State Records Authority of New South Wales
Why is good recordkeeping important?
Information is a primary organisational asset that is needed now and into the
future. Good recordkeeping underpins the provision of good business information.
Good recordkeeping helps you to find and share the information you need
Your business relies on information. Without it, it cannot function. Good
recordkeeping can help you to find the information you need. It promotes the
creation of full and accurate records in the first place. It also involves storing and
managing records appropriately so that the information will be available to you
when you need it. It can also assist you to promote information sharing and
collaboration.
Good recordkeeping results in information that can be trusted
Good recordkeeping enables you to trust the information you find. Thanks to
proper recordkeeping processes, you can be confident that information has
authenticity and integrity, that data is in context, that you will be able to
understand past decisions and actions and that the information will withstand
scrutiny as evidence.
Good recordkeeping helps you to make sound decisions
If you can access and trust information then you can use it to make more
informed decisions and to take appropriate actions. Good recordkeeping helps you
to conduct better business.
Good recordkeeping protects you and your organisation from risk
Good recordkeeping can be your proof that you have made considered decisions
and taken appropriate actions. Records become your protection if you are
questioned or challenged. Without them, you are at risk.
Good recordkeeping can not only protect you but can support your organisation in
legal or other challenges. It also protects the rights of your clients and ensures
that they have what they are entitled to. Without records, your organisation and
your clients are at risk.
Good recordkeeping can also help you to comply with a range of legislation and
prevent legal challenges arising. It is a very powerful risk mitigation tool. It also
ensures that records are destroyed in a timely way which again mitigates risk.
Good recordkeeping helps you meet your responsibilities for open
government
Open government and the proactive release of information, under the
Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, needs to be supported by
good recordkeeping. Good recordkeeping will help you to know what information
you have and what you can make more openly available.
Good recordkeeping enables information to be reused
Business information that can be found easily and trusted can be repurposed and
reused in multiple ways. This creates efficiencies and business advantages. It can
help you to maximise scarce resources.
Good recordkeeping can bring you commercial advantage
Good recordkeeping can bring enormous competitive advantages and adds value
to your business. For example, information can be repackaged or mined for
business intelligence in innovative ways.
Good recordkeeping can save you money
Good recordkeeping also helps you to routinely purge time expired business
information and therefore save money.
Good recordkeeping helps to build better business systems
Good recordkeeping involves the proactive identification of information
requirements and the configuration of business systems to meet these
requirements. Such work can guarantee that the business information can be
accessed, used and understood for as long as the business requires it, beyond the
life-span of individual business applications.
Good recordkeeping supports long term accountability and sustainability
Good recordkeeping doesn’t only support your business now. It also supports it in
the future.
With the challenges of media degradation, rapid technological change and the
barrage of new formats and applications lacking inherent recordkeeping
capability, this task is not easy and requires planning and vigilance.
Some government business information will continue to be needed for a long time
into the future. For example:
• information that documents the rights and entitlements of staff and clients
will be needed to ensure rights and entitlements are honoured now and in
the future
• information about the expenditure of major public funds or the decision
making process for major policy developments will continue to be needed
by organisations to demonstrate their accountability
• information about the construction of bridges, roads and other public
infrastructure will be needed to manage those assets in the future
• key information will continue to be needed to document the rich history of
our localities, our states and our nation.
Good recordkeeping ensures that longer term needs for information are identified
at creation and that the right information is sustained and remains accessible for
as long at it is needed.
Further information
If you are from the NSW public sector contact State Records NSW on email:
govrec@records.nsw.gov.au or visit our website at www.records.nsw.gov.au
for
more information about good recordkeeping.
If you are from another jurisdiction, contact your relevant records and archival
authority.
http://futureproof.records.nsw.gov.au
Future Proof: protecting our digital future
