making a submission in the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise. If your organisation has not been contacted, please contact State Records NSW for further information on govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au
When is the 2024 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise?
The 2024 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise took place from 1 March 2024 - 5 April 2024.
State Records NSW has advised public offices that we will not conduct a Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise in 2025. This approach is being taken to ensure that public offices have sufficient time to make any changes required as a result of the current review of standards and the Code of Best Practice, which provide the basis for the RMAT questions. State Records NSW will advise public offices in 2025 of the approach to be taken in future Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercises.
How do I make a submission?
State Records NSW has developed a Service Portal which is available via our website. Public offices need to select the Assessment section in the Portal and enter their assessment results.
I don’t think my organisation can meet the deadline, can we have an extension?
If you don’t think that you will be able to lodge a submission by the deadline, please contact State Records NSW at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au.
What should I use to make my assessment?
You will need to download the Records Management Assessment Tool (RMAT) and complete an assessment using the RMAT. The results of your assessment will need to be included in your submission to State Records NSW.
If you have queries about the assessment process or the results, please feel free to contact us on govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au
We are a very new government organisation and don’t have any records that are 20 years old. How do we answer Question 19 about access directions?
Even if you don’t have records that are 20 years old, we encourage each organisation to consider making access directions. More information about making access directions is available from Museums of History NSW website.
Please note that the maturity levels for Question 19 in the RMAT have been amended to reflect the changes to the State Records Act 1998 which came into effect on 1 January 2024.
When and where will the results of the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise be published?
We publish the results of each Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise on our website and in our Annual Report. The reporting will be at an aggregate or summarised level (i.e. by type of public office or by Cluster). No public office will be identified in the reporting.
The State of recordkeeping in NSW, the report on the 2024 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise, is now available.
The reports on the 2023 and 2022 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercises are also available on our website.
Benchmarking information is also available from the downloadable copy of your public office's submission, available in the Service Portal.
From 2023, a scorecard indicating your public office's performance and opportunities for improvement will be sent to the Chief Executive of your public office.
Are there any plans to use a public office’s submission for any other purpose?
No.
The data will only be used for the purposes of enabling State Records NSW to regulate recordkeeping, and to assist us in understanding where actions/guidance/advice need to be taken to improve recordkeeping across the jurisdiction of the Act. The individual public office data will not be shared.
As noted in the Regulatory Framework for the State Records Act 1998, State Records NSW needs to have a clear view of how well each public office is performing against the records management requirements established in the State Records Act and the standards issued under the Act. This reporting to State Records NSW enables us to understand if there is an issue affecting a number of public offices and using that information to look at what advice or guidance may be required to assist public offices.
Will any other organisations be able to see my submission?
No.
When your organisation makes its submission to State Records NSW, only your organisation and the staff of State Records NSW (who are bound by a code of conduct and confidentiality agreement) can see the submission. No other public offices will be able to view or use your organisation’s data.
State Records NSW will update each organisation’s submission with the overall records management maturity score and benchmark data and you will be able to view your organisation's data and its performance against the benchmarked aggregate data.
What happens if a public office does not meet the benchmark in all or some areas?
From 2023, when we have two years of submissions, we will be comparing annual submissions and looking at whether levels of maturity have changed.
If we have concerns about a public office having issues or being at risk of failure, then we will be contacting the individual public office to discuss the issues.
Please note that State Records NSW wants the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise assessments and the RMAT to assist the public offices in improving their recordkeeping performance; it’s not just about reporting to State Records NSW on compliance with the State Records Act.
Published March 2022, updated January 2023, updated September 2023, updated November 2023, updated February 2024, updated September 2024