C16 Territory Records

As part of its ongoing commitment to good governance and sound records management, the Department continued to meet its responsibilities under the Territory Records Act 2002 and related standards.

The Department’s Records Management Program was approved by the Chief Executive in February 2005 and last reviewed in July 2008. This Program is available to all staff via the Department’s Intranet and is supported by regular Records Management training.

In 2009, the Department commenced a program of sentencing and disposal of records in line with the requirements of the Territory Records Act 2002 and the Records Disposal Schedules 16.1. The program began with the disposal of 90,000 student records from the 1950s to 1980s that had reached the end of their legislative retention period.

The Department will continue to dispose of student and administrative records to improve capacity to store and manage records.

All new files are now assigned a retention period and titled according to the Department’s Thesaurus, allowing the Department to put in place further improvements in the management of records over coming years.

Following the Auditor-General’s performance audit into records management in 2008 the Department reviewed the risks involved in protecting and preserving records stored by the Department, resulting in the following actions:
•	moving all archived records to a state- of-the-art storage facility ensuring compliance with the Standard for Records Management Number 7 – Physical Storage of Records August 2008
•	commencing a project to improve recordkeeping support for schools by ensuring the capture and management of records and reducing protection and preservation risks by archiving older records in off-site storage
•	upgrading fire and safety equipment at the records facility to meet standards.

Records Management staff participated in certification training in records management through the Canberra Institute of Technology, and conducted records management training for central office staff and school-based staff.

The Department continues to identify and preserve records containing information that may allow people to establish links with their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage.

Since July 2008, the Access to Records provisions of the Territory Records Act 2002 has provided public access to records older than 20 years. Departmental records that fall within this period have been identified and assessed. Exemptions for some records were sought to protect the privacy of individuals.

To assist the community with enquiries for access to older records the Department, in concert with other departments, funds a reference archivist.

Requests are lodged with Archives ACT through a website and records viewed in joint- funded facilities within the Woden Library. Within the reporting period the Department responded to eight public access requests.

Table C16.1: Records disposal schedules
Name	Effective	Year and number	
Territory Administrative Records Disposal Schedule	May 2003	NI2003-262	
Records Disposal Schedule: Schools Management Records	8 September 2009	NI2009-451	
Source: Department of Education and Training

For more information contact:
Director
Governance Branch
Telephone: (02) 6205 7661