Information assets must only be disposed of in accordance with the requirements set out in the State Records Act 1997 (SR Act) and the Disposal Standard.

The Disposal Standard provides a set of mandatory principles and requirements to adhere to when disposing of government information.

Disposal is not simply destroying information assets.

Disposal is a range of processes associated with implementing records retention, destruction or transfer decisions of temporary value assets, not including the transfer of permanent value assets to State Records or between agencies. Which are documented in disposal determinations (ISO 15489.1 Information and documentation - Records management, Part 1: Concepts and principles (2017)).

A permanent value asset is an information asset that has archival value and will be retained permanently for research by the general community subject to appropriate access restrictions.

A temporary value asset is an information asset that does not have archival value and may be physically destroyed when a prescribed retention period has passed.

Disposal includes:

  • destroying information assets
  • abandoning information assets
  • migrating information assets from one system or platform to another
  • transferring ownership or possession of information assets to a private entity, known as Transfer of Ownership and Custody Schedule or TOCS.
  • selling information assets.

Under the SR Act disposal does not include transfer to State Records or to another government agency. Although similar practices apply.

Page last updated: 27 October 2023