Introduction
Records and information are at the core of government business and are core assets.
In NSW public offices, records and information help organisations plan for and achieve short and long term outcomes that are relevant and valuable to the community, business and government. Records and information:
- drive collaboration and communications
- preserve public knowledge for reference and reuse
- provide the foundation for sustainable and effective products and services
- outline responsibilities
- support decision-making
- document rights and entitlements
- make up the corporate memory of an organisation
- provide stakeholders with transparency around and accountability for government operations.
To support the benefits identified above records and information need to be:
- trustworthy and managed accountably
- readily accessible, understandable and useable
- valued as critical to business operations
- governed by appropriate risk management approaches
- maintained to meet business, government and community purposes.
To achieve these outcomes, records and information must be supported by effective records and information management.
1.1 Purpose
This standard establishes the requirements for effective records and information management. It is designed to assist public offices discharge their obligations under Part 2 ‘Records management responsibilities’ and Part 3 ‘Protection of State records’ of the State Records Act 1998.
1.2 Authority of this standard
This standard is issued under section 13(1) of the State Records Act 1998 which enables the State Records Authority of NSW (‘NSW State Records’) to ‘approve standards and codes of best practice for records management by public offices’.
1.3 Who should use this standard
This standard applies to all public offices defined in section 3 of the State Records Act 1998, to which Part 2 of the Act applies.
1.4 Scope of this standard
This standard covers records and information in all formats, including both digital and physical records. It has been designed to support digital recordkeeping as the NSW Government transitions to digital business processes.
Underpinning this standard is the need to ensure that business is supported by sound records and information management practices. Importantly, the standard has been framed and targeted to support good information practices in complex business and information environments.
This standard refers to both records and information and establishes requirements for the holistic management of records and information. Taking this approach to the management of records and information better reflects the way in which most organisations now manage their information resources in an integrated manner.
This standard is the product of a process to consolidate and streamline requirements from the following standards:
- Standard on full and accurate records
- Standard on managing a records management program
- Standard on digital recordkeeping
- Standard on counter disaster strategies for records and recordkeeping systems
- Standard on the appraisal and disposal of State records.
With the issue of this new standard, the above five standards have been revoked and are no longer in use. These older standards can be consulted on www.opengov.nsw.gov.au.
Public offices should consult the Standard on the physical storage of State records for requirements for the storage of non-digital records and counter disaster requirements applicable to non-digital records.
1.5 Benefits of using this standard
Applying this standard will assist public offices to:
- create trustworthy, useful and accountable records and information in evolving business environments
- ensure that meaningful, accurate, reliable and useable records and information are available whenever required for government business needs
- sustain and secure the records and information needed to support short and long term business outcomes
- enable the reliable sharing of relevant records and information
- automate governance, sharing and continuity processes
- minimise records and information volumes, preventing unnecessary digital and physical storage and management costs
- proactively protect and manage the records and information that provide ongoing value to government business and to the community of NSW.
1.6 Structure
This standard sets out three principles for effective records and information management:
- Organisations take responsibility for records and information management
- Records and information management support business
- Records and information are well managed
This standard also identifies the minimum compliance requirements that apply to each principle.
Each minimum compliance requirement is accompanied by a range of examples of how a public office can demonstrate compliance with the requirement. These examples can provide ‘evidence’ of meeting the requirement but may not be the only way that compliance can be demonstrated.
1.7 Further information
To assist NSW public offices implement this standard, NSW State Records has mapped the requirements of the standard to the guidance and training available from NSW State Records. The mapping is available at http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping. <update>
Requirements in this standard build on requirements contained in a number of earlier standards issued by State Records NSW. State Records NSW has mapped the requirements of this standard to those of earlier standards. This mapping is available at www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/rules/standards. <update>
For more information on this standard, please contact State Records NSW or see www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/rules/standards. <update>
