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Last updated: : 31 August 2007
Note for file: A report on recordkeeping in the Australian Public Service
Preface
Recordkeeping is an essential part of every Australian Public Service (APS) employee’s job. We all have an obligation to ensure that key decisions and events are recorded in a way that captures the important features of a discussion or decision, presents a faithful and accurate account of the key things that have occurred and can easily be retrieved when needed.
Recordkeeping has always been important to the APS, as one of the keys to good government. However, the Management Advisory Committee believes that a sharper focus on effective recordkeeping is timely.
This focus is required in response to the significant increase in the scale, breadth and complexity of records—it is now much easier for us to produce, disseminate and copy records due to information technologies, particularly email—and because of the difficulties associated with concurrently managing paper-based and digital recordkeeping systems.
The Terms of Reference for this Management Advisory Committee study on recordkeeping in the APS are to:
- articulate the purpose of recordkeeping in the APS context, the ‘business case’ for it, and identify the impediments to effective recordkeeping
- explain how record creation/keeping interacts with the Australian Government’s information collection, use and disclosure obligations
- explain how efficient and effective recordkeeping can be achieved in a modern Commonwealth agency, having regard to the increasing scale and complexity in recordkeeping brought about by the proliferation of electronic communications and new electronic media.
This report is directed to a general APS audience, because all APS employees have some recordkeeping responsibilities.
Specialist recordkeeping staff can find more detail in a series of better practice case studies available at http://www.apsc.gov.au/mac>.
Management Advisory Committee
August 2007
