Guides

This guide provides practical standards for creating and maintaining accurate Name and Address Register (NAR) records. It includes naming conventions, address formatting, phone and email standards, duplicate prevention techniques, approved abbreviations, and data entry rules to improve data quality, consistency, and searchability across organisational systems.

This procedure guide provides practical advice for creating and maintaining a Name and Address Register (NAR) with consistent, high-quality data. It outlines standards for capturing names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, along with duplicate prevention techniques, validation methods, governance responsibilities, and ongoing maintenance practices to improve data quality and consistency across organisational systems.

This procedure provides a practical framework for the lawful disposal of digital records in accordance with Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) standards. It outlines responsibilities, retention and disposal requirements, authorisation processes, secure destruction methods, transfer of archival records, and ongoing compliance activities to help organisations manage digital records disposal in a consistent, compliant, and defensible manner.

This work instruction outlines the process for receiving, registering, scanning, and distributing incoming mail in a secure and consistent manner. It provides step-by-step guidance for records management staff, ensuring correspondence is handled efficiently, confidentially, and in accordance with sound recordkeeping practices and organisational requirements.

This article explores why Records and Information Management should be involved in business initiatives from the outset. It highlights the risks of excluding RIM professionals and provides practical strategies for demonstrating their value, improving compliance, reducing risk, and supporting better business outcomes.

This guide outlines best practices for naming folders, libraries, and collaboration sites to improve consistency, searchability, and information management. It provides practical conventions for creating clear, meaningful structures that make information easier to find, organise, and manage across digital workspaces.

This one-page strategic planning template helps organisations map and prioritise key information management initiatives over a four-year period. It provides a simple framework for aligning projects with strategic objectives, assigning responsibilities, and tracking progress toward improved information governance.

This guidance explains why Microsoft Teams meeting recordings and transcripts should not replace formal meeting minutes. It outlines the risks, compliance considerations, and best practices for creating concise, accurate meeting records that serve as the official record of business decisions and actions.

This guide explains how to effectively manage records created in Microsoft Teams. It outlines what information should remain in Teams, what should be transferred to a compliant records management system, and best practices for ensuring important records are securely managed and retained.

This practical guide outlines simple, consistent file and folder naming conventions to improve organisation, searchability, version control, and collaboration. Learn best practices for creating clear, meaningful file names that make information easier to find and manage.

This guide outlines the key risks to consider when planning and delivering a digitisation program. It provides practical guidance on quality assurance, governance, metadata, preservation, security, and compliance to help ensure successful and sustainable digitisation projects.

This handy jargon buster provides clear definitions for common digital preservation, archives, and information management terms and acronyms. A useful reference to help you navigate industry language and better understand key concepts.

This benchmarking workbook helps organisations review and compare their planning application processes. Use it to assess current practices, identify opportunities for improvement, and support consistent, efficient, and compliant information management.

Gain valuable insights into current information management practices across participating organisations. This benchmarking resource provides a snapshot of key trends, including EDRMS platforms, governance, digital strategies, staffing, training, compliance, and records management practices, helping organisations compare their maturity and identify opportunities for improvement.

This document outlines the procedures and best practices for managing, storing, and disposing of electronic files within a business environment.

This document outlines the procedures and best practices for managing, storing, and disposing of hard copy records within a business environment.

A comprehensive list of definitions around Digital Preservation Jargon.

The top five lessons to enable alignment between business outcomes and governance requirements presented by Jade Reed at the 2018 Inforum convention.

Written by Kylie Welch, This practical guide provides step-by-step advice for establishing and maintaining an effective records management programme. Covering governance, executive support, policies, staffing, training, information governance, storage, communication, and continuous improvement, it offers practical guidance and proven strategies to help organisations build a compliant, sustainable, and successful records management function.

This practical guide helps staff determine where different types of business information should be stored to support effective information management and compliance. It explains what constitutes information of business value, when records should be captured in an EDRMS, and how to distinguish between personal, collaborative, and official business information using simple decision-making guides and examples.

Tips for creating a 12-Month strategy which covers audience, content, timing, and channel.

This handy reference guide provides an overview of Australia's cybersecurity, cybercrime, and cybersafety landscape, along with links to key government agencies, legislation, research organisations, and online resources. Ideal for information management professionals seeking trusted sources to strengthen cyber awareness, understand the regulatory environment, and access practical guidance on protecting information and managing cyber risks.

This corporate procedure outlines best practices for digitally signing outgoing correspondence. It provides guidance on when digital signatures are required, approved signing methods, delegated authority, and recordkeeping requirements to ensure signed documents remain authentic, compliant, and securely managed.

This practical decision tree helps staff determine when a document requires a digital signature and when one is not necessary. By guiding users through common scenarios—including approvals, contracts, committee decisions, and standard correspondence—it promotes consistent decision-making, supports governance requirements, and ensures the appropriate use of digital signatures across an organisation.

This example demonstrates how a council implemented the digital signing of meeting minutes to support electronic recordkeeping. It provides a practical reference for organisations considering digital approvals while maintaining compliant, authentic, and trusted official records.

This policy outlines the requirements for the lawful disposal of paper records following digitisation. It provides guidance on defensible disposal processes, quality assurance, risk assessment, and compliance to ensure digitised records remain authentic, reliable, and legally admissible while meeting recordkeeping obligations.

This practical procedure provides step-by-step guidance for digitising paper records to support the lawful disposal of original documents. It covers record assessment, scanning standards, quality assurance, metadata requirements, and compliant capture into an electronic records management system to ensure digitised records remain authentic, reliable, and fit for purpose.

This practical project outline provides a step-by-step framework for planning and delivering a successful digitisation project. Covering preparation, conservation, scanning, metadata capture, quality assurance, OCR, EDRMS integration, and project sign-off, it helps organisations implement digitisation projects that align with best practice and produce high-quality, compliant digital records.

This practical guide explains Australia's permanent electronic governance reforms, including the use of virtual and hybrid meetings, electronic document execution, digital signatures, meeting notices, member participation, and governance requirements. It provides practical guidance and best practice tips to help organisations confidently implement compliant electronic meeting and document processes.

Fact sheet to provide a guide to recordkeeping practices when working from home.

This introductory guide explains the key principles and requirements of New Zealand's Public Records Act. It provides an overview of recordkeeping obligations for public offices and local authorities, covering the creation, maintenance, disposal, preservation, and accessibility of public records, along with practical guidance for achieving legislative compliance.

Demonstrating the value of Information Management to your organisation. Increasing the IM profile workshop outcomes.

This practical guide outlines best practice for managing imaged and digital signatures within an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS). Covering approval workflows, evidentiary requirements, audit trails, correspondence management, and business rules, it helps organisations ensure digitally signed documents remain secure, authentic, and legally defensible throughout their lifecycle.

This Information Management Policy outlines the principles, responsibilities, and governance required to effectively manage organisational information, records, and data. It promotes a digital-first approach, ensuring information is reliable, accessible, secure, and managed throughout its lifecycle to support business operations, compliance, and accountability.