Managing records in collaboration with other agencies
Using collaborative tools for government business will create official records. These records need to be managed and kept as they provide evidence of the decisions and outcomes of the collaboration. These records demonstrate the work which has been undertaken and that participants acted accountably.
What are collaborative tools?
Collaborative tools are software and programs that enable users to connect and collaborate with other users. These tools include Microsoft Teams, Jira, Trello, Confluence, OneDrive, Sharepoint, Dropbox, Slack, Github etc.
Responsibilities of the lead agency
When establishing a collaborative project across government or within a cluster, it’s important that a lead agency is identified.
A secretariat is the team or group that takes care of the administrative and organisational tasks for a project or group. In a government collaboration, the lead agency acts as the secretariat.
This means they manage things like:
- organising meetings and helping team members stay in touch
- keeping records of decisions, actions, and discussions
- making sure everyone follows rules about privacy, security, and recordkeeping
- supporting the team in using the tools to collaborate.
In short, the secretariat makes sure the project runs smoothly and everyone follows the right rules.
Capturing records of the collaboration will not be onerous and in many cases will happen seamlessly ‘behind the scenes'.
The State Records Act 1998 states that the lead agency will also be responsible for disposing of the records.
State Records NSW provides rules about how long records must be kept. Not all records from collaborative projects need to be kept for a long time.
- Some records may only need to be kept for a short time. If the collaborative tool can keep these records for the required period, there’s no need to move them elsewhere.
- Some records, like decisions made by senior leaders or project results, may need to be kept for longer. These records might need to be moved out of the tool and stored in another place, such as an EDRMS, to keep them safe. Lead agencies should ask their records management team for advice on where these records should go.
- If any records are required as State archives, they must be transferred to Museums of History NSW for permanent storage once business needs have finished.
The following table includes some basic advice on what should be kept and how long it should stay. The retention periods come from the General retention and disposal authority (GA28), which applies to all agencies.
| Type of activity | Lead agency to create and maintain: | Retention period for lead agency | Retention period for non-lead agencies |
| High level whole of government or inter-agency strategic planning or policy development collaboration | Establishment of the working group including members and terms of reference | Required as State archives (GA28 1.0.2 or 1.0.3) | Retain a minimum of 5 years after action completed (GA28 1.0.4) |
| Proposals and initiatives | Required as State archives (GA28 1.0.2 or 1.0.3) | Retain a minimum of 5 years after action completed (GA28 1.0.4) | |
| Significant drafts, discussions that contribute to the final recommendations/decisions/output | Required as State archives (GA28 1.0.2 or 1.0.3) | Retain a minimum of 5 years after action completed (GA28 1.0.4) | |
| General discussions that do not contribute to final decision/outcome, reference material, operational matters and administrative arrangements | Retain until administrative, or reference use ceases (GA28 1.0.9) | Retain until administrative or reference use ceases (GA28 1.0.9) | |
| Inter-agency collaboration on operational, administrative matters | Terms of reference, membership, discussions, decisions | Retain a minimum of 5 years after action completed (GA28 1.0.4) | Retain a minimum of 5 years after action completed (GA28 1.0.4) |
| Internal (within cluster) strategic planning or policy development collaboration | Establishment of the working group including members and terms of reference | Required as State archives (GA28 1.0.5) | |
| Proposals and initiatives | Required as State archives (GA28 1.0.5) | ||
| Significant drafts, discussions that contribute to the final recommendations/decisions/output | Required as State archives(GA28 1.0.5) | ||
| General discussions that do not contribute to final decision/outcome, reference material, operational matters and administrative arrangements | Retain until administrative or reference use ceases (GA28 1.0.9) | ||
| Internal (within cluster) collaboration on administrative or general operational matters | Terms of reference, membership, discussions, decisions | Retain a minimum of 5 years after action completed (GA28 1.0.7) | |
| General conversation on routine matters and events | General discussions that do not contribute to decision-making, setting of policies, operational matters and administrative arrangements | Retain until administrative or reference use ceases (GA28 1.0.9) |
If your organisation is using collaborative tools for internal projects, records of project results, like the ones in the table above, are likely covered by your organisation’s functional retention authority.
Ask your records management team for advice on how long these records should be kept.
Contact
The length of time records should be kept depends on their purpose. If you're unsure about any retention periods, contact us at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au.
Related Information
- Digital Service Toolkit from Digital.nsw for more information on delivering digital products.
- Using cloud computing services for more information on risks and management of using collaboration tools