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Last updated: : 31 August 2007
Note for file: A report on recordkeeping in the Australian Public Service
Case studies
‘Keep the Knowledge’—The Australian Bureau of Statistics
Key points
- ABS understands the legislative and business requirements for creating records as evidence of its activities.
- ABS uses a risk-based approach to its recordkeeping.
- ABS has created a recordkeeping culture through effective training, and configuring it systems to support automated recordkeeping.
Agency Facts
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is Australia's official statistical organisation. It mission is to assist and encourage informed decision-making, research and discussion within governments and the community, by leading a high quality, objective and responsive national statistical service.
ABS has 3800 staff operating in all capital cities around Australia.
The principal legislation determining the functions and responsibilities of the Australian Bureau of Statistics are the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975 and the Census and Statistics Act 1905. There are provisions in the Census and Statistics Act 1905 which impact on the management and access to the Bureau’s statistical data as Commonwealth records and the agency has chosen to frame its recordkeeping and data retention policies around a general business and statistical business divide.
Approach to Recordkeeping
As of the 1 st January 2006 the agency declared itself to be a digital recordkeeping environment. Within this environment ABS policy dictates that paper is only retained where a specific legislative, evidence, business reason or risk requires it. In practice this translates to the continuing retention of official personnel files and some contract documents which are retained for evidentiary purposes. The contract documents are maintained as a portfolio rather than files.
ABS’ approach to recordkeeping is heavily influenced by ideas framed in a 1993 APS study into the management of electronic documents1 and the agency has had three attempts at electronic recordkeeping, learning from each experience. To achieve its recordkeeping objectives the agency has configured its desktop productivity tools and storage spaces to achieve automatic recordkeeping. The approach is risk-based, cost-effective and lifts the recordkeeping burden from staff.
The Bureau’s preference is to manage information in the places where it is created and the agency has learnt from experience that the scale of the modern working environment means moving content to other storage systems significantly diminishes its usefulness and retrievability. Consequently, the agency is presently trying to influence its desktop software provider to provide records management capabilities within its application.
The Corporate File (ABS’ records archive) manages captured records at a broad rather than detailed level of records classification (a bucket approach to recordkeeping). At a simple level this has had the effect of creating a growing store of records to be managed (currently 560,000 records with the potential to harvest over 5 million). If business systems are included i.e. Personnel, Finance, website, etc. the number of records to be managed is in the tens of millions.
Within its recordkeeping system records are also managed as ‘linked item’ (used in preference to numbered/named files), category and repository or application level as well as through the Business Classification Scheme developed via DIRKS. This is a very different approach to most organisations but the agency has found it facilitates retrieval and provides context around any set of information or records retrieved.
Policy and Strategy
The agency’s Object Management Policy, adopted in 1993, formalised a strategy to support collaboration, information sharing and recordkeeping and divided the ABS information environment into three domains—Corporate—Workgroup—Personal.
Figure 1: ABS information domains
ABS encourages staff to undertake work-related duties in the Workgroup and Corporate domains as this enables the records they create to be managed as corporate assets. Within the Corporate and Workgroup domains the majority of content is open, with the agency “securing only what needs to be secured”.
When employees work in the Corporate and Workgroup domains their recordkeeping responsibilities are automatically undertaken on their behalf through the provision of “records management enabled” work places.
Enabling automatic recordkeeping has become a key strategy in capturing the outputs and processes undertaken by ABS staff employees and is a key technique in retaining corporate memory. The strategy minimises duplication of content within the information environment and has resulted in a series of well managed high-value corporate information repositories (including the agency’s archive – the Corporate File).
Content created in the Personal domain (essentially personal email and items created on personal, network or hard drives) IS NOT automatically records managed and is considered to be managed under Normal Administrative Practice (NAP). The agency provides a set of tools and a range of incentives to encourage migration of any content of value to the “records managed” domains.
Future Directions
For the present the agency is prepared to accept the risk of growing its archive as it waits for the capability of its recordkeeping staff and technology to synchronise. The agency is currently investigating auto-classification tools that will assist professional recordkeeping staff identify and categorise material in its ‘buckets’ to the required recordkeeping levels. These tools will enable the agency to manage the large amounts of records it needs to manage.
Specific Better Practices
Provision of email at the role based workgroup level. This allows staff to decide if the content is work-related or personal. The decision to recordkeep, or not, is made by simply deciding in which domain to work i.e. workgroup or personal.
“Keep the Knowledge”—a quirky short recordkeeping interactive which explains to staff their recordkeeping responsibilities and how they can meet them. A ten question quiz tests and confirms the messages delivered in the interactive. This interactive is part of the induction process for all staff.
Popularising a set of knowledge behaviours which encourage staff to create information that can be used and shared. These behaviours are tailored to support the requirements of each domain.
On leaving the ABS staff are also required to confirm (one of the few paper documents they ever sign) that they have moved any relevant material in their Personal space into the Workgroup or Corporate Domain from can be automatically records managed.
ABS operates a cost-recovery model for IT services and storage. The archive and the process of transferring material are corporately funded in order to encourage workgroups to transfer material. Material lodged in the archive is preserved in the context in which it was created and remains linked to its original workgroup.
Resourcing
Four staff support recordkeeping in ABS (2.2 FTE in the recordkeeping function and 0.5 IT staff). The in-house developed recordkeeping system, the Corporate File, is embedded in the desktop productivity tools and storage spaces.
For further information on the recordkeeping practices in the Australian Bureau of Statistics please contact:
Tania Hughes
Manager, Recordkeeping
Phone: 02 6252 5564
1 Information Exchange Steering Committee, Management of Electronic Documents in the Australian Public Service—a Report prepared by the IESC's Electronic Data Management Subcommittee, 1993
