Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise
The Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise (RME) is a biennial monitoring of compliance with the State Records Act 1998. Find out more about your obligations for the RME.
What is the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise?
As noted in the Regulatory Framework and announced in May 2025, State Records NSW conducts biennial monitoring of records management and recordkeeping in NSW public offices. The Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise (RME) will occur in the first half of the relevant year. The next RME will be held 2 – 27 March 2026.
Participation in the monitoring exercise forms a requirement under Section 12(4) of the State Records Act 1998. Public offices can meet their obligations by submitting a self-assessment using the RMAT (Records Management Assessment Tool).
RME results give State Records NSW an overview of the state of recordkeeping in NSW Government.
State Records NSW will contact all public offices about making a submission ahead of the 2026, 2028 and 2030 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercises.
2026 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise
The Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise will run from 2 to 27 March 2026.
How do I make a submission?
You will need to download the Records Management Assessment Tool (RMAT) (available in Word or Excel format) and complete the assessment. The results of your assessment will need to be submitted to State Records NSW via the online form available in the Assessment module of the Service Portal.
Further information on using the Service Portal will be available in the Service Portal User Guide [coming soon].
Please contact State Records NSW at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au if:
- extenuating circumstances prevent your ability to lodge a submission by the deadline
- you have queries about the assessment process, or the results, or
- you cannot log in or need to create an account for the Service Portal
Providing evidence to support the assessment
As the RMAT is an evidence-based assessment, you must identify the evidence that supports your answers for each question. You are not required to provide copies of that evidence to State Records NSW unless otherwise requested.
Where RME submissions do not identify the evidence base for chosen maturity levels, we will contact public offices to seek further information.
Assurance will be strengthened from the 2026 RME by the introduction of a verification process on a sampling basis. Verification will allow State Records NSW to confirm the accuracy and relevance of evidence listed in submissions. We will contact public offices selected for verification in early April 2026.
What happens if a public office does not meet the benchmark in all or some areas?
Please note that State Records NSW's goal is for the results of the Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise and the RMAT to assist public offices in improving their recordkeeping performance; results below benchmark should be addressed as part of the planning and continuous improvement processes in the public office.
If we have concerns about a public office having issues or being at risk of failure, then we will be contacting the individual public office to discuss the issues.
Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise results and reporting
We publish the results of each Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise on our website (through the State of recordkeeping in NSW report) and in our Annual Report. Reporting is at an aggregate or summarised level (i.e. by type of public office or by cluster). The State of Recordkeeping report and our Annual Report will include a listing of public offices that do not participate in the RME. In line with Section 20(1) of the State Records Act, State Records NSW may also report to the responsible Minister any non-compliance of a public office with participation obligations.
The State of recordkeeping in NSW report for the 2024, 2023 and 2022 Recordkeeping Monitoring Exercise are available.
Benchmarking information can be found in the downloadable copy of your public office's RME submission, available in the Service Portal.
A scorecard indicating your public office's performance and opportunities for improvement is sent to the chief executive and senior responsible officer of your public office.
Note: A public office’s submission will not be used for any other purpose.
The data will be used for the purposes of enabling State Records NSW to regulate recordkeeping, and to assist us in understanding where actions need to be taken or further guidance developed to improve recordkeeping across the jurisdiction. Individual public office data will not be shared.
As noted in the Regulatory Framework for the State Records Act 1998, State Records NSW needs to have a clear view of how well each public office is performing against the records management requirements established in the State Records Act and the standards issued under the Act. RME reporting enables us to identify if there is an issue affecting a number of public offices and using that information to look at what advice, guidance, or support may be required to assist public offices.
Note: No other organisations will be able to see your submission
When your organisation makes its submission to State Records NSW, only your organisation and the staff of State Records NSW (who are bound by a code of conduct and confidentiality agreement) can see the submission. No other public offices will be able to view or use your organisation’s data.
State Records NSW will update each organisation’s submission with the overall records management maturity score and benchmark data so you will be able to view your organisation's data and its performance against the benchmarked aggregate.