• GENERAL DISPOSAL AUTHORITY:
  GENERAL HOUSEKEEPING RECORDS

The General Housekeeping General Disposal Authority (hereafter GDA) has been developed for the use of public offices wishing to dispose of records legally. Information about using the GDA is contained in the General Disposal Authorities Implementation Guide, which should be consulted before the GDA is implemented. The Guide outlines the processes for public offices to follow when implementing the disposal recommendations in the GDA, and gives advice on other recordkeeping issues such as access and transfer of records.

This GDA covers types of records usually disposed of on a daily basis by most staff members and is intended to facilitate organised disposal in agencies. Any other records not included should be covered in your own agency-wide disposal authority.

This GDA does not cover records that relate to a public office’s primary duties and responsibilities. For some examples, see section 8 of the Implementation Guide. Before applying this GDA, public offices will need to ascertain which of their records reflecting primary duties or responsibilities fall outside its scope. If you have any queries about this, please contact the Appraisal Section at appraisal@archives.govt.nz.

Please note that if a public office has an agency-specific continuing disposal authority relating to the same records covered by this GDA, then the existing disposal authority should be considered the legal authority. If the public office has no agency-specific disposal authorities relating to such records, then this GDA should be considered the legal authority. If the public office signed up to this GDA under the former Archives Act, then this GDA remains the authority. For further information or advice, please contact the Appraisal Section.

This GDA should not be directly applied by general staff. Most agencies will have their own internal rules and practices which can incorporate the provisions of the GDA and be used to create simple staff guides on correct recordkeeping practices. We recommend that familiarisation with such instructions and other internal rules and practices be a standard part of induction for new staff, and a part of standard training procedures for general staff.

All public offices should produce internal policies and procedures to clarify what is meant by particular GDA terms in their own organisation. For example, "drafts with substantial annotation" may need to be further defined in your business context. Specific retention periods should also be determined for these records.

Please note that:

• Under the Public Records Act 2005 a public record is, briefly, a record created or received by a public office in the conduct of its affairs, while a record is information that is compiled, recorded or stored in any format.
• Agency procedures should clearly define what is meant in each category e.g. what constitutes the corporate recordkeeping system, or what constitutes 'personal' records for that specific agency.
• Agencies should only deploy this GDA where they have clear procedures and staff are aware of correct protocols.
• If you think that a record marked for destruction ought to be preserved permanently, DO NOT DESTROY IT. Contact the Appraisal Section of Archives New Zealand to arrange for the records to be assessed.
• The onus is on each agency to establish their specific legal obligations for record retention relating to their particular functions.

Caveats on destruction

• This authority applies to all record types irrespective of format.
• Authority to destroy records does not apply where:
  • (a) any legislation specifically requires its retention; or
  • (b) records are required for a legal case; or
  • (c) where an Official Information Act request has been, or is likely to be made regarding that record.

A valid disposal authority is not a defence or excuse for destroying or otherwise disposing of records for a fraudulent or illegal purpose.