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Disposal authorisation

Disposal is a key element in effective information and records management. It ensures your organisation:

• retains information and records for as long as they’re required

• disposes of information and records in an appropriate manner when they’re no longer required.

If your organisation is a public office or local authority (a public sector organisation), you need authorisation from the Chief Archivist to implement disposal of your information and records under the Public Records Act 2005 (the Act).

Disposal authorities (DAs) are legal instruments issued by the Chief Archivist. They provide formal authorisation for the disposal of information and records in accordance with section 20 of the Act. 

Disposal authorities set mandatory minimum retention periods. They also give authority for consequent disposal actions for the information and records they describe. Most commonly, these are:

• destruction

• transfer to us

• transfer to another archives.

Authorisation required for disposal of information and records includes:

• formal disposal authorisation by the Chief Archivist — in the form of a general, sector or organisation specific DA

• authorisation through your organisation’s internal approval process by the administrative head or an Executive Sponsor.

Please note that the Chief Archivist’s authorisation does not override any other legal obligation for your organisation to retain the information and records past the minimum period outlined in the DA. The onus is on your organisation to check whether any information and records need to be kept beyond this period for legal or operational reasons, for example, if they are:

• part of a request under the Official Information Act 1982 or the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

• part of an appeal to an Ombudsman under the Ombudsmen Act 1975, and/or

• required by a Commission of Inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2013.

Organisation specific disposal authorities

Organisation specific DAs are for the disposal of the information and records classes or groups that are unique or core to a public sector organisation. They identify how long these information and records need to be retained and whether they are to be transferred to us as public archives or destroyed.

These DAs are generally current for 10 years after which time, we recommend they are reviewed to ensure they are still meeting legal or organisational requirements. You can view authorised disposal authorities by searching online using Collections search website.

Contact us if your organisation does not have a current DA authority to cover its specific functions.

General disposal authorities

General disposal authorities (GDAs) provide ongoing authorisation for the disposal of non-core business information and records common across most public sector organisations. These information and records are facilitative, transitory and mostly of low value.

Public offices must use the GDAs. Local authorities can use the GDAs as best practice. They’re incorporated into the Association of Local Government Management Information Management (ALGIM) IM Toolkit Disposal Schedule.

Current GDAs are available on our website and include:

• DA558 GDA 6 – Common corporate service public records

• DA576 GDA 7 – Facilitative, transitory, and/or short-term value records.

Sector disposal authorities

Some groups of public offices are covered by sector-based DAs. Currently these are:

• institutes of technology and polytechnics

• universities

• schools, and

• intelligence organisations.

These authorities identify common classes of information and records, their retention periods and disposal actions. You can view authorised sector DAs using Collections search.

Functional disposal authorities

Functional disposal authorities (FDAs) are broader than sector DAs as they can cover functions in many sector areas if adopted. This is different from a sector DA and a GDA. Currently there are three FDAs covering health functions:

• FDA1 Clinical Health Care

• FDA2 Health Administration

• FDA3 Population Health and Wellbeing.

Local authorities

The Act allows the Chief Archivist to declare certain local authority information and records as ‘protected records'. The current list of protected records is available on our website, along with some explanatory notes.

A disposal schedule including protected and additional local authority records, endorsed by the Chief Archivist, is available for use through ALGIM. Contact ALGIM directly to check if your local authority is currently signed up to use the ALGIM Disposal Schedule.

Under the Act, public sector organisations can only dispose of their information and records by:

• transfer

• destruction

• alteration

• sale, or

• discharge.

Transfer

Every public office must transfer from its possession and control information and records that have been in existence for 25 years.

The information and records must be transferred:

• to our possession, or

• to an approved repository.

In both cases, the control of the information and records passes to the Chief Archivist. The Chief Archivist can also direct the transfer of control of 'protected' local authority information and records.

Transfer also refers to the moving of information and records from one organisation to another as part of changes in Government or a restructuring. This may occur when:

• organisations merge or disestablish

• when functions or activities move between organisations.

Destruction

Destruction means destroying the information and records beyond any means of reconstruction. Once your organisation has authorisation to dispose by destruction, it is our expectation that you will be implementing this action after the minimum retention period and any ongoing business need has passed.

Alteration

Alteration includes annotating or partially deleting information, records or metadata.

Sale

Sale is only likely to be permitted in exceptional circumstances.

Discharge

Discharge means cancelling the public status of information and records — for example, where personal information and records are given back to the individuals they’re about.