Recordkeeping Manual - Retention and Disposal
- What does Retention and Disposal Mean?
- What is a Disposal Authority?
- What can I Destroy?
- Can I Destroy Duplicate Records?
- Disposal Authorities
- How to use the Disposal Authority
- How do I Destroy Records?
- What is a Disposal List?
- Why do I Need a Disposal List?
- Creating a Disposal List
- Seeking Approval for Disposal
- Leaving the University
- Contacts
1. What does Retention and Disposal Mean?
Retention of records is the period of time that a record is required to be retained before it can be legally destroyed. The retention of records varies with the significance of the records, the more significant the record is to the University, State or Federal Government the longer a record is retained for. Records of great public interest can also be retained for a long period of time, if not forever. Staff should note there is no standard seven year rule to the retention of records, the length of time to retain records can be anything from destroy immediately to retain for 100+ years.
Disposal is the deletion, destruction or transfer of the records themselves. A transfer is for example the transfer of records to the State Records Office as State Archives.
Disposal activities include:
- Destroying inactive records using an approved disposal authority, and the items being destroyed in compliance with University Standards.
- Transference of active or inactive records to new owners or custodians due to the significance or importance of the records, whether they are of State or Federal significance or of great public interest.
2. What is a Disposal Authority?
A Disposal Authority is a tool used to provide a lit of record types and the length of time the records are required to be retained in accordance to State and Federal Legislation.
The University Disposal Authority 'Administration' cover's administration record types e.g. Human Resource, Financial, Student Records, Legal etc. The Records and Archives Office will review and update the University Disposal Authority 'Administration' as required to ensure all university records are covered. Updates will be sent to the State Records Office to be approved before they are added to the University Functional Records Disposal Authority.
Other authorities for medical 'Health' and other specific records will also be developed.
Records may only be disposed of in accordance with disposal authorities that have been approved by the State Records Advisory Committee to comply with the State Records Act 2000. You may not destroy records that are not covered within an approved University Disposal Authority.
A list of records due for destruction must be created and approved by the Manager, Records and Archives before any records are destroyed. A disposal list must contain a complete listing of all records that are proposed for destruction along with the respective disposal authority reference for each record. A copy of all disposal lists must be retained as a permanent record of those records that have been destroyed.
Records must be destroyed adequately so that they cannot be recreated in any form and confidentiality of the records must be maintained throughout the destruction process.
Destruction of records not listed within an approved disposal authority also requires authorisation from the Manager, Records and Archives before destruction can commence. The action to take is to send a list of these records to the Manager, Records and Archives with a suggested retention period. Upon receiving this list the Records and Archives office will develop an ad hoc disposal authority and submit this for approval to the State Records office. Once the State Records Office has approved this ad hoc disposal authority, the University Disposal Authority will be updated to include these records.
Approved disposal authorities are available from the Records and Archives Office.
4. Can I Destroy Duplicate Records?
All Areas may dispose of duplicate records, provided that the original of that record is known to exist in the originating/creating department/area and the duplicate contains no meaningful annotations, which would make it an original record. The Records Management Procedures should be consulted for further information or you can contact the Records and Archives Office directly for advice.
The University Disposal Authority has been developed to provide the University with a tool to determine the length of time University records are required to be retained in accordance to State and Federal legislation. It has been developed to match the terminology used within the University Thesaurus, which is a combination of the Keyword AAA Thesaurus developed by the Archives Authority of New South Wales and has added functional terms used by the University. Please note that it includes sections that may not be covered as activities within Keyword AAA, this has been done to assist in the identification of specific records types.
The University Disposal Authority is comprehensive and probably very daunting to the average user, to assist in its usability it has been divided up into its specific sections based on the activity of a subject rather than the broader term, or keyword. An extensive index is included at the end of the Authority for added reference to the different record types that users may be looking for, we recommend all users use the index to locate specific record types.
A disposal authority database will be available online, accessible by most common web browsers:
http://records.curtin.edu.au/records_management/disposal_authorities.html
This authority covers all University records, including (but not limited to) staff records, financial records, student records, research records and teaching records.
The schedule also includes those records that are listed within the State Records Office General Disposal Authorities (GDA), namely;
- Human Resources Management Records, and
- Financial and Accounting Records
- General Administrative Records
Within the authority additional reference points have been used to identify those record types that are covered in the State GDA's. Any changes made to the State GDA's by the State Records Office will be immediately reflected within the University Disposal Authority.
The University Disposal Authority and any other disposal authority/schedule produced for Curtin University of Technology relates to both hard copy and electronic records, regardless of format, purpose or medium. All media types are to be retained for the same periods as specified within the authority, without exception.
The purpose of the Disposal Authority is to:
- Prevent the premature destruction of records that need to be retained for a specific period to satisfy legal, financial or legislative requirements.
- Ensure the identification and preservation of those records that warrant permanent retention because of their archival value.
- Ensure the prompt disposal of those records, which have lost their administrative usefulness, by destruction in a prescribed manner or transference to Archives for semi-permanent storage or permanent retention.
6. How to use the Disposal Authority
The authority is arranged in similar style and categories as the Curtin Keyword Thesaurus for easier retention of centrally held records files, but can be applied to all University records. However instead of listing each Keyword within the thesaurus we have listed the thesaurus Activity Descriptors as these have proved to be more useful and descriptive to the general user.
The Authority also includes an Ephemeral records listing at the front to of the Authority for quick reference to records that may be destroyed immediately after reference ceases.
Each record type listed will have a 'reference' code that will be used as the reference to the schedule itself, in this schedule each code is preceded with a 'UDA' denoting that the reference is within the University Disposal Authority. Within the document, references will also be made to both HR and FR references, these denote;
HR - Human Resources Management Records General Disposal Authority (State GDA)
FR - Financial and Accounting Records General Disposal Authority (State GDA)
AD - State General Administrative Records Authority (State GDA)
A second code, the 'R-Code', defined as the Retention -Code is used as an abbreviation of the disposal action appropriate for that record type.
Eg:Code |
Action |
| A | State Archive - Retain permanently - For transfer to State Archives after 5 years. |
| P | These are not State Archives but will be retained as permanent records by the University. |
| D1 | Temporary storage - retention period in years as a suffix, eg D1 is destroy after 1 year, D12 is destroy after 12 years, D.5 is destroy after 6 months, etc |
When using the Disposal Authority staff are cautioned to read the disposal action thoroughly to ensure they have a clear understanding as to what action can be taken on the records.
An index is provided at the end of the Disposal Authority to assist staff to locate specific record types, it is highly recommended that staff use the index when attempting to identify specific records within the Authority. A database is being developed online that will allow staff to do a search of the Disposal Authority, this will soon be available from the Records and Archives Office website.
The following is a guide to the different sections within the Disposal Authority (see figure 12.1):
- Activity - The Activity is an Activity Descriptor within the University Thesaurus and is used as a reference to group similar records together.
- Activity Definition - This is used to provide the user a definition of what the Activity covers.
- Description column - This column is used to find the best record type that matches your record/s.
- Reference column - This column is to the left of the description column, this is the reference code that advises of the record type and the retention & disposal period.
- R-Code column - you will find information that relates to the retention period of that record.
- Retention column - explains the R-Code.
- Action column - this is the far right column and this describes the actions that are required for those record types.
Diagram 12.1
Staff are advised that training is available on how to use the Disposal Authority in more detail, training schedules are available on the Records and Archives Office website (http://records.curtin.edu.au).
Records may only be disposed of in accordance with disposal authorities that have been approved by the State Records Office to comply with the State Records Act 2000.
A list of records due for destruction must be created and approved by the Manager, Records and Archives before any records are destroyed. A disposal list must contain a complete listing of all records that are proposed for destruction along with the respective disposal authority reference for each record. Refer to section 10 "Creating a Disposal List" for more information on the creation of Disposal Lists.
Records must be destroyed adequately so that they cannot be recreated in any form and confidentiality of the records must be maintained throughout the destruction process.
A copy of all disposal lists must be retained as a permanent record of those records that have been destroyed. To comply with this the Records & Archives Office will retain a copy of all disposal lists.
Destruction of records not listed within an approved retention and disposal schedule requires authorisation from the Manager, Records and Archives before destruction can commence. Refer to section 10 "Creating a Disposal List" for more information on creating a Disposal List.
Approved disposal authorities are available from the Records & Archives Office or at the following web address:
http://records.curtin.edu.au/records_management/disposal_authorities.html
A disposal list is a complete list of items or inactive records where the retention period has expired and therefore the records are due for destruction, or they are now ready to be transferred to State Archives.
The Disposal list must contain at least the following information;
- Department name
- Author of Disposal List and contact details
- Name and Signed Authority from authorised staff member in the Department
- Date of list Creation
- Itemised list of records requesting to be destroyed with relevant Disposal Authority reference
These lists may be created using either a word processor or spreadsheet application. Signed copies must be sent in hard copy to the Records and Archives Office and an electronic copy is to be sent to the Records and Archives Office via email to records@curtin.edu.au
9. Why do I Need a Disposal List
Disposal lists are required to be kept to provide proof of all records that have been disposed of by the University. The list enables the Records and Archives Office to approve the disposal of records due for destruction and ensures that the correct retention and disposal codes are being assigned. If records are destroyed without authority it places the university and in particular the individual in breach of the State Records Act 2000. Staff are reminded that there is an individual penalty of $10,000 per breach of the State Records Act 2000.
Disposal request form are available from the Records and Archives Office website ( http://records.curtin.edu.au/forms.html).
Complete the form that relates to the type of disposal that is required and send the forms to the Records and Archives Office. Signed copies must be sent in hard copy to the Records and Archives Office and an electronic copy is to be sent to the Records and Archives Office via email to records@curtin.edu.au
11. Seeking Approval for Disposal
Send the completed disposal list to:
Manager, Records and Archives
Building 100, Level 1
and an electronic copy via email to: records@curtin.edu.au
The list will be verified making sure that the assigned retention and disposal codes are correct. Once this has been completed, approval/disapproval will be given for the disposal of the records and a copy of the disposal list will be placed on a records file.
There may be times where approval is given for disposal but a request may be made for a sample of records to be transferred to the Records and Archives Office, this is to simply create a history of events for the University.
When staff are leaving the University there needs to be a process put in place to ensure all records, regardless of format are managed, recovered and made available as part of the University record.
The following is a guide for a review of a staff members records that should be completed prior to the staff member leaving the University. The normal processes for keeping paper and/or electronic records as identified elsewhere in this manual need to be followed.
- Ensure all records regardless of format (e.g. paper, email etc) are captured into the appropriate areas recordkeeping system and made available to whoever requires those records to be accessed
- The staff members desktop PC is reviewed and any and all documents on the individual hard drive, or specific users servers space (I drive) is transferred to suitable shared server space for easy access for others that require access
- All electronic records are categorised and classified to ensure others can retrieve the records when needed
- All ephemeral records are identified and destroyed accordingly
- All records that are beyond the required retention requirements as stated within approved disposal authorities are arranged for destruction as per the Records Management Procedures
- Records stored on home computers or other locations are captured.
The Records and Archives Office can be contacted during business hours in the following ways:
Telephone: 9266 7050
Facsimile: 9266 2255
Email: records@curtin.edu.au