Department of
Corporate and Digital Development

Records and information management standards

Effective management of records and information underpins accountability in the conduct of government business.

The Records Management Standards for Public Sector Organisations in the Northern Territory are issued pursuant to sections 137 and 138 of the Information Act 2002.

Get the following:

Northern Territory Public Sector organisation Records and Information Management Standard PDF (447.0 KB)
Northern Territory Public Sector organisation Records and Information Management Standard DOCX (100.5 KB)

Purpose

This Standard specifies requirements for the management of Northern Territory Government (NTG) records and information. This Standard covers all information assets in any format and in any system owned or managed by public sector organisations (PSO) as defined in section 5 of the Information Act 2002 (the Act).

This Standard assists chief executive officers, senior managers, system administrators, records managers, and all personnel responsible and accountable for creating and keeping evidence of the operations of a PSO.

A record is a piece of information which has been created or used by a PSO to come to a decision, formulate advice, conduct a transaction, or in some way document government business.

Records and information management support business operations and accountability requirements by ensuring the creation, maintenance, useability and sustainability of records and information needed for short and long term business operations.

Principles

These principles specify the core requirements for the effective management of records and information, and must be adhered to by personnel to provide accountability and transparency in the conduct of NTG government business.

  • Governance - effective management of records management systems to ensure the records of a PSO meet requirements of its regulatory environment and community expectations of accountability and transparency.
  • Capture - records are adequately captured and stored to protect their authenticity and integrity as a full and accurate representation of the transaction(s) to which they attest, and can be depended on in the course of subsequent transactions.
  • Discovery - the record can be readily located, retrieved, interpreted and preserved for the duration the record is required to be retained.
  • Security - information security protects the confidentiality and integrity of records through controls on their storage, access and handling.
  • Disposal - records are disposed of in accordance with the Information Act 2002.

These records and information management principles, when integrated into business policies, procedures and systems, will create reliable records and trustworthy evidence of business activity.

Authority

This standard draws authority from Part 9 of the Information Act 2002 (the Act). As required by the Act the standard has been endorsed by the NT Information Commissioner, with the Minister for Corporate and Information Services approving the Standard in NT Government Gazette number G7 of 14 February 2018.

Scope

This Standard applies to all personnel of PSOs as defined in section 5 of the Information Act 2002 unless otherwise stated.

Responsibility

  • Chief executive officers of a PSO have overall responsibility for ensuring that records and information management undertaken within their organisation complies with Part 9 of the Act. (1)
  • Chief executive officers must ensure that their organisation’s annual report includes a statement about compliance with the Act. (2)
  • A PSO must keep full and accurate records of its activities and operations and must implement practices and procedures for managing its record and information resources. (3)
  • All personnel of a PSO are responsible for ensuring that adequate records of the business they conduct on behalf of the organisation are identified and captured in records management systems as soon as possible after creation or receipt of the record.
  • All personnel are responsible for the security and integrity of the records and information they handle in their duties as an employee of a public sector organisation. NTG employees must abide by the NTPS code of conduct PDF (2.9 MB).

Contact

To find out more, contact the Record Policy team.