Have Your Say: Review of Retention and Disposal Authorities

On a review of three key general retention and disposal authorities:

• GA35 (2009): Covers the transfer of records out of NSW for storage or maintenance by service providers.

• GA45 (2015): Authorises the destruction of original or source records that have been copied.

• GA48 (2018): Authorises the destruction of source records that have been migrated.

The review aims to clarify and modernise the scope of these authorities. For GA35, the focus includes clarifying that creating records outside NSW or Australia does not require permission, updating guidance on managing cloud-based records, and reassessing restrictions around transferring older archives. For GA45, considerations include revising the 1980 date limitation, clarifying rules around State archives, and reviewing exclusions for audio-visual material. The potential to combine GA48 and GA45 into a single authority covering both copied and migrated records is also being explored.

NSW public offices are encouraged to contribute feedback to inform these updates. Submissions can be made to [email protected]. For full details on the review, visit the Retention and Disposal Authorities Review page.