Source records that have been migrated (GA48)

1.1 Purpose of the authority

This retention and disposal authority describes the circumstances and conditions under which the destruction of the original digital source records which have been used as the input or source records for successful migration operations is permitted under the provisions of the State Records Act 1998.

This authority is required because the process of migrating records yields two versions of the same record. The original record, known as the source record, continues to exist after a new version of it has been created by the migration process. In the majority of circumstances, there is no business need to retain both the source record and the new migrated version of the record.

Migration can be a complex process. When dealing with records that support high risk business processes or have long term retention requirements, it is particularly important to ensure the migrated records can be relied on and used in place of the original source records for business, legal and accountability purposes for as long as they are required to be retained. The migration process needs to be appropriately performed and checked before the records created during the migration can be regarded as authentic copies of the original source records and before the source records can then be destroyed.

This authority therefore establishes conditions that must be met before public offices are authorised to destroy source records that have been successfully migrated.

1.2 Scope of records covered by this authority

This retention and disposal authority applies to all source records that remain following the successful migration of records, irrespective of their date of creation. It applies to source records that have been migrated from all forms of business systems, not just those migrated from dedicated records management systems. It applies only to source records where it is the intention that the new migrated copy of the source record will be kept as the official record of business.

This authority authorises the destruction of the source records that remain following numerous different migration scenarios. These are:

Note that this authority does not authorise the disposal of records that have been transferred from hard copy, or paper, into a digital format. The disposal of paper records that have been scanned or digitised is covered by the General retention and disposal authority: original or source records that have been copied. 

See also section 1.4 for details of additional specific source record types not covered by this authority.

1.3 Conditions for the disposal of source records that have been migrated

Approval to destroy the original source records after they have been migrated is given on the basis that the following conditions are met:

1. The migration is planned, documented and managed

2. Pre and post migration testing proves that authentic, complete, accessible and useable records can and have been migrated

3. Source records are kept for an appropriate length of time after the migration to enable confirmation that the migration has been successful. Determination of the specific retention period must be based on an organisational risk assessment.

The Standard on Records Management requires that records are systematically and accountably destroyed when legally appropriate to do so. The destruction of source records after migration must be appropriately approved and documented.

1.4 Records excluded from this authority

The following specific source record types are not covered by this authority:

• Computer back-up tapes. Disposal of back up tapes is not covered by this authority. Routine destruction of back up-tapes is permitted under the normal administrative practice provisions of the State Records Act. Established routines for the destruction or overwriting of backups should be documented in disaster management or continuity planning policies and procedures.
• Transcribed records. The source records relied on for the transcription of the information content of a record into a more accessible format e.g. audio recordings, short hand notes, etc., do not fall within the scope of this authority. Depending on the nature of the transcription process and, where this is supported by documented procedures and quality control processes, disposal of the source records for transcribed records may be permitted under the normal administrative practice provisions of the State Records Act.
• Audio visual analogue records being migrated to digital formats. This authority is not intended to be used as a means to destroy original analogue formats such as analogue film or audio visual formats that have been copied or converted to digital formats. Please contact State Records NSW for advice about the management and retention of analogue audio visual format source records.
• Paper source records where their informational content has been transferred to a digital format, e.g. paper records that have been scanned or digitised or where data or information originally maintained in paper format such as an index card or data entry form is transferred to a database format.

The transfer of index card information in this way is covered by the General retention and disposal authority: administrative records (see entry 12.9.4). Depending on the nature of the business process, and where this is supported by documented procedures and quality control processes, disposal of certain data entry input forms may also be permitted under the normal administrative practice provisions of the State Records Act. Other information transfers of this kind should be covered by relevant functional retention and disposal authorities.

1.5 Status of this authority

This authority for the disposal of State records has been approved by the State Records Authority of New South Wales and may be implemented without further reference to State Records NSW.

1.6 How long is this authority in force?

This authority will remain in force until it is superseded or withdrawn from use by State Records NSW.

1.7 For more information

See managing source records after migration or contact us at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au