Public offices under the State Records Act 1998

Overview of public offices under the State Records Act

The State Records Act 1998 applies to public sector bodies referred to as public offices.

Section 3(1) of the Act identifies that

public office:

• (a) means each of the following:
  • (i) a department, office, commission, board, corporation, agency, service or instrumentality, exercising a function of a branch of the Government of the State,
  • (ii) a body, whether or not incorporated, established for a public purpose,
  • (iii) a council, county council or joint organisation under the Local Government Act 1993,
  • (iv) the Cabinet and the Executive Council,
  • (v) the office and official establishment of the Governor,
  • (vi) a House of Parliament,
  • (vii) a court or tribunal,
  • (viii) a State collecting institution,
  • (ix) a Royal Commission or Commission of Inquiry,
  • (x) a State owned corporation,
  • (xi) the holder of an office under the Crown,
  • (xii) a political office holder, other than the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, within the meaning of the Members of Parliament Staff Act 2013,
  • (xiii) a body, office or institution, whether or not it is a public office under another subparagraph of this paragraph, that exercises a public function and is declared by the regulations to be a public office for the purposes of this Act,
• (b) but does not include:
  • (i) the Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer established under the Workers Compensation Act 1987, or
  • (ii) a justice of the peace within the meaning of the Justices of the Peace Act 2002, or
  • (iii) another individual or a private sector entity, except to the extent that section 8 applies.