Why manage records?
Records as an information asset
Records are a valuable corporate asset that, by their retention and re-use as evidence of decision-making and business activity, can improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation. There are costs in their management but good management reduces these costs. In addition, the organisation benefits from reduced risks from legal or regulatory challenges by finding and producing the relevant evidence contained in the records.
By making and managing records an organisation can ensure that it has available to decision-makers all the information they need to carry out their roles. This can improve
- the quality of decision-making
- the quality of business activity
- long term planning
- quality reporting, and
- fast and accurate customer service.
Records support accountability
Accountability means being able to provide an explanation or justification, and accept responsibility, for events or transactions and for one's own actions in relation to these events or transactions. Accountability is both internal and external to a public office including delegation of responsibility to staff and reporting to external watchdogs.
Records are evidence of what happened, why and by whom. They underpin accountability and provide an essential means to meet legal, financial and accountability requirements. A number of reports by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) have identified recordkeeping failures both as impeding investigations and contributing to failures within the subject organisations. Reports by the NSW Auditor-General regularly highlight failures in recordkeeping systems or practices.
Typical failures include:
- not making records in the first place or making incomplete records
- not capturing records into recordkeeping systems
- not keeping records for the length of time they are needed
- not assigning responsibility for recordkeeping so that it doesn't get done
- not being able to find records at all, or in an efficient and timely manner.
All of these have an impact on the ability of an organisation to meet both its internal and external accountability requirements and business needs, such as meeting GIPA Act and financial audit obligations. The suite of corporate governance standards issued by Standards Australia (AS 8000-4 series, 2003) all include references to recordkeeping and its relation to good corporate governance.
