The rapid and transformative change of the way data and information is created and used has meant we need to reimagine the way we do retention and disposal.
Currently, agencies use disposal authorisations to help determine what records to keep and for how long. Under the Public Records Act 2002, a disposal authorisation is required if you want to get rid of a public record.
We’ve been working on a project to rethink the way we do disposal authorisations. A critical part of this project is your insight and input. Therefore, Government Records Innovation team is currently seeking participants to collaborate on the project in 2.5 hr workshops during October 2021.
If you want to take part in the workshops use this Eventbrite link and we’ll be in touch with details.
However, if you want more information on what we’ve been working on we thought it might be helpful to provide you with a recap of the project to date:
The project has embraced a Human Centred Design (HCD) approach to simplifying the ways in which agencies retain and dispose of records. The aim was to make the guidance relevant to specialists and non-specialists alike across all levels of Queensland Government.
We talked to some of our stakeholders, did some research and the information pointed to Retention and Disposal Schedules being a particular pain point. The key findings were:
- It’s very time intensive developing a schedule for agencies and QSA often taking years to finalise
- They are highly detailed and complex with over 300 schedules and 47000 different disposal categories currently in play
- They can be difficult to use for records managers and everyday users
We listened and we want to change this. We need to simplify how we determine what records you keep and delete. With the above pain points in mind, we want a solution that:
- Meet the needs of public authorities
- Easy to understand and implement
- Less resource-intensive to develop.
This is where the workshops come in. We’re hoping to bring records and information managers together to test the concept we’ve come up with. Could it work? Would it make it simpler? Are we on the right track? The goal of these workshops is to find out:
- What are the current problems for your agencies in deciding what records to keep and dispose of via our Retention and Disposal Schedules? (e.g. RDS is difficult to interpret, the development takes too long, etc.)
- What would a potential new and improved solution look like? We will present you with our initial findings in this section and want to hear your view and ideas.
- Are there any other important factors when it comes to retention and disposal of records that we need to be aware of?
As mentioned previously the workshops will be held towards the end of October and will run for approximately 2.5 hours. There will be in person sessions (Brisbane CBD) and online sessions (priority for these will be given to regional participants). These workshops will be limited in numbers due to ongoing covid restrictions.
We’d love to see you there so if you’re interested please register through Eventbrite. EOI closes 27 September 2021.
Records Connect 