For the Record - February 2024

Recordkeeping

Records Managers Online Forum – Wednesday 13 March 2024

Our next Records Managers Online Forum is scheduled for Wednesday 13 March from 2.00pm to 3:30pm. 
The Forum will feature the following:

• Overview of AI, opportunities and challenges
  • Guest speaker - Dan Roelink, Director of Digital Strategy & Architecture, Department of Customer Service
• State Records NSW - Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise
• MHNSW update on the amendments to the State Records Act 1998
• Update on State Records Regulation
• Updates from State Records NSW:
  • Retention and disposal authorities
  • Public Office Satisfaction Survey
• Questions

Register here  to attend.

Satisfaction Survey deadline extended to 31 March 2024

Help us evaluate our services by responding to the Public Office Satisfaction Survey.

The survey aims to determine the level of satisfaction with the services State Records NSW and Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) provide to your public office.

If you have not already done so, please click here  to take the brief survey. It should only take about 10 minutes.

Your opinion is important, and we appreciate your time.

If you have any queries, please contact govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au

2024 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise

The 2024 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise will be held from 1 March–5 April.

Each public office is requested to conduct an assessment using the Records Management Assessment Tool (RMAT) and report assessment results to State Records NSW.

Completing the assessment and submitting the results to State Records NSW is the primary way that each public office is able to meet its reporting obligations under section 12(4) of the State Records Act 1998.

Public offices are asked to submit a comprehensive assessment of their organisation and make their best efforts to submit a response using the Service Portal available from https://staterecords.nsw.gov.au.

If your organisation will be unable to submit by Friday 5 April, please contact us at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au.

State Records NSW will also contact all Senior Responsible Officers (SROs) for records management with further details.

To prepare for the exercise, you should download a copy of the RMAT and make an assessment of your organisation’s records management. Your assessment must include information on the evidence you used to support the selection of a response for each question.

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 that came into effect on 1 January 2024.

Your RMAT assessment provides useful information for your organisation on its recordkeeping maturity and conformity with the State Records Act, and helps State Records NSW to:

• understand the state of recordkeeping in NSW public offices and
• identify areas of recordkeeping concern, which will inform our planning and development of resources.

State Records NSW will report on the results of the monitoring exercise in the first quarter of 2024–2025. We will publish a report on our website and in our Annual Report, including a listing of public offices that do not participate. The Report of the 2023 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise is available from our website.

For queries please contact us at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au

Machinery of government changes and maladministration risks

The NSW Ombudsman recently published a paper on Machinery of government changes and maladministration risks as part of the Ombudsman’s In Focus series on topical issues for public servants.

The paper is designed to highlight aspects of Machinery of Government (MoG) changes that relate to agencies’ administrative conduct, with a particular focus on maladministration risks to watch out for.

The NSW Ombudsman reminds public servants of the risks and challenges to records and information during MoG changes, particularly with the transfer of records and information between agencies and the disposal of records. The paper highlights the importance of meeting the requirements of the State Records Act 1998 and provides links to State Records NSW’s guidance on Managing records in administrative change.

Retention and Disposal authorities

The State Records NSW Board recently approved the following Retention and Disposal Authorities (RDAs).

• Amendment to Functional RDA covering operations of the Office of the Sheriff (FA333)
• Amendment to General RDA: Administrative records (GA28) to cover proof of identity documents.

PDFs of approved retention and disposal authorities will be available on our website soon.

From 18 to 22 March, Information Awareness Week will promote public awareness of information and improve information management practices across Australia and internationally.

The theme for the week is ‘I’M The Next Wave: Leading the Future’. Further details are available at RIMPA Information Awareness Week 2024: Are You Surfing or Sinking in the Waves of Information Management?  including a webinar on Wednesday 20 March.

Tell us what you want to hear about

We want to know what issues and information you would like to read about to improve your recordkeeping practices. Whether it is through the For the Record newsletter, our website, or resources, let us know what content and information you need to improve the way your organisation identifies, keeps and disposes of records.

Please send your suggestions to communications@staterecords.nsw.gov.au.

Museums of History NSW news & updates

Changes to the State Records Act commenced on 1 January 2024

2023 saw Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) engage with every public office across NSW in preparation for changes to Part 4 and Part 6 of the State Records Act that commenced on 1 January 2024.

A new requirement for public offices to submit a transfer plan to MHNSW under Part 4 s.32 (4) is now in effect. Public offices will need to provide information about the transfer of the State records under their control into the NSW State Archives Collection. Only those records required as State archives in a retention and disposal authority issued by State Records NSW need to be included in the transfer plan.

The Regulation prescribing the information required in a transfer plan is being drafted. MHNSW will provide more detailed information once the Regulation has been published. No change is expected to the fields currently in the prototype Transfer Plan tool, which is available in the online Service Portal Service Portal login.

Public offices have all of 2024 to submit a transfer plan but you can contact the Agency Services team if you have questions and would like to start your planning now.

The new ‘default to open’ provision under Part 6 has now commenced for all State records that are more than 20 years old – regardless of whether they are held by public offices or in the State Archives Collection. More than 80% of public offices have now taken action to register or renew access directions to ensure that sensitive records do not inadvertently become open by default. Access directions can be registered at any time via the online Service Portal at Agency Services (mhnsw.au).

Electronic copies of annual reports

MHNSW is directing any inquiries received about the deposit of annual reports to the information and records teams of relevant public offices to support transfers into the State Archives Collection. Annual reports are required as State archives under General Retention and Disposal Authority GA 28 – Administrative records, class 10.11.1.

Advice relating to the transfer of annual reports has been published to the Agency Services page on our website to support this change, and can be accessed here

If you need assistance or have questions about anything above, the Agency Services team can be contacted via transfer@mhnsw.au