Transfer records to QSA

Any public records to be transferred to QSA must be designated as permanent . This is done through a current retention and disposal schedule or a decision by the State Archivist. QSA can accept both physical and born-digital records.

Public records for transfer need to be inactive and no longer required by your public authority for business use – it should be unlikely that your public authority needs to recall these records after transfer.

Physical records

Results from a survey undertaken in 2019 under section 10 of the Public Records Act 2002 indicated that public authorities have in their custody over 100 kilometres of paper public records older than 25 years and a further 2.3 million registers and records in other formats. The volume of public records held by public authorities that may potentially be transferred to QSA far exceeds the physical storage space remaining in QSA's repositories at Runcorn.

Given this limited space, and to ensure QSA safeguard the public records of most potential value to Queenslanders, priority for the transfer of physical public records will be given to those public records which rank highest against the following criteria:

• age–e.g. public records created prior to 1900
• accessibility–e.g. public records that are open to public access or near to being open to public access
• underrepresentation–e.g. public records on topics/regions/public authorities that are underrepresented in the archival collection
• significance–e.g. public records with high political/social/cultural significance
• demand–e.g. high anticipated demand by the community
• risk–e.g. public records at risk of loss or damage due to age, format, or poor storage conditions.

Please contact the QSA Transfers Officer if you have any questions.

Digital records

QSA is now accepting transfers of digital public records from public authorities. Digital public records can and should be transferred soon after they are no longer required for ongoing business purposes to ensure they are not at risk from technological obsolescence, failure or change. For further information on what digital public records can be transferred to QSA, please contact the Digital Archives Team.

Transfer of at-risk records

Under s26 of the Public Records Act 2023, Queensland State Archives (QSA) may choose to direct the transfer of public records considered at risk of loss or damage.

This measure is designed to safeguard records of permanent value for future generations and will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and after consultation with your public authority.

Damage to a public record may occur if a record is changed or neglected in a way that leads to, or is likely to lead to, harm or deterioration.  Records may be at risk of loss or damage due to factors such as age, format, software obsolescence or storage conditions. For instance, hard copy records stored in a facility prone to flooding, or digital records in a system scheduled for migration or decommissioning may be particularly vulnerable. QSA is committed to working with your agency to ensure public records are properly preserved and protected.

QSA will contact your agency and provide a proposal notice for your review if we are considering directing a transfer under s26. The notice will:

• explain why this provision may apply
• outline planned actions
• suggest possible timelines for any record transfers
• offer an opportunity for your agency to share feedback or raise any concerns.

QSA values your input and will consider all submissions received in response to the proposal.

Only after issuing the notice and undertaking agency consultation may Queensland State Archives:

• direct the transfer of a public record
• make a copy of a public record
• provide instructions on how a record should be stored or preserved
• provide guidance on maintaining information management systems.

QSA will not direct the transfer of:

• your active records that are still required for business use OR
• all records older than 25 years.

Records transferred to QSA will still be available for access to your agency via File Issue, ArchivesGateway and the QSA Reading Room (if they are in a fit condition).

As part of the implementation of the Public Records Act 2023, Queensland State Archives will keep public authorities updated regarding this provision.

For more information about protecting your agency’s public records, see our advice on Maintaining physical records, Maintaining digital records, and Risk and disaster management for records.

Have another question? Please contact us or phone on (07) 3037 6777.

Public records with a disposal action of 'retain permanently by agency' are not eligible for transfer to QSA.

If physical public records have certain types of pests or damage, contain active mould or are excessively dirty, QSA may not be able to take them until the condition has been addressed.  Fragile records (e.g. glass plate negatives) or records in poor condition, bespoke or complex digital formats, must be discussed with QSA first.

Digital records affected by corruption, viruses, or severe data loss may prove challenging or impossible to transfer.  Contact QSA for more information or to assess damaged records.

Contact the QSA Transfers Officer to discuss your transfer and any potential issues, such as timeframes, eligibility, condition or packaging of records.

All proposals and transfers are created and managed in ArchivesGateway.

For instructions on how to complete transfer proposals and transfers in ArchivesGateway see the Training and user guides section of the Use ArchivesGateway page.

A transfer proposal will need to be submitted through ArchivesGateway for approval by QSA.

For the assessment of the transfer proposal, QSA may need to gather further information regarding the public records proposed for transfer. This information is crucial for efficient management of the transfer and for decision-making. More information regarding the assessment phase can be found in the “Overview of the Transfer process” section below.

If the transfer proposal is approved, a transfer number will be generated, which should be used as a reference for any further documentation and correspondence.

The records will then need to be listed on an item list template and submitted in ArchivesGateway, boxed ready for transfer (for physical), uploaded to ArchivesGateway (for digital) and restricted access periods set.

Ensure plenty of time to prepare for and manage the transfer is allowed.

If the transfer proposal is not approved, we will explain why the records will not be accepted.

Each single physical transfer must not exceed 400 type 1 archive boxes or equivalent. A sequence of transfers can be arranged if necessary. For advice on how many digital records can be transferred in one single transfer, please contact QSA.