Discharge may occur under one of two sections of the Public Records Act, 25(1)
and 25(2):
- 25(1) covers conditions for discharge. The appraisal report should include details of any arrangements in place in the agency to ensure the conditions will be met (e.g. no discharge to a member of that agency)
- 25(2) covers records with personal details, and requires specific conditions to be met before discharge is approved. The appraisal report must include details on the procedures either in place or planned at the controlling public office to ensure the record is discharged only to the person whose record it is.
Please note discharge should only occur for records that will otherwise be destroyed, so any analysis must support a recommendation to destroy.