New Standard Launched for Records and Document Management Systems
Prepared by the Australian members of the Joint Standards Australia / Standards New Zealand Committee IT-021 - Records and Document Management Systems, this standard sets the stage for more consistent, secure, and effective information management across the industry.
AS 5393:2025 provides requirements, specifications and guidance on the migration of authoritative data information and records between systems and discusses critical areas of consideration that Executive Management or information governance experts should understand.
The intention of this standard is to message that technology is not the only factor, that migration of authoritative data, information and records between systems can often be handled in a way where management oversight and governance structures are not aligned and thus requires careful planning, analysis and awareness to provide positive outcomes.
AS 5393:2025 describes drivers for records migration, migration types, benefits and risk management. The methodology of migration is also uniquely explained to enable organisations to understand assessing options, planning, management and governance considerations to ensure successful strategies are controlled and mitigated.
With a focus on recordkeeping considerations, this standard also provides an accountabilities and responsibilities checklist alongside some key aspects that organisations can consider when upgrading, decommissioning, integrating or transitioning data, information and records.
Aimed initially at Executive Management, this standard could also be utilised strategically within information governance committees to understand the principles of a successful migration and adopting techniques to leverage fundamental collaboration required with other governance pillars (i.e. experts in information and records management, information technology, information architecture, subject matter experts etc).
The process from inception to publication has been extremely rewarding and members of the current working group are listed below. The main components of the table of contents are also listed for reference. Thank you to past and present members who have contributed to the development of this standard and to all organisations who afforded time to provide feedback during public comment.
You can purchase the new standard at Standards Australia here.
IT-021 - Working Group 15
David Moldrich OAM FRIM (Life), Board Member & Executive Director, RIMPA Global (Project Chair)
Sandra Ennor CERIM, ARIM , Director – Ossima Prime (Project Lead)
RIMPA Global Ambassador
Marie Felsbourg, Founder & Director – Astral Pty Ltd (Current Member)
Peter Francis, Manager, Standards & Policy – Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) (Retired Member)
Xander Hunter ARIM, Manager, Standards & Policy – Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) (Current Member)
Lisa Read White FRIM (Life), Director – Information Proficiency (Current Member)
May Robertson MRIM, Records Manager – University of Sydney (Current Member)
Peta Sweeney CXRIM, FRIM (Life), Information and Content Specialist – RIMPA Global (Current Member)
AS 5393:2025 Table of contents
- Business Context
- Drivers for records migration
- Migration types
- Benefits
- Risks and risk management
- Methodology
- Assessing migration options
- Planning, management and governance
- Capability checklist
- Business requirements and checklist for consideration
- Recordkeeping considerations
- Key elements
- Migration scope
- Accountabilities and responsibilities checklist
- System to system migration specifications
- Upgrading from one software system to a new version of the same software system
- Upgrading from one software system to a new software system
- Upgrading existing data format to a new data format
- Decommissioning from a system and migrating records
- Integrating systems and migrating content between systems
- Transitioning from network drives to new software system
- Managing proprietary formats
- Migrating from and to service providers
Meet your blog author:
Sandra Ennor CERIM ARIM
With over 25 years in the industry, Sandra Ennor is an Information Management Consultant specialising in information governance, process improvement and training. Her current focus includes influencing information culture and improving information management. Passionate about industry advancement and risk awareness, Sandra is proud to serve as a RIMPA Ambassador, giving back to a vibrant professional community.