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Background
This guidance from State Records NSW relates to securing and storing physical records.
The State Records Act 1998 (NSW) specifically addresses the importance of protecting records. Section 11 provides that "Each public office must ensure the safe custody and proper preservation of the State’s records that it has control of."
To support this requirement, the revised Standard on the physical storage of State records (issued 2025) sets out the minimum compliance requirements for storing State records with a physical format. The standard applies to records created and maintained by contractors and service providers on behalf of public offices in the course of outsourced government business.
Summary
The guidance below is designed to:
- help public offices implement the requirements of the Standard on the physical storage of State records and
- guide public offices in decisions and actions for storing State records.
The guidance ensures that:
- storage is cost-effective and efficient
- all records are secure, protected and accessible for as long as they are required, to meet business and accountability needs, and that
- all records identified as State archives are stored in the best conditions possible.
The guidelines contain recommendations only. If a public office wishes to meet the compliance requirements in the Standard in other ways, they may do so.