Standards

The standards that we use fall into two broad categories: interoperability and best practice. In the first category are technological standards, particularly from the information technology and telecommunications industries, which, among other things, play a crucial role in the management of electronic records over time. The second category comprises standards which govern practices and performance requirements. The AS/NZS/ISO 9000 series of quality systems standards is a well-known example of this type of standard.

Our principal concern in building a recordkeeping framework is with the second category. In the pyramid model, we use the term standard to refer to the type of standard that is mandatory, measurable and, therefore, subject to a framework of compliance auditing. It is this type of standard that State Records is required to 'formulate, and keep under review' under the Act.

To date, eight standards have been issued under the State Records Act. The first two standards issued under the Act were revoked in 2004 and replaced with new standards, Standards 7 and 8. All of the standards are consciously designed to be outcomes oriented, rather than prescribing specific practices.

Other instruments will also function as standards in this sense within the model. An obvious example is the suite of general retention and disposal authorities which the State Records Authority, like most government archives authorities, issues and periodically revises.