ISSN 1321-6260
February 2023 - No 157
News
New Board Members appointed to the State Records Authority NSW Board
Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Ben Franklin MLC has confirmed four new appointments to the State Records Authority New South Wales Board.
These new appointments to the State Records Authority NSW Board, which takes on the functions previously undertaken by the State Archives and Records Authority of NSW (SARA) Board, were effective from 31 December 2022.
In 2022, changes to the State Records Act 1998 were made, which created three new positions on the Board including a representative for First Nations culture, a representative for users of State records and a position to be filled by the Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) CEO.
Dr Elizabeth McEntyre joins the Board to represent First Nations cultures, Dr Naomi Parry Duncan joins to represent users of State records and Dr John Vallance will join the board as the interim CEO of Museums of History NSW.
The State Records Authority NSW Board also welcomes the Hon. Justice John Sackar KC to represent the judiciary to fill the vacancy created by the Hon. Justice Geoff Lindsay completing his maximum allowable terms on the Board.
Members of the former SARA Board, Dr Brian Lindsay (Chair), Ms Elizabeth Tydd, Mr Scott Johnson, Ms Amy Beaumont and the Hon. Shayne Mallard MLC have transitioned to the State Records Authority NSW Board.
Mr Reno Lucarini and Ms Jacqueline Feeney concluded their terms on the SARA Board on 31 December 2022.
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Recordkeeping
Assessing your recordkeeping and information management
Each public office in NSW will have the opportunity to assess their recordkeeping and information management as part of the 2023 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise.
The Exercise - held between 1 to 31 March 2023 - gives State Records NSW a snapshot of the state of records management in NSW.
The results of the monitoring exercise will be reported in the first quarter 2023-2024. We will publish an aggregate/summary of results report on our website and in our Annual Report. The Report of the 2022 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise is available from our website.
Each public office is requested to conduct an assessment using the Records Management Assessment Tool (RMAT) and provide a report of assessment results to State Records NSW.
Completing the assessment and submitting the results of your assessment to State Records NSW is the primary way that your organisation is able to meet its reporting obligations under section 12(4) of the State Records Act 1998.
This year public offices are asked to submit the results of their assessments using the new Service Portal available from www.staterecords.nsw.gov.au. State Records NSW will also contact all Senior Responsible Officers for records management (SRO) with further details about the commencement of the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise and using the portal. State Records NSW asks that each public office commit to a comprehensive assessment of their organisation and make their best efforts to submit a response.
To prepare for the upcoming Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise, you should download a copy of the RMAT and make an assessment of your organisation’s records management. Make sure you include information on the evidence you used to support/justify the selection of a response for each question. You will need to list the evidence that supports your response as part of this year’s submission to State Records NSW.
Remember, your organisation’s RMAT assessment and submission in this year’s Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise provides extremely useful information for your organisation on its recordkeeping maturity and conformity with the State Records Act. The information you provide to State Records NSW helps us to build an understanding of the state of recordkeeping in NSW Government and assists in identifying areas of recordkeeping concern which will inform our planning and development of resources for public offices.
If your organisation will be unable to complete a submission within the timeframe, please contact us at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au .
We appreciate your cooperation and participation in the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise.
For queries about the monitoring exercise please contact us at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au
Remember to update your bookmarks for State Records NSW website
Following the launch of the State Records NSW website on 22 November 2022 remember to update any bookmarks you may have created that point to the previous website.
We welcome all feedback to our new email address govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au, including notification of broken links.
Register for the Forum
To register for our in-person forum on Monday 13 March 2023 click here.
This is an opportunity for public office employees (not just records and information management staff) to get an understanding of the key pieces of work that State Records NSW and Museums of History will be undertaking over the next 12 months. It will also be a chance to ask questions and engage on work that directly impacts public offices.
The forum will be followed by tours of the State Archives Collection and the Government Records Repository
Location: Western Sydney Records Centre, 143 O'Connell Street, Kingswood NSW
Agenda:
| 9:00am | Arrive (refreshments provided) |
| 9:30am | Forum: Introducing State Records NSW and Museums of History NSW
|
| 11:00am |
Morning tea Networking Tours |
| 12:30pm |
Light lunch |
| 1:30pm |
Finish |
Cost: Nil. All food is provided.
Please note that this Kingswood event will not be recorded.
We are currently in the process of planning a regional tour to allow those based further away from Sydney to have an opportunity to meet us and ask any questions.
Please email govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au if you have any questions.
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Museums of History NSW news and updates
A year of transition
This year is a transition year to allow public offices and Museums of History NSW to prepare for the changes to Part 4 and Part 6 of the State Records Act 1998 that will commence from 1 January 2024. These changes are:
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Transfer planning – section 32(4) requires public offices to develop plans to transfer records required as State archives into the State Archives Collection
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Reduction in the open access period – under section 50, the open access period for State records has been reduced from 30 years to 20 years. All State records are already subject to the open access period, not just those in the State Archives Collection or required as State archives. The change is that the period will be reduced from 30 years to 20 years and records will become open by default unless otherwise closed to public access by the responsible agency.
The Agency Services team in Museums of History NSW has begun contacting public offices and providing briefings on the changes and what public offices will need to do this year to get ready. The key actions for public offices are:
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For access – review any access directions registered with Museums of History NSW (including previously with State Archives and Records Authority) and identify any need for additional or updated access directions
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For transfer – give consideration to the records that are identified as being required as State archives and gather information about things like: the quantity of archives held by the public office; the format of the records (including digital formats); the description of the records; and when the records are expected to be transferred to the State Archives Collection.
Gathering this information will help you to be prepared for the transfer planning requirements from 1 January 2024. The requirements will be specified in new regulations to the State Records Act 1998 that will be made during 2023.
The Service Portal operated by Museums of History NSW and State Records NSW already allows public offices to arrange transfers of State archives to the collection.
An additional tool has been built to help public offices with reviewing their access directions and making new access directions. The tool recently underwent user acceptance testing and will go live very soon. We will let you know when the tool is available for use.
The Agency Services team in Museums of History NSW has also begun work on a further tool to help with transfer planning. This is expected to be ready by April-May this year.
The Agency Services team continues to provide its business-as-usual services: advice on managing access directions, preparing archives of any format for transfer, retrieval of State archives, series registration and information about Regional Archives Centres.
Please contact us at transfer@mhnsw.au for any enquiries.
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