Agencies need to plan and implement a disposal and transfer program to ensure that:

• records are kept for as long as required
• permanent records are identified and transferred to Public Record Office Victoria

Key documents to assist agencies with this are the Disposal Standard, which sets out mandatory requirements for the Victorian public sector, and our Guideline on Implementing a Disposal Programme.

As part of Information Awareness Month – May 2012 – PROV has produced an Interactive Poster on Disposal.  The poster contains several key messages about disposal.  Clicking on the photograph images in the poster will send you to the PROV page or document relevant to the key message.

Disposing of Records

Public records cannot be destroyed, removed from the custody of the Victorian Government or otherwise disposed of without the authorisation of the Keeper of Public Records.

Disposal authorisation is usually given through Retention and Disposal Authorities (RDAs), which are established by the Keeper under the Public Records Act 1973. RDAs:

• identify the records which are of permanent value as State Archives and must, at an agreed stage, be transferred to Public Record Office Victoria
• set out the minimum retention periods for temporary value records, authorising their destruction when they reach that age.

There are numerous current RDAs, which cover the majority of records created and held by the Victorian public sector.

If your records are covered by a current RDA there is no need to seek further authorisation from us to carry out disposal action in accordance with it. (Note: if records are identified as permanent and you would like to transfer them to us, see Transfer section below).

If your agency’s records are not covered by a current RDA, contact us to discuss your options. Your agency may need to:

• develop an RDA or
• request a Single Instance Disposal Authority (usually possible if records relate to activities no longer carried out by your agency and if the record quantity is greater than 5m)  involves submission of PRO46A Request for Disposal Authority (Single Instance) form and PRO46B Request for Disposal Authority (Single Instance) – Appraisal Report.

Transferring Records to Public Record Office Victoria

To comply with section 8a of the Public Record Act 1973, Victorian Government agencies must transfer permanent public records to PROV when they no longer need ready access to them for administrative purposes. This must occur by the time a record is 25 years old, but can occur much earlier.

We can accept transfer of physical and/or electronic records. Our environmentally controlled physical repository our world-leading digital archive ensure that records will be preserved and accessible forever. The digital archive is part of our Victorian Electronic Record Strategy (VERS).

Only permanent records are eligible for transfer. See the Storage Standard, Specifications and guidelines for information on what is allowable for temporary records.

Identifying records to transfer

Only permanent records are eligible to transfer. Permanent records are identified using Retention and Disposal Authorities.

Remodelling the transfer service

We recently reviewed our transfer approach and processes and are now implementing a program to remodel our transfer services  over the next two years. We will be seeking agency input into this and encourage stakeholders to read the Transfer Review Summary.