Policy on Electronic Messages as Records

Final Draft

Archives Authority of New South Wales, Government of NSW
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish Government-wide policy on the management of electronic messages as records.
Scope
This policy applies across the whole of the New South Wales public sector, including those agencies that are not subject to the Archives Act, No. 46 of 1960. It should be applied in conjunction with the Policy on Electronic Recordkeeping and the standards, codes of best practice and guidelines on recordkeeping noted as referenced documents below.
Background
The Government is committed to improving the quality and keeping of official records so that they facilitate the transaction, monitoring, and auditing of official business.  Consequently new State records legislation will require agencies to make and keep records to adequately and properly document their business.  Agencies will need to comply with government approved standards and codes of best practice on recordkeeping.  The Archives Authority will provide guidelines , training and other forms of support to help agencies do so.
At the same time the Government is committed to improving the delivery of government services through information technology and telecommunications. As part of this, business in and between agencies will increasingly be conducted through electronic messaging services. Business conducted through electronic messaging must be appropriately documented to meet operational, accountability and community requirements. This involves agencies capturing and managing those electronic messages which document substantive business as official records for as long as required and no longer.  Some electronic messages can be identified as ephemeral and therefore only need to be kept for a short time.
This document is based on national and international best practice.  It complies with the Australian Standard AS 4390 Records Management (Part 3 Strategies, 8.4.1 Electronic Mail) and the principles in Corporate Memory in the Electronic Age - Statement of a Common position on Electronic recordkeeping sponsored by the Australian Council of Archives.  A number of other governments have adopted similar policies and guidance including in Australia the Commonwealth and Victorian and, overseas, the United States of America, Canada, New York State and British Columbia.
Further background to this policy is available in Documenting the Future: Policy and Strategies for Electronic Recordkeeping  in the New South Wales Public Sector (Archives Authority of New South Wales, 1995) and the standards on Full and Accurate Recordkeeping and Records Management Programs (issued as exposure drafts by the Authority in May 1996*). The Archives Authority, through its Electronic Recordkeeping Project, is developing guidelines, training and other support to help agencies implement this policy.
[Drafting note: these documents are being submitted for issue in company with this draft policy]
Definitions
For the purposes of this policy the following definitions, apply:
Electronic messaging
A general term covering all forms of electronically-mediated communication.  This includes electronic mail for text messages and an equivalent service that uses recordings of spoken messages, known as voice messaging.  It may also include computer conferencing and videotext.  Also used as synonymous with electronic mail.
Record*
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.
Electronic records*
Records communicated and maintained by means of electronic equipment.
Official records
Includes public records as defined in the Archives Act 1960 and the records of agencies subject to this policy that are not covered by that Act.

Recordkeeping
This is an umbrella term referring to making and maintaining of complete, accurate, and reliable evidence of business transactions in the form of recorded information.  This term encompasses:
•	the creation of records in the course of business, and including the use of means to ensure the creation of adequate records
•	the design, establishment and operation of recordkeeping systems, and
•	the management of records through recordkeeping systems in their business context (traditionally regarded as the domain of records management) and as archives (traditionally regarded as the domain of archives administration).
Recordkeeping systems *
Information systems which capture, maintain and provide access to records over time.
Information systems*
Organised collections of hardware, software, supplies, policies, procedures and people, which store, process and provide access to information.
Disposal*
A range of processes associated with implementing appraisal decisions. These include the retention, deletion or destruction of records. They may also include the migration or transmission of records between recordkeeping systems, and the transfer of custody or ownership of records.
Transaction*
The smallest unit of business activity. Uses of records are themselves transactions.

(Definitions marked * are from Australian Standard AS 4390, Records Management, Part 1: General, Clause 4)
Policy
1.	Electronic messages are records
1.1	An electronic message is a form of business communication. The sending of an electronic message is a business transaction and therefore a record. 
1.2	Records sent and received by a government employee in the course of official duties are to be treated as official records. For agencies subject to the Archives Act 1960 these are public records as governed by the Act.
1.3	As records of government agencies, electronic messages, like records in other formats, are subject to legislation such as Freedom of Information Act and to legal processes such as discovery and subpoenas. The records may also be required by Royal Commissions, the Courts, auditors and other people or bodies to whom or which they may be subject.
2	Electronic messages are to be captured and maintained as functioning records 
2.1	In order to function as a record, electronic messages require the preservation of their structure, context and content. 
	Structure refers to both the software instructions for the layout (format) of the message and the links to attachments and related documents for a particular transaction. Content refers to the content of the message as received. Context refers to the information documenting the source and destination of the message and gives the message meaning (found for example within header information for electronic mail).
2.2	In order to maintain their value as evidence electronic messages as records must be inviolate, that is, they cannot be altered or manipulated.
3	Electronic messages must be captured into an identifiable recordkeeping system
3.1	Electronic messages required as evidence of business activity should be captured directly into an electronic recordkeeping system.
3.2	If the preferred method of capturing records above cannot be satisfied an agency must satisfy one of the following options:
•	Recordkeeping functionality can be built into the electronic messaging system.
•	Electronic mail and voice mail, with appropriate contextual detail, can be printed or transcribed and filed into a paper-based recordkeeping system. 
3.3	Back-up stores of electronic messages within messaging systems and ad-hoc saving of messages to directories are not to be considered a form of recordkeeping system.
4	Electronic messages must be effectively managed
4.1	Effective management practices for electronic messages as records will ensure that an agency's accountability and recordkeeping requirements are met.
4.2	Records should be retained for as long as required to meet identified recordkeeping requirements and no longer. Ephemeral messages therefore, are records which only need to be retained for a short time and may not need to be captured into a recordkeeping system.
4.3	Agencies subject to the Archives Act 1960 should dispose of electronic messages as records in accordance with the Act.
4.4	Electronic messages are to be managed in accordance with sound data management practices.
5	Electronic messages must be appropriately accessible 
5.1	Electronic messages must be readily accessible to meet business and accountability requirements.
5.2	Electronic messages need to be accessible for as long as they are required to be retained.
6	Electronic messages must be appropriately protected
6.1	Arrangements for maintaining electronic messages as records must be in accordance with government-approved policies, for example, regarding privacy issues and commercial interests.
7	Management of electronic messages as records must be supported by internal policies, procedures and guidelines
7.1 	Corporate level policies, procedures and guidelines should cover the following:
•	ownership of the messaging system and messages received or sent
•	definitions of terms
•	legislation that directly affects the whole organisation's recordkeeping and legal processes
•	conditions for use of the corporate messaging facilities including any private use
•	outline of responsibilities for management of the messaging system and electronic messages as records
•	capture, management and disposal of electronic messages as records
•	security and access requirements
•	user guidelines for the management of electronic messages as records.

Further information
Referenced documents
Australian Standard AS 4390, Records Management, issued in February 1996
Policy on Electronic Recordkeeping, issued as Premiers Memorandum 1996/?
Standard on Full and Accurate Recordkeeping, issued as an exposure draft by the Archives Authority of New South Wales in May 1996
Standard on Records Management Programs, issued as an exposure draft by the Archives Authority of New South Wales in May 1996
Corporate memory in the Electronic Age: Statement of a Common Position on Electronic Recordkeeping, Australian Council of Archivists, May 1996 
Exemptions
There are no general exemptions from this policy.
Exclusions
There are no general exclusions from this policy.
Funding
No special conditions for funding exist for implementing this policy.
Enquiries
Enquiries regarding this policy should, in the first instance, be directed to the Records Management Office, Archives Authority of New South Wales.