Policies

The Appraisal Statement specifies in summary the records of government administration required for permanent retention as State Archives.

It is designed to:

• Support consistent and transparent appraisal by Victorian government
• Assist government agencies to undertake appraisal
• Communicate our collecting objectives to our stakeholders
• Describe in summary the types of records we will preserve as Archives for future discovery and use.

Government agencies undertaking appraisal will be expected to address the statement’s permanent record characteristics in the development of disposal authorities submitted for the approval of the Keeper of Public Records.

The Approval Processes Policy provides PROV's position on creating and managing records for approval processes.

The Approval Processes Policy was developed to address the increasing complexity of creating and managing full and accurate records of approvals processes due to the wide range of technical solutions and the increasing use of automation and machine learning.

Public offices should apply the terms of the Approval Processes Policy in line with the PROV Value and Risk Policy, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies and Recordkeeping Policy and the PROV Recordkeeping Standards to relevant recordkeeping decisions and practices.

The Approval Process Guideline was developed to provide advice on how to implement the Approval Processes Policy.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies and Recordkeeping Policy was designed to address transparency and accountability concerns in relation to AI implementation and use and to enable explainable AI use. This includes the production of full and accurate records/data, as well as the appropriate management of those records/data in accordance with PROV Recordkeeping Standards.

This policy is a companion to the Approval Processes Policy which covers decisions and actions relating to an approval process (including those conducted by machine learning and related technologies). Public offices should apply its terms in line with the PROV Value and Risk Policy and the Recordkeeping Standards to relevant recordkeeping decisions and practice.

The Backup Technologies and Records Management Policy provides directives relating to:

• Backups used only for restoration
• Backups used to store records/data not held in any other system.

Public offices should apply the terms of this policy in line with PROV Recordkeeping Standards and the Value and Risk Policy.

The Managing Records in Business Systems Policy provides PROV's position on managing records in business systems, regardless of whether they are designed to be records management systems. It clarifies the main recordkeeping requirements to be implemented in all business systems, and should be read in conjunction with PROV Standards.

Public offices should apply the terms of this policy in line with the Approval Processes Policy and the Value and Risk Policy.

The Recordkeeping and cloud services policy provides direction to support compliance with the mandatory PROV Standards when using externally provided technologies/infrastructure (cloud services).

Records created and captured under cloud service arrangements remain public sector records and it is the responsibility of the public office to ensure they are managed in compliance with PROV Standards.

The Cloud Computing Issues Paper previously issued by PROV, examines the recordkeeping implications of operating in a cloud computing environment.

The Data and Recordkeeping Policy provides PROV's position on data and recordkeeping. It clarifies that the definition of record under the Public Records Act 1973 includes data, and that data must be managed in accordance with PROV Standards.

Public offices should apply the terms of this policy in line with the Value and Risk Policy, PROV Recordkeeping Standards and relevant Retention and Disposal Authorities (including the principal of Normal Administrative Practice).

The Mobile Technologies and Recordkeeping Issues Paper was designed to explore the information management implications of moving to various types of mobile technologies in the workplace.

The Issues Paper was used to develop the Recordkeeping Policy: Mobile Technologies which provides principles for making decisions about the use of mobile technologies for recordkeeping across Victorian government.

The Recordkeeping Implications for Social Media Issues Paper was designed to discuss social media recordkeeping and what Victorian government should be considering in regards to these types of records.

The Issues Paper was used to develop the Social Media Policy which provides principles for making decisions about capturing social media records.

The Value and Risk Policy provides PROV's position on taking a value and risk-based approach to resourcing and implementing records management programs and initiatives.

The Value and Risk Policy was developed in recognition of the need for Victorian public sector agencies to prioritise actions due to resource and other constraints when implementing the mandatory Standards issued by the Keeper of Public Records.