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Last updated: March 2008
Management and use of Government information
Archives Act
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The Archives Act 1983 sets out the regulatory framework for the management of Commonwealth records. It governs decisions about whether records are kept, destroyed or transferred to the National Archives of Australia and it establishes a general right of public access to records that are more than 30 years old.
Under the Act, it is a criminal offence for any person (including an agency head) to alter, damage, or destroy or otherwise dispose of, or transfer ownership or custody of, a Commonwealth record unless:
- the Archives gives permission
- the action taken is required by law
- the disposal is a normal administrative practice that the Archives has not disapproved
or - it is to return the records to the rightful custody of the Commonwealth.
