1 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Audit objective Audit had two objectives : The first objective was to review of the management of records by public sector agencies The second objective was to a review of the role of the Public Records Office Victoria, in assisting agencies manage these records

2 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Scope Survey of 100 agencies – Agencies were asked to self assess their records management activities against 7 principles of sound management Detailed review of 8 agencies

3 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Principles of sound management of records

4 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Objectives and policies Survey - 70% of agencies indicated they had objectives and policies Detailed review Most agencies had objectives and policies but the policies: did not cover all agency records or all record formats did not make reference to relevant legislation such as the Public Records Act were not kept up to date were of varying quality

5 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Management and oversight Survey 89 % of agencies indicated that senior management supported records management Most agencies had assigned responsibility for the: Oversight of the records management function to a senior executive officer Records management function to a senior officer. Detailed review Senior management need to do more to promote and support records management in agencies

6 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Strategic planning Survey 92% of agencies indicated that records managers had a good understanding of the business 85% identified business and stakeholder needs 96% identified policy, legislation and other requirements impacting on records management 82% indicated that they had assessed recordkeeping risks 79% indicated that they had adopted a strategic approach to records management 50% of agencies indicated they had developed a records management strategic plan 80% of agencies indicated their strategies included 12 elements of a sound record keeping (objectives, action plans, resourcing, assigning responsibilities, monitoring and reporting, performance measures) Detailed review Agencies have not adopted a strategic approach to managing their records

7 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Procedures and practices We asked agencies whether they had procedures for the following key recordkeeping functions: Capture of records Records classification scheme Metadata assigned to records Access to records Record storage and security Disposal of records Management of agency recordkeeping systems Records held by external parties Transfer of records to PROV

8 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Procedures and practices Survey 88% of agencies indicated they had established procedures 70% of agencies indicated their procedures and practices complied with PROV standards 85% of agencies indicated that staff complied with the established procedures Lowest coverage 58% of agencies had procedures for metadata 58% had procedures for the transfer of records to PROV 64 % had procedures for the disposal of records

9 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Procedures and practices Detailed review Procedures and practices were not developed for critical areas such as: management of s and web information assigning metadata to records The quality of the procedures and practices were variable Agencies did not have current disposal authorities or a regular program to transfer records to PROV

10 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Resourcing Survey Similar agencies had significantly different numbers of staff. The number of records management staff employed by the 30 agencies with between 500 and 1500 staff: One agency had no staff Two agencies had one staff 10 agencies had 2-5 staff 17 agencies had 6+ Most agencies had not assessed their staff needs 33% of agencies considered that they had insufficient staff Long waiting periods for access to some PROV training courses 69% of agencies indicated that it was difficult or very difficult to recruit experienced and qualified staff

11 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Communications Survey Agencies communicate and promote records management through: Training programs – 59% Notice boards, newsletters and presentations – 29 % Intranet – 26% Communications may not be effective, with 25% of agencies indicated that staff were unaware of their responsibilities to capture business s and digital records

12 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Monitoring and reporting Monitoring processes would normally involve: gathering information on the records management function assessing compliance with agency policies and procedures and PROV standards providing feedback on the delivery of agencies strategies and achievement of the objectives outlined in the records management strategic plan

13 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Monitoring and reporting Survey Around 50% of agencies indicated that they reviewed staff compliance with agency policies and procedures and PROV standards 48% of agencies reviewed their progress in delivering records management strategies Most agencies did not monitor the performance of their records management function Reporting on records management to senior management was limited

14 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Major risk areas – Management of electronic records Electronic records, particularly s and web based information is not well managed by agencies Survey 50% of agencies indicated that their electronic systems were not capable of capturing and storing records 50% of agencies indicated records were captured in business systems with record keeping functionality or in special recordkeeping systems such as TRIM However, 84 per cent of these agencies indicated that they print their electronic records and maintain the hard copies

15 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Victorian Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) The government’s plan is to deliver its VERS strategy within government departments in 3 stages Target date for stage one (Establish VERS compliant electronic records management systems) is June This target is unlikely to be met Dates for stage 2 and 3 have not been established. There is no program to make the vast majority of agencies compliant Survey 65% of agencies were aware of VERS Few had developed plans to be VERS compliant

16 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Other risk areas Management of records held by contractors Destruction of records The absence of current retention and disposal authorities (RDA’s) has meant agencies are either not disposing of records or disposing of records without notifying PROV Transfer of records to PROV Permanent public records over 25 years old and no longer required for administrative use by agencies are required to be transferred to PROV for storage. In many agencies these records have not been transferred

17 Auditing in the Public Interest Records Management in the Victorian Public Sector Questions?