Archives New Zealand’s responsibilities

The Public Records Act 2005 sets the framework for recordkeeping across government and Archives New Zealand works with government agencies to administer the Act.
 

Under the Public Records Act 2005, Archives New Zealand is mandated to:

• Issue mandatory and discretionary standards.
  These standards provide benchmarks for measuring performance and describes best practice in recordkeeping. Copies of our standards can be found on the Continuum Resource Kit.
   
• Audit
  Independent audits of agencies’ recordkeeping practices will commence in 2010 and take place every 5 years. Further information can be found on the Public Records Act Audit Programme
   
• Produce an Annual Report to Parliament
  The Chief Archivist is required to report to Parliament annually on the state of government recordkeeping. Copies of previous reports are available online.
   
• Inspect Public Offices
  The Chief Archivist can inspect central and local government recordkeeping incidents. Our intention is to work constructively with agencies to resolve any issues.

Archives New Zealand’s work contributes to:

• Full and accurate records being kept by Public Sector Agencies
  Good information management ensures government agencies keep full and accurate records in order to deliver efficient and effective services to their customers. Full and accurate records of business transactions provide the platform for access to public records now and in the future helping to maintain transparency and accountability in government.
   
• Public archives are preserved and well managed
  Archives New Zealand describes, preserves and stores public sector information of long-term value. Ensuring the public archive is well managed enables the department to deliver its services for accessing the archives. Regular disposal is part of good recordkeeping, and promotes efficiency by ensuring only those records required are retained and unnecessary expenditure on storage is avoided.
   
• Public Archives are accessible and used
  New Zealanders can also access these records for accountability purposes, for example, researching information connected with claims submitted to the Waitangi Tribunal. By helping people to understand how the past is an important part of the present, nationhood and social cohesion is strengthened.
   
• The archiving community is co-ordinated and well led
  Through archival support and advice, Archives New Zealand helps to enhance the care of protected local government records and records held in community archives, community organisations, and by Māori, iwi and hapū. As a result records of significance throughout New Zealand are retained and better managed.

 
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