Ministerial records

Last updated:

March 31, 2026

Are Ministers and other Members of Parliament public officers?

Ministers and other Members of Parliament are not public officers:

Under the Public Records Act 1973 (PR Act), a public officer is defined as a person employed by a public office. Elected Ministers and other Members of Parliament are not employed by a public office and therefore are not public officer under the Act.

Documents created or received by a Minister or other Member of Parliament are not usually considered public records. Ministers and other Members of Parliament are still bound by other legal obligations, standards, requirements, and codes of conduct.

Ministerial and other Member of Parliament office status:

The office of a Minister or other Member of Parliament, and records relating to the administration of that office (including records of ministerial advisors), are not public offices under the PR Act. Records relating to these offices are therefore typically not treated as public records.

When a record is a public record:

The actions and decisions of a Minister or other Member of Parliament - as documented by a department or public office - are public records and must be managed by the originating department or office in accordance with the PR Act and PROV Standards. Versions held by a Minister or ministerial office are generally considered copies and not the official public record.

Some records that a Minister or other Member of Parliament holds may remain public records if they were public records before they were received, such as, department-originated briefing material later annotated by the Minister.

Managing ministerial records

Records to be considered

The following is a list of examples of the types of records to be considered:

Type of Record	Public Record (Y/N)	Description
Departmental / agency records	Yes Managed by the relevant department or public office	Records created or received by public offices remain public records. This includes correspondence addressed to a Minister or other Member of Parliament but received by the public office and requiring the public office to prepare a response. It also includes briefs prepared by the public office for the Minister.
Cabinet-in-Confidence (CiC) records	Yes Managed by the Cabinet Office	Cabinet-in-Confidence records circulate within government. Ministers or their offices may hold them, but they remain public records and must be controlled. See Cabinet records for further information
Records of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly	No (managed by protocols and arrangement with the Keeper of Public Records)	Records created by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly or President of the Legislative Council are parliamentary records that are transferred to PROV in accordance with the Parliament's arrangement with the Keeper of Public Records. Their management is governed by the Parliament's Archival Policy including Retention and Disposal Guidelines and PROV transfer protocols.
Records of the President of the Legislative Council	No (managed by protocols and arrangement with the Keeper of Public Records)
Party political records	No	Records of the political party or communications between the Minister and the political party.
Personal records of the Minister	No	Records generated or received by a Minister in their personal capacity.
Records of the Electorate Office	No	Records relating to the establishment and administration of the electorate office including party political material.
Records of the Electorate (constituent records)	No	Records relating to requests for assistance, advice or representations made by residents (or constituents) of the Minister or other Member of Parliament's electorate.

Managing records held by a Minister

Public records

A public record is any record made or received by a public officer in the course of their duties, or by a court or person acting judicially in Victoria. As stated above, Ministers and other Members of Parliament are not public officers under the PR Act, however, records made or received by departmental staff and other public officers in supporting, advising, or implementing a Minister's decisions are public records.

Public records held by a Minister, other Member of Parliament, or their office must be managed in accordance with:

The Public Records Act 1973
PROV Standards, policies and Retention and Disposal Authorities (RDAs), which set out minimum requirements, retention periods and disposal obligations applicable to Victorian public offices.

Non-public records

Records that are not created or received by public officers in the course of their work and therefore are not public records (personal, party political, electorate, electorate office) may still need careful handling for legal, ethical, financial or administrative reason including:

Privacy and data protection
Employment, taxation, or contract requirements
Legal and audit obligations.

PROV's RDA's can provide can provide general guidance for retention and disposal decisions of non-public records. Such guidance should be applied cautiously because these authorities were developed specifically for public records and may not fit all non-public record types.

Privacy and disposal

Ministers and other Members of Parliament and their staff must also be aware of privacy and data protection obligations under Victorian legislation, including where records are non-public but hold sensitive personal data. Members of Parliament and their electorate staff may be subject to other legislation when handling personal information, including:

Confidentiality obligations under the Members of Parliament (Standards) Act 1978 (Vic)
Privacy obligations relating to health information under the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and the Health Privacy Principles.

Practical steps at end of ministerial term

When a Minister or other Member of Parliament leaves office (or changes portfolio), the following principles generally apply:

Ensure any public records held in the offices are identified
Make arrangements for public records to be returned to the originating public office or as advised by the Cabinet Office (for Cabinet-in-Confidence material)
The originating public office or the Cabinet office will arrange for any permanent value public records to be transferred to PROV, when appropriate. Generally, they will also take responsibility for undertaking any disposal/destruction of records, in accordance with the relevant retention and disposal authorities
The Ministers or other Member of Parliament's Office will need to ensure that non-public records (personal, party political, electorate, administrative) are also managed securely and retained/destroyed in accordance with legislative and regulatory requirements
When non-public records are destroyed, they should be disposed of securely. This may include shredding paper records or securely deleting electronic records to ensure personal or sensitive information cannot be reconstructed. See out destruction topic page for best practice approaches.