A big thank you to everyone who joined us for the May 2025 PRIME Network meeting- we had 116 attendees! For anyone who may have missed the meeting, or wants a refresher, please see below for a summary of what was discussed.
The meeting focused on recapping key information from the draft Mandatory Standards round 2 consultation sessions in April/May 2025 and gave attendees the opportunity to ask clarifying questions about the draft Mandatory Standards.
We once again used AHA slides for participation during the meeting. Attendees were able to enter free-text responses to questions and then vote for the top 3 questions they wanted answered during the meeting.
Highlights from this meeting
Two proposed mandatory standards
We have reduced the proposed mandatory standards from 3 to 2:
- Mandatory Standard 1 – Make & Keep
- Mandatory Standard 2 – Disposal
5 New Requirements
The round 2 consultation on draft Mandatory Standards introduced five new requirements. A summary of the new requirements are:
- Digital by default, where practicable
- Metadata for authenticity, meaning and context
- First Nations Metadata, where relevant
- Permanent records eligible for conversion to a more manageable format with permission to then dispose of source records, subject to conditions and exclusions set by the State Archivist in a disposal authorisation
- Management of records that have exceeded their minimum retention period by five years
Topics discussed during the meeting
Proposed start date:
While it was proposed Mandatory Standards would come into effect on 1 April 2026, many requirements reflect existing compliance obligations under the Act – they are not entirely new. These standards operationalise the Act, articulating how it should be put into practice through guidance and minimum requirements.
The proposed requirements in the Mandatory Standards draw directly from the Records Governance Policy (RGP) which has been in place since 2018, with the five proposed new requirements set out above.
3.1 Metadata for authenticity, meaning and context:
Metadata enables both discoverability and use of public records. But it also helps identify information assets – making it a valuable tool in risk assessment.
QSA has developed the proposed Minimum Metadata Set as one option to meet one of the sub-requirements, but there are other ways to meet this too (e.g. using other recognised Metadata sets such as those issues by National Archives of Australia and Archives New Zealand).
3.3 First Nations Metadata, where relevant
This requirement is not about overly documenting or creating additional records about Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The goal is to improve discoverability of these records, including discovery by the community.
This requirement will not apply retrospectively – it applies to records created on or after commencement of the Standard.
2.3 Permanent records eligible for conversion and disposal of source records
We are not authorising the disposal of permanent records. These records remain vital for Queensland’s history and for protecting rights and entitlements.
This sub-requirement states disposal of permanent value source records is only undertaken in accordance with the conditions and/or exclusions set out in a disposal authorisation issued by the State Archivist for that purpose.
Consultation will take place with public authorities on the development of the disposal authorisation linked to this requirement, including the conditions and exclusions. as separate project.
Questions and responses
Attendees had the opportunity to ask questions on the draft Mandatory Standards, and the below table includes some of the key questions and answers from the session.
| Questions | Answers |
| 1. Will QSA provide a template for a self-assessment? | Yes, QSA will develop a new records management maturity assessment tool based on the new Mandatory Standards to help public authorities. We anticipate this being available well before standards commence. |
| 2. What will the consequences be if a public authority is not ready for the new Standards? | Public authorities will need to assess whether they are meeting the requirements in the Standards (using the records management maturity assessment tool). Following your assessment, your first action may be to develop and implement a plan to meet the requirements. If your assessment indicates a lot of work to be done, you may need to prioritise your actions. QSA will be on hand to assist public authorities with training, guidance and support. |
| 3. Do the Standards apply only to records created or captured after commencement or will it apply to historical records also? | In general QSA is not asking you to retrospectively apply the standards to past recordkeeping practices. The intent of the mandatory standards is to uplift capability going forward. However we note the operation of one sub requirement, Requirement 3.5 in Mandatory Standards 2: Disposal regarding managing records which have exceeded their retention period by five years. If you have records retained for five years beyond their minimum retention period, you will need to assess the risks associated with retaining these records and report this risk internally. QSA will be developing guidance in this area to support public authorities to understand this requirement. |
| 4. It was mentioned that QSA will help us by providing an action plan to help us work towards compliance. When do you anticipate this will be available? | QSA will be working on developing artefacts and training in the second part of 2025. We anticipate having any supporting material available to public authorities well in advance of the standards commencement. |
| 5. Will there be guidance, for example, on First Nations language and how we can identify these records captured by staff? | QSA is continuing to consider all feedback received on this sub requirement. We will continue to refine the sub requirement in line with this and assess the training and guidance required to support public authorities in this space. |
| 6. Will the digitisation of physical records be mandatory going forward – to reduce costs on storage and for the digital archive? | Digitisation is not appropriate for all records or in all situations and therefore mandatory digitisation of records is not contemplated at this time. |
| 7. When are you expecting to put the next draft mandatory standard up for review? | It is anticipated that the next draft will be available during the consultation with chief executives which is scheduled for early August 2025 |
| 8. When will the standards be finalised to prepare for commencement of the mandatory standards? | QSA expects the standards will commence approximately 3 months after the regulation is made for the approved standards, providing public authorities time to prepare and participate in training before this time. |
| 9. How soon will compliance with the Mandatory Standards need to be met? | The mandatory standards will be in force from the commencement date of the standards. QSA will be adopting an educative approach to ensure the public authorities are supported before and after commencement. Understanding the requirements and what is needed to be done will be the key to successful adoption of the standards in your public authority. QSA will be providing ongoing support and training to assist with this. |
Poll of requested survey topics for future PRIME meetings included:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Preservation/Conservation and storage conditions
- Legacy servers and obsolete record formats
- Personal identity storage/security
- Disaster season preparations
- Many other great suggestions
Next PRIME Network Meeting
Thank you to all who attended the May PRIME Network meeting, and we look forward to seeing you at the next PRIME meeting on 28 August 2025 (*note change of date from 20 August). Keep an eye on our News and events page for more information about this event. If you would like to express your interest in joining the PRIME Network, you can do so here: Microsoft Forms
Stay connected!
The primary way to staying informed is to ensure that your public authorities’ contact information is up to date with QSA. If you have any records or information practitioners staff that have recently changed or did not receive correspondence when they should have, please use our Senior Officer contact details and Contact details for official correspondence to submit contact information. These forms can be accessed at any time by anyone to submit updated contact details.
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