Part 3 of the State Records Act 1998 prohibits the disposal of records of public offices except where it is authorised by the State Records NSW. This permission is given through the approval and issue of a retention and disposal authority (RDA).
The RDA is a formal instrument that identifies the records of a public office and provides ongoing authorisation for the transfer of records as State archives or the destruction of records after the expiry of minimum retention periods.
All RDAs must be approved by State Records NSW Board before they can be issued for use by the public office.
An Excel apreadsheet of RDAs approved for each public office is available from the Records retention and disposal authorities page.
Determine requirements
Contact us at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au to determine your organisation's disposal authorisation coverage and requirements.
Your requirements could be:
- a new RDA
- review and update of existing RDA
- confirmation of permission for ongoing use of an RDA.
Visit How to develop retention and disposal authorities for guidance.
Review and comment on draft RDA
We will work with you to ensure that your disposal requirements are met.
Upon submission of the draft, we will:
- review scope and structure of the draft RDA and justifications for disposal actions
- request additional information or discuss stakeholder consultation requirements
- benchmark against other jurisdiction's disposal actions
- negotiate amendments to finalise draft RDA
This phase can be quite a lengthy process depending on the number and complexity of the changes flagged or requested.
Formally submit agreed final draft for Board approval
We have to agree on the final draft for submission and Board approval.
The final draft has to be submitted by your organisation's CEO or senior executive via email to govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au.
Ideally it should be submitted 4 to 6 weeks prior to State Records Authority Board meeting.
Issue approved RDA
Upon Board approval, we will formally issue a copy of the RDA to your organisation.
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