Retention and disposal of records FAQ

There is no single source detailing how long records should be kept. State Records NSW issues retention and disposal authorities (RDAs) which describe in detail how long various records must be retained. These relate only to organisations covered by the State Records Act 1998. These include:

• NSW Government departments and agencies
• state-owned corporations
• local health districts
• local government councils
• universities.

See Public offices under the State Records Act 1998 for a complete list.

Guidance for private organisations

Private organisations and individuals should consult relevant legislation, regulations, and standards to determine their retention and disposal requirements. They can also use our retention and disposal authorities as a guide, especially for common records like finance and personnel records. If unsure about how long to retain records, non-Government organisations are advised to seek legal advice.

Contractors working with NSW Government

If a private sector organisation is contracted to provide services for the NSW Government, their contract or agreement will include requirements for:

• creation of records
• management and access
• disposal of records.

There is no blanket retention period for email messages. Their retention depends on the business activities they document rather than their format. Emails related to business processes are managed as records, while non-business or personal messages have shorter retention needs.

Managing email messages

Email messages must be managed as business records when they are part of a business process. The retention period is determined by the nature of the business or activity they relate to. Emails documenting important transactions or decisions should be retained according to the relevant retention policies.

Non-business or personal emails

Some email messages, such as those about office events, personal communications, or spam, do not need to be retained for long. These can be deleted in accordance with the organisation’s email retention guidelines.

Voice recordings are considered business records, and their retention depends on how they are used by the organisation. Short-term recordings are kept only for as long as needed for business purposes, while more significant recordings may need to be retained longer.

Short-term voice recordings

Voice recordings used for short-term customer service objectives or monitoring service standards only need to be kept for as long as the business need exists, often a few months. These are covered by the General retention and disposal authority for administrative records (GA28) and for local government records (FA450).

Local government recordings

Local governments often record Council meetings to assist in compiling minutes. These recordings are covered by the Functional retention and disposal authority for local government records (FA450).

Long-term voice recordings

More significant recordings, such as emergency services call recordings, may need to be retained much longer. The retention requirements depend on the agency, the nature of the incident, and whether the recording might be needed as evidence. It is important to check the functional retention and disposal authority for your agency.

Retention of records from social media depends on the purpose, content, or result of the communication, not its format. Agencies must refer to relevant retention and disposal authorities to determine appropriate actions. 

There is no single retention period for social media records as this is determined by the purpose, content, use or outcome of the communication, and not the format.

Agencies should consult relevant general and functional retention and disposal authorities to determine the appropriate actions for their social media records. Disposal classes do not usually specify social media as they represent a format, not a category.

See social media recordkeeping FAQs for more information. 

No.

We do not provide or sell versions for loading into proprietary systems such as Content Manager and Objective.

We do provide Excel and XML versions of the retention and disposal authorities. 

Contact govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au if you require an XML version of any of the authorities.

Yes, all records whether born-digital or digitised from hard copy are covered under the State Records Act and must be retained as per the Standards and Code of Best Practice.

Digitised records

Where the format of records has changed (for example, from paper-based to digital) disposal actions in the authority still apply to the records. The digitised versions of records are to be retained for the minimum retention periods in a retention and disposal authority or managed as State archives.

Where a record is copied (for example, digitally imaged or microfilmed) the original should only be disposed of with authorisation under the General retention and disposal authority – original or source records that have been copied. 

Born digital records

For records natively created in a digital format such as emails, Word documents, database records or created by artificial intelligence (AI) disposal actions in the authority still apply.

Born digital records and digitised records must be authentic, usable and accessible over the whole of their existence. The information contained in technology dependant records must be accessible for the period specified in the classes. Public offices will need to ensure that any software, hardware or documentation required for continuing access to technology dependent records is available for the retention period of the record. See the Digital records preservation policy.

Ensure metadata of the record clearly identifies and contextualises the information contained within to make searching and sentencing easy now and into the future. 

Closely examine the content or title of the record for functions and activities that you can see in the relevant retention and disposal authorities.

Distinguish between functional and administrative records to select the appropriate authority.

All public offices can use the general retention and disposal authority: administrative records (GA28) for common and general administrative records.

For more functional records that are unique to your agency, use the retention and disposal authorities that apply specifically to the agency. 

See what authorities apply to your agency with the directory of retention and disposal authorities.

You cannot use a retention and disposal authority to destroy records if it has been revoked or superseded.

Authorities over 10 years old but are still active should be reviewed and approved by State Records NSW before use. Contact State Records NSW if this is the case.

View the current and active retention and disposal authorities.

Update when significant gaps or changes in laws, regulations, or business needs arise or if the authority was approved over 10 years ago.

See reviewing an approved retention and disposal authority for more information.

If you can't identify a disposal class for a record, ensure you have checked the contents and not just the record title. 

If you can still no longer identify a disposal class that would be appropriate, set aside the record and seek advice from colleagues or your records management team in your agency. If unable to allocate, then contact State Records NSW at govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au.

Sentence each part separately unless interrelated parts require unified retention.

Apply the longest retention period.

Dispose of duplicates under NAP unless they hold additional significance (for example, handwritten notes).

No, sentencing is based off content and not format. Digital records should remain accessible and authentic for their retention period. 

Once the minimum retention period of a record has been met, regardless of being digital or physical, only then can it be destroyed.

To learn more about sentencing and disposal, view our guidance:

• Implementing a retention and disposal authority (sentencing)
• Digital disposal
• Destruction of records

Yes.

Examples of records received in error that we have been asked about include:

• emails or attachments to emails that were sent in error
• a signed petition sent to the wrong public office
• private medical records that were not requested by a local health district.

Records received in error by a public office do not usually meet the definition of being a State record as they do not relate to the exercise of official functions.

They can be returned to sender or forwarded to the correct recipient and deleted from systems as required.

If any of these actions are taken, a record is to be made noting that the documents were received in error and what action was taken. If occurrences are frequent, procedures should be put in place to deal with these situations.

These scenarios can also be incorporated into the public office's Normal Administrative Practice guidelines.

The answer depends on the context. Examples of personal records include the following:

Personal emails

Personal emails sent to a public office's email system are not considered State records as they don't relate to official business. However, they are still subject to the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act)and are considered property of the public office if stored on business systems. Guidance should be provided to manage personal emails on official systems.

Personal records with public offices

Personal records of care leavers, such as birth certificates and greeting cards, often end up on their case files for safekeeping due to their movements within the out-of-home care system. These records are personal and can be returned to the owner.

Personal records submitted to an inquiry

Personal records submitted to an inquiry are considered State records. However, they can be scanned and retained digitally, with the original returned if requested. This practice aligns with procedures for original wills submitted to the Supreme Court.

Records created by a public office about a person

Records created by public offices in the course of official business about a person, such as patient records, are State records and subject to the State Records Act. They cannot be disposed of before meeting retention periods set by State Records NSW, even if they are personal in nature. Section 25 of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 permits the retention of personal information to comply with the State Records Act.

Most records can be destroyed after scanning or digitisation, provided quality assurance is done and digital versions are kept for the required retention periods. The official disposal instrument providing the legal basis for this destruction is GA45 Original or source records that have been copied. However, some records are excluded from this authority due to their value or specific legal requirements.

Scanning and digitisation of records

Once records are scanned or digitised and quality assurance is completed, they can generally be destroyed, as long as the digital versions are retained for the minimum retention periods set out in the approved retention and disposal authorities.

Excluded records

Certain records are excluded from the General retention and disposal authority: Original or source records that have been copied (GA45) and cannot be destroyed after digitisation. These include:

• State archives created prior to 1980.
• Audiovisual records required as State archives.
• Records of high personal value to individuals, such as care leavers’ records.
• Records subject to legal or policy requirements, like letters patent signed by the Governor of New South Wales.
• Records with intrinsic value, such as those with cultural, iconic, heritage, or aesthetic importance.

For most public offices these records are covered in the General retention and disposal authority: administrative records:

• GA28 15.8.1 covers allegations against employees and the records are required to be retained for a minimum of 100 years.
• GA28 19.4.4 covers records relating to the handling of allegations of sexual abuse of children by clients, visitors, service providers and members of the public received by the organisation and notes that they should be retained for at least 45 years from date of the incident.

Public offices with responsibility for children and young people, or receive allegations should refer to their functional disposal authority, e.g.:

• Department of Education - FA416
• Department of Communities and Justice - FA318
• Office of the Children’s Guardian FA362
• Public Schools - FA387
• NSW Police - DA221

The recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that relevant records be retained for at least 45 years have been incorporated into these disposal authorities.

More information

• Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse
• Response to the Royal Commission

Public offices should consult the notes under Property Management in the General retention and disposal authority: administrative records for advice about records relating to claims. Public offices such as the Registrar of Aboriginal Land Claims, Crown Land and the National parks and Wildlife Service should consult their functional disposal authorities.

No.

We do not regulate or approve Business Classification Schemes (BCS). However, we recommend their development and use to help manage records and information within the organisation effectively. Agencies are responsible for deciding whether to develop a BCS and determining its hierarchical structure and terminology.

No.

It is not necessary to align the structure and terminology of a business classification schemes (BCS) with that of a functional retention and disposal authority. Agencies should create an implementation plan to map BCS terminology to relevant function and activity terms in the functional authority.

Mapping BCS to functional authority

Agencies should not create a strict one-to-one relationship between their BCS structure and the terminology used in a functional retention and disposal authority. Instead, they should develop an implementation plan to map BCS terminology to the corresponding terms in the functional authority. A strict one-to-one relationship can make the system cumbersome and difficult for users to navigate.

Streamlining the functional authority

To make a functional authority easier to use, agencies may consider combining terms that have similar retention and disposal outcomes. This can help avoid unnecessary repetition and improve usability.

Updating your business classification schemes (BCS) to reflect current terminology does not automatically require updating and resubmitting the functional retention and disposal authority. However, if the revision of the BCS reveals that the organisation's functions and activities are no longer fully covered by the authority, an update to the functional authority may be necessary.

Reviewing the functional authority

If the update to the BCS is limited to terminology changes and does not affect the nature of your organisation’s functions or activities, you do not need to update the functional retention and disposal authority. However, if the BCS revision highlights gaps in coverage of your organisation’s activities, you may need to revise the functional authority.

Contacting State Records NSW

Before undertaking any substantial review or redrafting of the functional authority, it is advisable to contact State Records NSW for guidance.