Codes of best practice are industry standards which codify and describe best practice, and are a benchmark for measuring processes, practices, and systems. They underpin and support mandatory requirements in standards issued by State Records NSW. Failure to comply with a code of best practice would leave a public office open to criticism in an investigation where records management practices were an issue.
On 14 February 2025 State Records NSW renewed the following code of best practice - AS ISO 15489.1: 2017 Information and documentation - Records management, Part 1: Concepts and principles to all public offices covered by the State Records Act 1998.
This code of best practice will assist your organisation in implementing the requirements of the Standard on records management and Parts 2 and 3 of the State Records Act.
A table of commentary is available about the consultation process undertaken with NSW public offices in 2024.
Due to Standards Australia’s strict copyright requirements, State Records NSW is unable to make copies of AS ISO 15489.1: 2017 available via our website. Copies of the Australian Standard can be purchased from Standards Australia.
AS ISO 15489.1: 2017 Information and documentation - Records management, Part 1: Concepts and principles is an Australian and International standard.
It is a concise, contemporary representation of recordkeeping practice, with an emphasis on the digital environment. It defines the concepts and principles to be used in developing approaches to the creation, capture and management of records to meet compliance, business and societal requirements. Information in the standard applies to all records, regardless of format, business or technological environment. The Australian/International standard is ‘digital-ready’ and can be used to guide flexible approaches to implementing records management tools and techniques in dynamically and technologically changing environments. It also represents national and international best practice.
The code of best practice underpins and supports mandatory requirements in standards issued by State Records NSW. Briefly, the code of best practice provides further information about processes, practices or systems and will assist your organisation in understanding and implementing requirements contained in the standards.
The Implementation Guides for the Standard on records management and the Standard on the physical storage of State records include references to the code of best practice.
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