State Records NSW

Policy on Records Management

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Rules
Staff are to observe the following rules associated with the records management system:

• All staff are to use the system to document all substantive official business, unless using an authorised specific purpose recordkeeping system. Staff are not to maintain individual or separate files or recordkeeping systems or unmanaged electronic records.
• All formal documents generated within State Records, including outwards correspondence, should bear a file reference number.

Accountabilities
All staff have a responsibility to create records to document:

• decisions
• oral decisions and commitments, including telephone discussions
• meetings, and
• other events.

All staff have a responsibility to capture records into official recordkeeping systems, except records that can be disposed of under normal administrative practice (see Guidelines on Normal Administrative Practice). This means that staff need to:

• capture electronic documents they create (outgoing correspondence, presentations, file notes, reports etc.) when they become records, by attaching them electronically to file in the records management system, in accordance with the user guidelines
• capture email messages electronically into a file in the records management system, in accordance with the user guidelines, and
• capture paper based records, such as incoming correspondence, into the records management system by physically attaching them to a file, in accordance with the user guidelines.

Managing electronic messages as records using the RMS

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One of the most important roles of the RMS is to manage records of business conducted using electronic messaging. Electronic mail has become the primary means by which we communicate for business both internally and with the ‘rest of the world.’

Use of corporate email templates
Where you are sending email for business purposes, you should use the appropriate template - either the 'e-memo' template (the electronic equivalent of the internal memo) or the 'e-letter' template (the electronic equivalent of the external letter). These allow for the inclusion of important textual information such as position titles and file numbers.

Titling your email
In the new RMS, careful titling of email has become even more important than it has been in the past. The title of the message will become the primary means by which you will search for it later on, and should therefore be accurate and comprehensive in referring to the content of the message.

Which electronic messages to capture as records
Under the State Records Act, each public office is obliged to keep full and accurate records of its activities. This applies to all the staff employed by the public office as well. For more information on your recordkeeping responsibilities, refer to State Records' brochure, What have records got to with me?, available from our Web site. Whilst it is important to keep records of the business you are engaged in, it is not necessary to keep everything; guidance on acceptable deviations from the disposal provisions of the Act are outlined in the Guidelines on Normal Administrative Practice, available from our Web site. The criteria for deciding what to keep have been prepared in accordance with these guidelines.

Generally speaking, electronic messages should be captured into the corporate recordkeeping system when they:

• approve or authorise actions
• constitute formal communications between staff eg. memos relating to official business
• signify a policy change or development
• relate to significant projects or activities being carried out
• contain advice or provide guidance
• constitute formal communications between staff and outside recipients about official business, or
• facilitate an ongoing project or activity being carried out by you or your section.

Who should capture electronic messages as records, and when?
There are some useful rules to follow in deciding whether it is up to you to capture a record of a message.

» When you send a message:

• it is the responsibility of the initiator of a message sent either internally or externally to keep a record of that message if it is appropriate.
• outgoing messages should only be captured once they have been sent. If a message is received from outside the organisation, the recipient must keep a record if appropriate.

» When you receive a message:

• if you receive a message from a staff member, it is their responsibility to capture the message as a record if necessary
• you are responsible from capturing messages as records that you receive from outside the organisation
• where you are CC'd a message (ie. you are not the main recipient), you should check whether the main recipient is a staff member, or is from outside the organisation. If the latter, you will need to capture a record of that message
• if there are several main recipients of a message, the person who is mainly responsible for the matter or project should capture the message as a record. In cases where you can predict the group of people who will be receiving emails on the matter or project, it may be helpful to agree on one person as being responsible for the capture of messages relating to that matter or project.

Often messages become part of a series of replies. In these cases, it makes sense to capture the last message in the series, which will include all previous exchanges, rather than separately capturing all the messages.

How to capture electronic messages as records
The following is the procedure for capturing electronic messages and attachments as records: [procedure described]