Disposal

6.5.1 Records disposal schedules

6.5.1.1 Records and information must be kept for as long as they are needed for business, legal and accountability requirements, including community expectations.

• Records retention decisions are to be based on compliance with legal and governance requirements of the organisation, its business needs, and the needs of internal and external stakeholders, including the wider community.
• Appraisal of records includes assessment of their possible value as Northern Territory archives and their identification in disposal schedules as permanent value records for transfer to the NT Archives Service. (11)
• When records have been assigned a temporary status in accordance with an approved records disposal schedule, the defined disposal actions are the minimum length of time those records must be kept.
• If required an organisation may retain records for periods longer than that specified in a disposal schedule, for example when a legal hold or disposal freeze is in force, however this should be documented in agency policy and procedure.
• If longer retention becomes an ongoing agency requirement, this should be considered in any review of the appropriate disposal schedule.

6.5.1.2 All organisational records, including records in business systems, must be covered by a current and authorised records disposal schedule.

• Disposal schedules should be reviewed when major legislative or policy change affects the regulatory environment.
• Records disposal schedules do not apply to records created prior to 1 July 1978. All such records should be appraised by the Archives Service in accordance with Archives Management Standard Disposal of Government Records Created Prior to 1 July 1978.

6.5.1.3 Records disposal schedules must be jointly approved by the Chief Executive Officer of the PSO responsible for the related function, the Director of the Records Service, and the Director of the Archives Service.

• An approved records disposal schedule permits a PSO to retain or destroy its records in accordance with the Information Act. (12)
• Determining the retention or destruction of records requires a thorough and systematic analysis of the regulatory environment the organisation operates within and of the business activities it conducts against all records to identify minimum retention periods.
• The process to develop a records disposal schedule requires consultation between business unit managers and records managers from within the PSO, supported by advice from the Records and Archives Services.

6.5.2 Short-term and transitionary records

6.5.2.1 PSOs must dispose of short-term or transitory records.

• Short-term or transitory records include: background notes; office messages; meeting requests; deliberative drafts of reports; and documents and briefs with no significant impact upon the final product or decision.
• Destruction of these records is permitted because they are duplicated or incorporated into records captured elsewhere, or are for short-term use only, and have little or no evidential or historical value. This routine destruction of ephemeral and facilitative information is referred to as normal administrative practice.
• Destruction of records of this nature, which have been captured into a records management system requiring the definition of a disposal class, is permissible using the Disposal Schedule for Records of Short Term Value. (13)

6.5.3 Disposal of records

6.5.3.1 PSOs must dispose of records and information in accordance with the provisions of the Information Act and be able to prove such action has been performed with due regard to the business, legal and governance requirements, as well as community expectations. (14)

• Implementation of the provisions of a disposal schedule (sentencing records for destruction or transfer) needs to be approved, systematic, planned and documented.
• Where records are sentenced for transfer to the NT Archives Service, standards and procedures issued by the NT Archives Service are to be followed.
• Whatever the format of records due for destruction, the appropriate level of security for the records is to be observed until they are completely destroyed. Destruction certificates or other evidence of destruction are to be obtained and retained by the PSO.
• The PSO is to ensure that whenever destruction is permitted by a current and authorised records disposal schedule, all copies and versions of official records are properly destroyed and are not recoverable (including electronic versions of records held in the organisation’s information back-up practices). (15)
• A PSO should ensure suitably qualified and experienced personnel manage the records disposal processes across the organisation. All personnel are to be trained in their responsibilities relating to the retention and disposal of records.

6.5.3.2 PSOs must implement procedures to ensure that records subject to a disposal freeze, discovery order or legal hold are identified and marked to ensure they are not destroyed.

• Destruction of records in accordance with approved records disposal schedules may be suspended as a result of a legal hold or disposal freeze for records which may be, or are likely to become, the subject of investigation or litigation. (16)

6.5.3.3 All records disposal actions must be approved, fully documented and captured in the RMS.

6.5.4 Archives

6.5.4.1 Permanent records deemed to be archives must be transferred to the Archives Service in compliance with an approved current Records Disposal Schedule.

• The Archives Service issues Standards for the management of archives and permanent records, including the transfer of permanent records to the Archives Service. (17)