Information for New Zealand Universities
The Public Records Act 2005 (PRA) provides a new recordkeeping framework for New Zealand universities.
The Act sets out a framework for preserving public records for future generations. It covers certain records created and received by New Zealand universities. It also enables universities to identify which records they need to transfer to Archives and which records can be destroyed.
Under the legislation, universities must:
- create and maintain full and accurate records which must be accessible over time
- obtain the authority of the Chief Archivist in order to dispose of public records. Disposal is the archival term for the ultimate fate of records, and usually means their destruction or transfer to Archives New Zealand.
New Zealand University General Disposal Authority
To assist universities with their recordkeeping processes, Archives New Zealand authorised a sector-specific General Disposal Authority (GDA) in 2008. This covers certain hardcopy and electronic records created or received by New Zealand universities, the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, and their predecessor institutions.
The GDA identifies 17 different classes of university records common to most institutions, and authorises their disposal. Universities may use this GDA without further authorisation from the Chief Archivist.
New Zealand Universities Appraisal Report
The appraisal report provides detailed information on the classes of records common to most Universities in New Zealand. It also outlines the criteria that is used to determine the retention and destruction actions in the GDA.
New Zealand Universities Retention and Disposal Schedule
The Retention and Disposal Schedule describes in tabular form each class and sub class, descriptions of the types of records they are likely to contain, as well as their minimum retention periods and their ultimate fate (ie, either destroy or transfer).
University GDA Implementation Guide
The Implementation Guide is designed to assist university staff to make decisions about their records from the New Zealand Universities GDA to their own record holdings.
The Guide is not intended to replace the detailed planning that all universities will need to do to best manage their own circumstances and resources. It is not designed to duplicate guides or best practice documentation which has already been released by Archives New Zealand.
For further information on the GDA or advice on developing a separate, institution-specific authority, please contact the Appraisal Section at appraisal@archives.govt.nz.
Further support material
The Archives New Zealand Continuum website contains resources to assist all organisations covered by the PRA with their recordkeeping responsibilities, including the management of the GDA.
These resources include:
- recordkeeping publications - the Continuum Resource Kit contains standards, guides and fact sheets to enable good recordkeeping and compliance with the Public Records Act. These can be downloaded from our recordkeeping publications page;
- advice on transfer and destruction, and on how to apply access restrictions to particular records can be sought from our transfer of public archives page;
- advice on records preservation and storage can be sought from our preservation and storage page.
For further information on Archives New Zealand’s recordkeeping advisory services, please contact the Government Recordkeeping Programme at: rkadvice@archives.govt.nz.
