GA28 - Frequently asked questions

• Applicability to particular sectors
• Need for re-sentencing
• Versions available
• Timing for transfer of records required as State archives

Applicability to particular sectors

Local government

The General Retention and Disposal Authority - Administrative Records does not replace the General retention and disposal authority: local government records, the sector-specific authority for local government.

Councils should refer in the first instance to the General retention and disposal authority: local government records. If there is no disposal coverage for required records, and the records are covered in this authority, they may use the relevant entries in this authority to sentence these records.

Where this authority identifies a longer retention period to that identified in General retention and disposal authority: local government records, councils are advised to consider retaining the records in accordance with the longer retention period identified in this authority as this is more likely to reflect current recordkeeping requirements.

Universities, public health and other sectors with specific general authority coverage

Universities, the public health sector and other sectors with specific general authority coverage should use this authority in conjunction with their sector-specific authorities and other approved general authorities, e.g. Personnel (GDA12). For functional and sector-related administrative records, the sector-specific authority should be used in the first instance. If there is no disposal coverage for required records, and the records are covered in this authority, they may use the relevant entries in this authority to sentence these records. This authority does not override any approved minimum retention periods or disposal actions in sector-specific authorities issued prior or subsequent to the approval of this authority, except where specified below.

Where this authority identifies a longer retention period to that identified in a previously issued sector-specific authority, organisations are advised to consider retaining records in accordance with the longer retention period identified in this authority as this is more likely to reflect current recordkeeping requirements.

Organisations with functional authorities

Organisations with functional retention and disposal authorities should use this authority in conjunction with their functional authorities and other approved general authorities, e.g. Personnel (GDA12). This authority does not override any approved minimum retention periods or disposal actions in functional authorities issued prior or subsequent to the approval of this authority, except where specified below.

Where this authority identifies a longer retention period to that identified in a previously issued functional authority, organisations are advised to consider retaining records in accordance with the longer retention period identified in this authority as this is more likely to reflect current recordkeeping requirements.

Need for re-sentencing

The General Retention and Disposal Authority - Administrative Records (GA28) is now the current legal authority for the disposal of certain common administrative records. This means that any existing records maintained by NSW public offices and covered by this authority should now be retained and disposed of in accordance with the retention periods and disposal actions identified in this authority. This includes records already transferred to off site storage or to commercial storage providers such as the Government Records Repository. It does not affect any records already formally transferred to State Records' control and/or custody as State archives.

In effect this means:

• records already sentenced according to GDA2 and that are required as State archives must be re-sentenced according to the current authority or they cannot be accepted for transfer, and
• records already sentenced and approved for destruction according to GDA2 (Administrative records), GDA6 (Year 2000 project records), GDA7 (Financial and accounting records) or entries in GDA12 (Personnel records) superseded by this authority should either be re-sentenced or compliance with the minimum retention requirements of GA28 assessed and confirmed prior to any destruction taking place.

The updating of records management systems and re-sentencing of records to reflect current minimum retention periods and final disposal actions can be a resource intensive process, particularly for large organisations with significant quantities of records. Organisations may need to adopt a planned approach to the management of this process, for example prioritising the re-sentencing of records where retention periods or disposal outcomes have changed or increased significantly, or adopt risk managed strategies for documenting compliance with the current authority until records management systems can be updated, for example annotating disposal documentation (such as destruction lists etc) to record that compliance with GA28 has been assessed prior to records destruction proceeding.

The new authority is quite different to the old one. Records have been reclassified according to the 1998 version of Keyword AAA and many disposal classes have either been divided into a number of classes or have been re-scoped. It is therefore not possible for us to provide a direct map from a class in one authority to the other or identify changes in retention periods. Linking tables (pdf, 87 KB) have been provided to guide users from entries from the former GDA2, GDA6 and GDA7 and superseded entries from GDA12 to entries in the new authority.

Versions available

HTML, PDF, Excel

The General Retention and Disposal Authority - Administrative Records (GA28) is available in HTML format for browsing and PDF format for printing.

In addition, an Excel version is now available. Excel has been selected because it can be more easily converted to CSV or other formats suitable for uploading into records management software packages.

HTML, PDF and Excel versions of GDA12 (Personnel) are also now available, incorporating changes from the release of GA28.

All versions are available via the General Retention and Disposal Authorities page.

Software loadable formats

State Records does not distribute or make available product or software-specific loadable versions of its authorities. Please contact your vendor or service provider directly for advice or assistance regarding the availability of software loadable versions of authorities.

Timing for transfer of records required as State archives

Records identified as State archives in GA28 should be transferred to State Records' custody and/or control when the records are over 25 years old and no longer in use by the public office for official purposes. The early transfer of records is possible. Please contact Archives Control and Management to discuss proposals for the early transfer of records.

If the records are more than 25 years old and are still in use for official purposes, then a 'still in use determination' should be made.

To discuss options for the transfer and management of State archives and for further advice about the making of a 'still in use determination' please contact Archives Control and Management.