Christchurch 23/11/ The PRA and Management 23 November 2007 Kate Jones Government Recordkeeping Programme Archives New Zealand

Christchurch 23/11/ Overview Background to PRA Principles & Responsibilities Coverage & Compliance Management and the PRA archiving solutions ANZ’s Support Tools

Christchurch 23/11/ Public Sector Legal Framework Information and Accountability Official Information Act Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act Public Finance Act Privacy Act Evidence Act Electronic Transactions Act Public Records Act

Christchurch 23/11/ Public Records Act 2005 (PRA) Reflects changes in: – technology (electronic records, , web, sms) – business practice (devolution, restructuring, corporatisation eg State Owned Enterprises) – other legislation (OIA, Privacy) Clean slate approach – i.e. complete review of legislation rather than “tinkering” with the Archives Act 1957

Christchurch 23/11/ The Purpose of the PRA Management accountability Democratic accountability Collective memory and historical heritage Good business practice Is Good Recordkeeping

Christchurch 23/11/ What does the PRA do? Framework for regulation of records and archives in the public sector Flexible to handle the diversity of government activities and future circumstances Enabling legislation – not prescriptive

Christchurch 23/11/ Who does PRA cover? Wide definition of organisations covered: Public offices Local authority organisations

Christchurch 23/11/ What is a Public Office? Public offices include: Government departments Offices of Parliament All forms of Crown entities as per Crown Entities Act – Crown agents, autonomous and independent Crown entities and Crown Entity Companies Tertiary education institutions and school boards of trustees DHBs State Owned Enterprises

Christchurch 23/11/ What is a Local Authority? Local authority organisations include: Local government organisations Regional councils and territorial authorities Council-controlled organisations and trading organisations

Christchurch 23/11/ What is a Record? Wide definition of records record means information, whether in its original form or otherwise, including (without limitation) a document, a signature, a seal, text, images, sound, speech, or data compiled, recorded, or stored, as the case may be,— (a) in written form on any material; or (b) on film, negative, tape, or other medium so as to be capable of being reproduced; or (c) by means of any recording device or process, computer, or other electronic device or process

Christchurch 23/11/ What is a Public Record? Public record— Records created or received (whether before or after commencement of PRA) by a public office in the conduct of its affairs

Christchurch 23/11/ What is a Local Authority Record? Local authority record- Records created or received by a local authority in the conduct of its affairs Local authority ‘Protected Records’- Classes of protected records as declared by the Chief Archivist in the Local Government Schedule

Christchurch 23/11/ Recordkeeping Responsibilities The 2 key requirements are: Organisations must create and maintain full and accurate records Organisations must not dispose of records without the Chief Archivist’s authorisation

Christchurch 23/11/ Create and Maintain A public office must create and maintain: Full and accurate records In accordance with normal, prudent business practice Including records of matters contracted out Continue to maintain records in accessible form for reference until disposal is authorised

Christchurch 23/11/ Create & Maintain Records Includes all formats SMS Instant Messaging Telephone calls Water samples Websites Databases, etc.

Christchurch 23/11/ Disposal No lawful records disposal without Chief Archivist’s authorisation Disposal includes transfer of control, destruction, sale and discharge Unless required to dispose by another Act Failure to maintain electronic records is considered disposal

Christchurch 23/11/ Legal Disposal A public office can: Disposal authority - legal permission to dispose of function specific records General Disposal Authorities – issued by Chief Archivist for disposal of common classes of records (e.g. finance, human resources, corporate services etc.)

Christchurch 23/11/ Disposal for Local Authorities Chief Archivist’s authorisation required to dispose of protected records Non-protected records may be disposed of without Chief Archivist’s authorisation

Christchurch 23/11/ Compliance Framework Independent audits Mandatory standards Direction to report to Chief Archivist Inspections Annual Report to Parliament on state of recordkeeping

Christchurch 23/11/ Retain those s!

Christchurch 23/11/ Are s Public Records? Yes! To maintain complete and accurate evidence of business transactions, it is essential to manage all correspondence, including , as records

Christchurch 23/11/ management. How? Ensure that is created, stored and managed in an Electronic Record- Keeping System (ERKS) Ensure identified in recordkeeping policies Educate your staff – management is a user responsibility

Christchurch 23/11/ A PRA Compliant ERKS ensures that maintains its contextual links with related documents has its recordkeeping metadata captured and managed over time can be re-titled to more accurately reflect its context or content can be grouped according to a classification scheme as necessary retention and disposal actions can be defined and implemented

Christchurch 23/11/ What are ‘Archiving’ Solutions? retention systems Vault storage Black box storage IT definition of ‘archive’

Christchurch 23/11/ Advantages of archiving: Managing the risk of inappropriate use Filtering and automated ‘archiving’ Secure, tamper-proof copies Improved discoverability for litigation or Official Information Act purposes (a double-edged sword!) Back-up system for ‘lost’ Reduced storage requirements — elimination of copies of the same message in multiple inboxes Potential for reduced load on servers

Christchurch 23/11/ Why are ‘Archiving’ Solutions not Recordkeeping Systems? Automated classification of content — messages are not reliably linked to their business context Records communicated via are separated from related records in other formats and systems It is difficult to differentiate between business critical, informational, personal, and unsolicited commercial e- mails Generally, only the sender, recipient or an administrator can access the messages, which means that other staff do not know of the existence of potentially key organisational information

Christchurch 23/11/ Why are ‘Archiving’ Solutions not Recordkeeping Systems? II where more widespread access is available, there may be problems protecting personal privacy, especially if personal use is permitted it is very difficult to apply naming conventions to the message to better reflect the content there is lack of control and/or appraisal (selection process) for the records that are captured into the system it is difficult to assign different retention periods according to the different activities documented in the messages.

Christchurch 23/11/ Recordkeeping Programmes management must be incorporated into RK policy Staff must be educated about need to create and maintain records – s included Change management is crucial

Christchurch 23/11/ Successful Management must be managed in an ERKS archiving solutions as storage solutions only management identified in wider recordkeeping policy User education includes management

Christchurch 23/11/ How can Archives NZ help? Continuum Recordkeeping Resource Kit and Website Regular recordkeeping forums Quarterly newsletter

Christchurch 23/11/ Continuum publications F10 F14 Archiving Solutions G6 Guide to developing a Recordkeeping Policy G3 Guide to implementing IT solutions G8 Guide to the PRA S7 Create and Maintain Standard (exposure draft) S8 Recordkeeping Metadata Standard (exposure draft)

Christchurch 23/11/ Any questions? Phone: Continuum Website: