1 > INTRODUCTION

A recordkeeping policy is a vital component of any records management programme. A policy provides the framework within which such a programme operates. It affirms an organisation's commitment to ensure that authentic, reliable, and usable records are created, captured, and managed to a standard of best practice and to meet the organisation's business and legislative requirements. It can be an effective means of communicating to staff their recordkeeping responsibilities and is itself a record of an organisation's attempt to meet requirements for accountability.

The International Standard on records management, ISO 15489, emphasises the importance of a recordkeeping policy:

"An organization […] should establish, document, maintain and promulgate policies, procedures and practices for records management to ensure that its business need for evidence, accountability and information about its activities is met."¹

By promoting good recordkeeping practices, a recordkeeping policy can also assist an organisation to meet its key business objectives.

While the main driving forces and general principles behind a recordkeeping policy are constant across organisations, each organisation's policy needs to reflect its own specific recordkeeping requirements. Records managers have a crucial role to play in shaping the recordkeeping strategy and practices of their organisation. This guide is intended to assist them to develop an effective recordkeeping policy as part of a comprehensive records management programme.

Archives New Zealand also encourages organisations to submit their recordkeeping policies and other recordkeeping documentation to us for comment and review.

This guide draws on international sources of best practice, while ensuring that the advice reflects the New Zealand environment. In particular, this guide gives acknowledgement to Archives Advice 57: How to Develop a Recordkeeping Policy, by the National Archives of Australia, and Create and Capture: Guidelines on Better Recordkeeping, by the State Records of New South Wales.

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1 ISO 15489-1:2001(E), p5, section 6.1.