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Transfer process

Transfer to us is one of the most common ways public offices dispose of information and records of archival value. If the information and records have been appraised as having no long-term value, they can be destroyed.

Mandatory transfer

The Public Records Act 2005 (the Act) mandates the transfer of public information and records (public records) of archival value that have been in existence for 25 years. They must be transferred either:

• into our custody

• to a repository approved by us.

Contact us before you start

The transfer process is a collaborative effort between your organisation and us. Contact us as soon as you know you have public records eligible to transfer — even before you start doing any preparation work. This way we can guide you to ensure your transfer runs smoothly.

You’ll need a current disposal authority

We can only accept public records for transfer that have a valid disposal authority. A disposal authority is the legal permission from the Chief Archivist to dispose of public records.

You can use a current disposal authority and/or a sector or general disposal authority. Only information and records that have a disposal action of ‘Transfer to Archives New Zealand’ or equivalent can be transferred.

Learn more about the Disposal process.

Check if you have a disposal authority

Before you start the transfer process, check your organisation has a valid disposal authority. If you’re unsure, check by searching the name of your organisation on Collections search.

If you do not have a valid disposal authority — or have trouble finding your organisation on Collections search — contact us.

Access decisions

All public records 25 years or older must be classified as either 'open access' or 'restricted access', regardless of where they're held. If you transfer public records to us before the 25-year limit, their access status must be declared as part of our transfer requirement2.

The process for transferring public records to us involves 4 stages:

• transfer planning

• transfer preparation

• transfer

• post-transfer.

Stage 1: Transfer planning

At this stage, we’ll work with your organisation to determine and plan your transfer.

Our kaimahi (staff) can:

• provide advice on what the transfer process involves

• gather information about your public records

• advise what products we have that may help.

Agree on roles and responsibilities

We’ll agree on roles and responsibilities with you by completing a Transfer management plan agreement. This ensures:

• the transfer process is a collaborative effort between us both

• both your organisation and us are informed of factors which might affect the transfer at any stage.

Stage 2: Transfer preparation

We’ll work with your organisation to prepare a transfer of public records to us.

We’ll help you assess your readiness

We’ll assess the condition of the public records and advise how to classify their access status. For physical information and records, we’ll provide guidance on how to list and box the records. You’ll need to send a complete list of the public records being transferred for us to review.

We’ll conduct a sample check for quality assurance before the public records are physically transferred. For physical information and records, this is called a ‘box check’ and it will occur on the site where the records are held.

Complete a Transfer Agreement and Access Authority

When we receive the Access Authority form and Transfer Agreement form signed by your organisation, we’ll confirm the date of transfer. You’ll then need to arrange safe transport for the public records to the appropriate regional archives.

Stage 3: Transfer

At this stage, the public records are physically transferred from your organisation to us. We’ll notify you when we receive and accept the records as public archives.

Stage 4: Post transfer

We describe contextual information about the public archives and publish this on Collections search to make them available to the public.

We’ll notify you when:

• the transfer is complete

• the public archives are discoverable on Collections search.

Like physical public records, digital public information and records (digital records) can also be transferred to us. We manage digital transfers on a case-by-case basis in stages, some of which are broken down into steps. These stages are similar to the stages of a transfer of physical information and records, but more work must be done beforehand in the Transfer initiation and Transfer preparation stages to assess the transfer readiness of the digital records and consequently, the feasibility of the transfer.

Another distinctive characteristic of digital transfers is the repetitive nature of some steps. You may need to check the digital health of your records several times and resolve issues that we’ve identified in our analysis that may affect their ingest or transfer into the Government Digital Archive. This means that flexibility is essential when planning time frames for a digital transfer.

If you’re involved in a digital transfer, we encourage you to provide feedback to assist with shaping our guidance, and to share experiences with others.

Learn more about the digital transfer process.

When public records have been in existence for 25 years and have been assessed as having archival value but your organisation needs to retain them for ongoing business use, you can request an exemption from the mandatory transfer requirement in the Act.

The administrative head of your organisation and the Chief Archivist can agree in writing that the transfer of custody for the public records may be deferred for up to 5 years. This agreement may be renewed, and the Chief Archivist may choose to impose additional conditions. To apply for a deferred transfer, please contact us.

Public sector organisations (public offices and local authorities) can transfer information and records from one organisation to another. This usually results from a transfer of functions caused by:

• new legislation

• a change in ministerial portfolios

• ministerial directive

• a change in government

• a merger or splitting of organisations.

When administrative changes result in transferring a function to one public office to another, and information and records related to the function are also transferred, the public office that takes over responsibility for the function must notify the Chief Archivist within 3 months of the transfer taking place.

This is covered under section 23 of the Act.

This process is designed to support public offices to manage information and records effectively for their business continuity.