Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn
Catholic Education Office

Record Keeping

Related Policies:

Financial Accounting Procedures
Assessment Data - Access and Storage
Assessment Data - Collection and Use
Enrolment
Privacy

Purpose:

Good record keeping practices ensure that all school records, whether hard copy or digital, are discoverable, accessible, inviolate and credible. To achieve this, records should be managed by appropriate filing strategies and storage systems. These practices apply also to inactive records that are to be retained.

Policy:

It is the responsibility of the Principal in an Archdiocesan school to ensure that the school keeps appropriate, accurate and up-to-date financial and administrative records and maintains secure access to information at the appropriate levels.

Definitions:

Records: “recorded information, in any form, including data in computer systems, created or received and maintained by an organisation or person in the transaction of business or the conduct of affairs and kept as evidence of such activity.” (AS 4390.1 Australian Standard – Records Management)

School records include, for example, enrolment information, staff and student records, financial records, publications, photographs, buildings and facilities plans and documents, and encompass both digital and hard copy formats.

Procedures:

Records Retention

Certain records are retained or archived to meet legal and fiscal requirements or future administrative needs, or because of historical significance. The retention period for some records is determined by legal or system requirements. For other records, retention periods are determined by practice, precedent or accountability. A schedule of recommended retention periods for selected school records is provided below.

The retention periods are not format specific, i.e. there is no difference between the period of retention required for print and digital records. As digital records may be created in applications that are not easily migrated to newer platforms, schools should ensure that vital and evidential records created and stored in digital formats will be available for the specified period of retention.

Destruction of Records

Only the Principal or the Director of Catholic Education or the Director's delegate can authorise the destruction of school records.

Each school should maintain a Register of Records Destroyed. Before destruction of records, the records' title/description, inclusive dates, and destruction method must be noted in the Register. The person authorising the destruction of the records, usually the Principal, must sign the Register.

School records must be disposed of in an appropriate manner. Destruction must be by shredding or total incineration if the paper-based records are confidential, and by total erasure or incineration if the records are electronic. Recycling may be considered if the records are non-confidential.

Special Considerations

(i) Accidents or injuries –

Students - where a claim is foreshadowed or an accident has occurred schools should retain all relevant records;
Employees - OH&S and Workers Compensation legislation require that a Register of Injuries, Notice of Injuries Form and a record of any first aid treatment given must be kept.

(ii) Privacy Act

All school staff need to be mindful of the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988 and the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998, particularly concerning use and disclosure, security and access when handling school records containing personal and sensitive information.

Retention Schedule for Selected Records

The retention periods in the attached table are the minimum periods schools should retain the records. Where legal requirements are not applicable but best practice in schools has been for the retention of certain files because of system or evidential requirements, the notes indicate appropriate periods. Schools should also consider the archival or historical value of certain files before sentencing records for destruction.

References:

Board of Studies (2004). Registration Systems and Member Non-government Schools (NSW) Manual.

ACT Education Act 2004.

NSW Education Act 1990.

Catholic Education Office (2005). The Archdiocesan Protocols for the Analysis and Reporting of External Test Data.

Privacy Act 1988, which was amended by the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000

Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998

Forms:

Nil

Last updated on December 2, 2006