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How to develop retention and disposal authorities
Submitting a retention and disposal authority
Submitting an initial draft for review
| Stage | Who | Action |
|---|---|---|
Submitting draft authority for review.
| Organisation’s senior responsible officer (SRO) |
|
| Review of draft authority | State Records NSW |
|
| Revising or acceptance of draft authority | Organisation’s senior responsible officer (SRO) |
|
Submitting the final draft for approval
| Stage | Who | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Formal submission of the authority | Chief Executive of the organisation |
The template for the standard cover letter is provided below. |
| Submission of authority to Board | State Records NSW |
|
| Approval of authority | State Records Authority NSW Board |
Note: If the State Records Authority NSW Board does not approve the authority, you may need to revise the draft authority, clarify the decisions in it or provide additional information as requested. |
| Issue of authority | Executive Director of State Records NSW |
See implementing a retention and disposal authority and destruction of records for advice on implementing disposal decisions. |
Factors impacting on timing
The process of submitting an RDA for approval usually takes a few months. While State Records NSW endeavours to provide comments on draft authorities within 8 weeks of receiving the draft, this depends on:
- the stage of development of the authority when it is first submitted for review
- the quality of the documentation submitted, and
- how many draft authorities from other organisations have also been submitted for review (authorities are usually reviewed in order of receipt).
The timing of the process also depends on:
- how many changes are required to finalise the draft retention and disposal authority, and
- when a final draft authority is submitted. NSW State Archives and State Records Authority Board meets approximately every two months. The deadline for submission of the agreed upon final draft authority is 4 to 6 weeks prior to the meeting date.
Appraisal by State Records NSW
State Records NSW may consult with stakeholders with expertise in the areas covered by the authority as part of their appraisal.
Approved retention and disposal authorities
The final approved version of the retention and disposal authority is maintained by State Records NSW Organisation may not edit or change an approved RDA. If further changes are needed, please contact State Records NSW.
Details and copies of retention and disposal authorities approved by State Records NSW are available on the website.
Implementing a retention and disposal authority
Effective planning for and implementation of records retention and disposal programs will ultimately save your organisation money in storage and other management costs as well as supporting compliant records disposal practices and activities.
Assess your systems' capacities to implement disposal
An initial assessment of your systems' capacities to administer retention and disposal decisions in a manner that is appropriate to your operational needs and business requirements will assist in planning for and the implementation of records disposal processes and activities.
Consider:
- Can the retention and disposal authorities be loaded into business systems or records management software?
- Can retention requirements be automatically applied to records when they are created or received as part of business processes? If not, what will be required to facilitate this?
- Are systems capable of calculating disposal due dates from relevant triggers? If not, what will be required to facilitate this?
- What business rules are in place to govern the management of records in database or specific business system environments? Do these need to be developed or modified to better support compliant disposal of records from these systems?
- What system generated reports are required to support the management and documentation of disposal activities and approval processes?
Develop policies, procedures and user training
All staff in the organisation, including contractors, need to be made aware that the disposal of records is an accountable process.
Organisations should develop and document accountable and authorised processes for the management of records retention and disposal activities. Policies and procedures should clearly articulate roles and responsibilities with respect to the destruction of records and the transfer of State archives to archival custody or control.
As part of your implementation strategy you may choose to develop a training package to assist staff in understanding the organisation’s records retention and disposal requirements and their responsibilities with respect to the management of these processes.
Download formal letter of submission of a retention and disposal authority template (DOC 36KB)