Public Records Act
Standards, policies and guidelines that apply now
While all public authorities must comply with the requirements of the new Act, the State Archivist will not immediately issue specific mandatory standards. Instead, QSA is developing key mandatory standards and accompanying guidelines and will continue consulting with public authorities on those documents in 2025. Mandatory standards are not anticipated to commence until after mid-2025.
The Records governance policy has been re-made under the Public Records Act 2023 and will continue to apply until the mandatory standards are issued by the State Archivist. Requirements in the policy have not changed. However, administrative changes have been made to include references to the new Act and relevant sections, replacing references to “agencies” with “public authorities”, replacing references to “create” with “make” and including the definition of a permanent value record.
The Records governance policy implementation guideline has been converted to Implementing the Records governance policy advice. Minor changes have been made to the Records governance policy assessment tool to reflect the changes in the Records governance policy.
The State Archivist has re-made the Ministerial records policy 236.2 KB) . Requirements in the policy have not changed. However, administrative changes have been made (e.g. to include references to the new Act and changes to definitions).
The State Archivist has also issued a revised Appraisal Statement stating criteria for identifying public records appropriate for retention in the custody of the archives.