NSW public sector organisations are increasingly reliant on digital records such as emails, web pages, word documents, digitised paper documents and others which are made in the conduct of government business and kept for legal, business and accountability related reasons.

Efforts to ensure the trustworthiness of digital records are in keeping with my commitment to fostering openness and accountability in New South Wales by improving access to information about the activities of NSW Government.

The Standard on Digital Recordkeeping, developed by the State Records Authority, sets out minimum requirements for NSW public offices for digital recordkeeping system functionality and the creation and management of recordkeeping metadata for digital records. The Standard was approved by the State Records Authority Board on 28 August 2008 and applies to all public offices as defined in section 3 of the State Records Act 1998.

Digital records kept in line with the requirements of the Standard will be easier and less costly to manage, migrate and use, now and over time. A standardised approach to digital recordkeeping will assist agencies with tasks such as Information Asset Management Systems (IAMS) and business system implementation and with the identification and transfer of records in the event of administrative change.

The Standard does not require agencies to change existing paper based recordkeeping practices if these meet an agency's needs. Rather it provides the minimum standard for digital recordkeeping where that is the method preferred by the agency for meeting records requirements and achieving business benefits in the online environment.

The NSW Standard on Digital Recordkeeping and guidance to agencies on implementation are available at the State Records web sitewww.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping. A summary timetable for implementing the standard is attached to this memorandum.

State Records also maintains the ‘Future Proof' site, which is dedicated to digital recordkeeping and including a blog and podcast series:http://futureproof.records.nsw.gov.au.

Attachment

Timetable for introduction of the Standard

The Standard aims to provide a measurable benchmark for digital recordkeeping systems and practices within the NSW public sector. The requirements of the Standard will be implemented in phases with full compliance required by June 2012. Public offices will be monitored by State Records for compliance with the Standard and reported on in its annual report. Public offices will be advised in advance of any compliance monitoring activities of State Records.

From 30 June 2009:
For any new ICT systems procured or built from this date (IAMS or business systems), agencies should define whether digital records are required for the business the systems support. If so, it should ensure that, when implemented, the systems have minimum required functionality and metadata and are mapped to the metadata requirements of the Standard

By 30 June 2011:
Agencies should define those digital records that are needed to support high risk business processes using existing ICT systems.

By 30 June 2012:
Agencies should ensure that existing ICT systems supporting high risk business processes, with defined digital records, have the minimum required functionality and metadata and are mapped to metadata requirements of the Standard.

How to prepare for implementation

For new ICT systems, agencies should:

• consider whether the business the systems support requires the creation and keeping of digital records
• define any digital records to be made and kept, and
• incorporate the records definitions and the requirements of the Standard into functional requirements documentation for the new systems.

For existing ICT systems, agencies should:

• consider whether the systems support high risk business processes - for example, business that has a high degree of contact with the public or a high level of government investment
• define any digital records that are required to be made and kept for these high risk business processes
• determine how these records requirements will be best met - for example, by linking the system to an existing IAMS, by exporting information from the system to an IAMS or by adding functionality to the system itself.

NOTE:

The Standard on digital recordkeeping (Standard No. 10) was revoked in February 2015 and has been replaced by the Standard on records management (Standard No. 12). The new Standard is available at http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/rules/standards/records-management