Information for New Zealand Polytechnics and Institutes of Technology

The Public Records Act

The Public Records Act 2005 (PRA) provides a new recordkeeping framework for New Zealand polytechnics and institutes of technology.

The Act sets out a framework for preserving public records for future generations. It covers certain records created and received by New Zealand polytechnics and institutes of technology. It also enables these organisations to identify which records they need to transfer to Archives New Zealand and which records can be destroyed.

Under the legislation, polytechnics and institutes of technology must:

• create and maintain full and accurate records which must be accessible over time
• obtain the authority of the Chief Archivist in order to dispose of public records. Disposal is the archival term for the ultimate fate of records, and usually means their destruction or transfer to Archives New Zealand.

New Zealand Polytechnics and Institutes of Technology Retention & Disposal Schedule

 
To assist polytechnics and institutes of technology with their recordkeeping processes, Archives New Zealand authorised a sector-specific Retention and Disposal Schedule. This covers certain hardcopy and electronic records created or received by New Zealand polytechnics and institutes of technology.
 
The Retention and Disposal Schedule describes in tabular form each class and sub class, descriptions of the types of records they are likely to contain, as well as their minimum retention periods and their ultimate fate (ie, either destroy or transfer to Archives New Zealand).
 
Please note the Southern Institute of Technology has a separate schedule which is available here
 

Training

Archives New Zealand offers 6 training courses. Information is available here

Alternative training opportunities are available on our directory.

Further support material

The Archives New Zealand website contains resources to assist all organisations covered by the PRA with their recordkeeping responsibilities.

These resources include:

• recordkeeping advice publications – Archives New Zealand has created a range of advice including standards, guides and fact sheets to enable good recordkeeping and compliance with the Public Records Act. These can be downloaded from our recordkeeping publications page;
• advice on transfer and destruction - and on how to apply access restrictions to particular records can be sought from our transfer of public archives page;
• advice on records preservation and storage can be sought from our preservation and storage page.

Further information

For further information on Archives New Zealand’s recordkeeping advisory services, please contact the Government Recordkeeping Programme at: rkadvice@archives.govt.nz or 04 499 5595.