Purpose
The purpose of retention and disposal authorities is to identify those records (all formats) created and received by NSW public offices which are required as State archives and to provide approval for the destruction of certain other records created and received by NSW public offices, after minimum retention periods have been met.
The approval for disposal is given under the provisions of the State Records Act 1998 only and does not override any other obligations of a public office to retain records.
Part 3 (Protection of State Records) of the Act provides that records are not to be disposed of without the consent of the State Records Authority NSW (State Records NSW) with certain defined exceptions. These exceptions include:
- an action of disposal which is positively required by law. This includes records retention and disposal authorities issued by State Records NSW and other legislation that requires the destruction of records. The State Records Regulation 2024 Schedule 1 lists some of the legislation that authorises the destruction of records.
- an action of disposal which takes place in accordance with a normal administrative practice (NAP) of the State Records Regulation of which State Records NSW does not disapprove.
The retention and disposal of State records
Retention and disposal authorities establish how long different classes of records generated by a public office must be kept to meet its legal, operational and other requirements, and whether the records are required as State archives.
Authorities identify some records as State archives. These are records which document the authority and functions of Government, its decision-making processes and the implementation and outcomes of those decisions, including the nature of their influence and effect on communities, environment and individual lives. Criteria for the identification of State archives are listed in the Building the Archives Policy. The Policy also explains the roles and responsibilities of State Records NSW and of public offices in undertaking appraisal processes and disposal activities.
Retention and disposal authorities have been designed to link records to the functions they document rather than to organisational structure (i.e. departments or clusters).
Public offices must ensure when outsourcing that service providers are aware of their recordkeeping obligations to apply relevant retention and disposal authorities.
Normal administrative practice (NAP)
Another means to lawfully dispose of State records is in accordance with the normal administrative practice provisions (NAP) of the State Records Act which allow for the disposal of certain types of facilitative and duplicate records.
Public offices should produce internal policies and procedures to further define what is meant by and what are acceptable NAP for their own organisation. Examples of NAP include duplicates of records, some drafts, working papers, unused stationary. See State Records Act 1998, section 22 and State Records Regulation 2024, Schedule 2.
Records covered by the normal administrative practice provisions of the Act are not included in records retention and disposal authorities.