D4 Territory Records Act 2002

The Directorate continued its commitment to delivering good governance and compliant records management practices in accordance with the Territory Records Act 2002 and related standards.

Internal Audit of Records Management in Schools

In November 2013, an internal audit of records management in schools began; this included the testing of 115 student records across 10 schools during the course of the internal audit. The final report is expected to be completed in the 2014-15 reporting period.

Records Management Program and Procedures

The Directorate's Records Management Program review was a focus this year. The revised document was drafted in line with the Territory Records Office Model Records Management Program and was divided into five sections: Introduction; Policy; Procedures; Business systems; and Appendices. The drafting process was in its final stages of development at the end of the reporting period, with the policy complete, the business systems identified and the procedures that were reviewed and/or developed being finalised. The new program will be much easier to read and provide better records management support to staff. Until the endorsement of the new program, the current program is available to all staff via the Directorate's Intranet and is further supported by regular records management training.

Storage Arrangements

The Directorate had a contract with the offsite storage provider Grace Records Management. This arrangement supported the Directorate in meeting its legislative requirements regarding compliant records storage standards as defined in the Territory Records Standard - Number 7: Physical Storage of Records. Work is underway to vary the contract to allow for a further extension so that the Directorate is covered until an anticipated whole of government tender takes place.

Records Management Training

The Directorate continued to offer two comprehensive records management training workshops per month. Workshops were attended by 71 staff during the reporting period. Other initiatives that were explored were compulsory training for new employees; records management to be included in employees' duty statements; the inclusion of records management in the biannual School Compliance Report; and improved records references available for staff on the Intranet.

Records Management Practices

Best practice records management remained a focus for the Directorate. The number of records registered rises steadily each year, with the 2013-14 financial year resulting in almost 45,000 records created. The final figure for 2012-13 was 85,155. The 2012-13 figure was high due to the impact of the Student Records Archiving Project, which was completed at the end of the 2012-13 financial year. The Student Records Archiving Project commenced to reduce the quantity of unregistered records held on-site at schools; this project was highly successful with 41,846 records registered as files and archived.

Work continued to identify and preserve records relating to people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent so that people can establish links with their heritage. Specific inclusion in the records management policy and procedures as well as training workshops was made to ensure greater awareness of the Directorate's need to preserve and manage these records. Records identified as being able to establish links with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage were classed under a separate Records Disposal Schedule that came into effect from 25 March 2011 -  Territory Records (Records Disposal Schedule – For preserving records containing information that may allow people to establish links with their Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage) Approval 2011 (No 1) .

Public Access

Since July 2008, the Access to Records provisions of the Territory Records Act 2002 provided public access to records older than 20 years. Directorate records that are older than 20 years were identified and assessed. Requests were lodged with Archives ACT through their website and records viewed in
joint-funded facilities, within the Woden Library. The Directorate received 10 public access requests in 2013-14.

Records Disposal

As part of the Territory Records Office's 2013-14 Records Disposal Schedule Review Program, the Directorate worked closely with the Territory Records Office and the appropriate stakeholders within the Directorate to agree upon and implement changes to the Student Administration, Student Services and Training and Vocational Education disposal schedules. In November 2013 work began on the development of a new records disposal schedule dealing specifically with the management of students. This new disposal schedule, once fully developed, will take the place of four existing schedules. These changes are expected to be implemented in the 2014-15 reporting period.

Table D4.1: Records disposal schedules used by the Directorate

Source: ACT Legislation Register.

For further information contact:
Chief Information Officer
Organisational Integrity
(02) 6205 6749