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2.5 Ministerial records

Policy

Note: Any reference to the Minister or Ministerial Office in this policy applies equally to Parliamentary Secretaries and offices of Parliamentary Secretaries.

Certain records of Ministerial and Parliamentary Secretary Offices are public records under the Public Records Act 2002. These records may only be disposed of in accordance with the Disposal Authority issued by State Archives. Public records of any type or format (including electronic records, microfilm, sound recordings, films etc) of Ministerial Offices cannot be legally destroyed or removed by an outgoing Minister without authorisation by the State Archivist. Furthermore, computer systems cannot be wiped without full back ups.

Public records would include those that document a Minister's work as a Minister of the Crown. They do not include electorate, party political or personal records.

An 'Interim Agreement For Access To Ministerial Office Records' is in place to govern access to Ministerial records.

The following procedures apply to the management and disposal of Ministerial Office records.

Procedures

2.5.1 Management of Ministerial Records

The types of records (regardless of format) created or received in a Ministerial Office may be categorised under the broad headings of:

The various categories of records held in a Minister's Office should be kept distinct from each other. This can be achieved by categorising records as they are created or received and maintaining each category separately. The classification and maintenance of records in this manner will facilitate the disposal of records at the end of the Minister's term and reduce the possibility of Ministerial records or Cabinet documents being returned to the Portfolio Agency.

Large volumes of recorded information may flow between a Portfolio Agency and a Minister's office and these records need to be managed effectively.

A Portfolio Agency should keep a copy of any document (except Cabinet documents) it forwards to a Minister's office.

A Ministerial Office has a number of options to deal with Portfolio Agency records it receives:

  1. All Portfolio Agency records forwarded to a Ministerial Office may be returned to the Portfolio Agency when the information has been noted.
  2. Portfolio Agency records may be added to Ministerial records. This may be useful when the Portfolio Agency record holdings are not immediately accessible. However, if Portfolio Agency records are incorporated with Ministerial records, they must be removed and returned to the Portfolio Agency prior to Ministerial records being forwarded to State Archives. Note: The status of Portfolio Agency records changes when they are annotated or altered in any way by the Minister or Ministerial staff. These records should then form part of the Ministerial Records if they are not returned to the agency.
  3. A Minister's office may wish to keep a complete or partial set of copies of Portfolio Agency records which relate to matters in which both the Minister's office and the Portfolio Agency are involved. These copies are authorised for destruction under the State Archive's disposal authority for Ministerial Offices.

The option adopted for managing Portfolio Agency records which flow to a Ministerial Office will depend on the Minister's preference and the procedures agreed upon by the Minister and the head of the Portfolio Agency for information-sharing and the provision of relevant information in a timely manner.

Cabinet Documents

Specific procedures relate to the management of Cabinet documents. These are set out in the Queensland Cabinet Handbook and advice specific to the Portfolio Agency should be sought from the Cabinet Legislation and Liaison Officer.

Electronic Data

Copies of electronic Ministerial Records may be stored outside the Ministerial Network on the home-use assets of Ministers and Ministerial staff, however the original record must be retained within the Ministerial Network.

Back ups of data stored on the Ministerial Network is to be carried out on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis.

As a security measure, weekly back up tapes will be stored off site.

2.5.2 Disposal of Ministerial Records

The disposal of records includes their destruction, their removal from the custody of the creating agency, or their transfer to State Archives. The effective disposal of records is an essential part of good record management. The disposal of Ministerial records should be in accordance with the disposal authority issued by State Archives.

2.5.3 During a Minister's Term of Office

Ministerial Offices may transfer Ministerial Office records that are public records to State Archives when they are no longer required. However, prior to transfer, any Cabinet or portfolio agency records should be separated.

Original portfolio agency records should be returned to the portfolio agency when no longer required by the Ministerial Office.

Declarations of Interests of Chief Executive Officers required under Section 55 of the Public Service Act 1996 require separate consideration. These records will be of permanent continuing value and should be noted by the relevant Minister and forwarded to the office of the Public Service Commissioner for secure storage in accordance with the Directive No. 1/07 Declaration of Interest: Chief Executives. These records should not be lodged with the portfolio agency.

(See INFORMATION MANAGEMENT - Ministerial Records - Disposal Authority (PDF, 156 KB))

Change of Minister within a government

When there is no change of Government but the Minister ceases to hold his/her portfolio, Ministerial records may be transferred to State Archives or given to the Minister who takes over the portfolio responsibilities. However, official records that relate to the Minister personally (eg. official diary) should be transferred to State Archives. Prior to transfer, any portfolio agency records, Cabinet documents and non-public records should be separated from the Ministerial records.

Cabinet documents should be returned by the outgoing Minister to the Cabinet Secretariat before the incoming Minister takes up duties.

Portfolio Agency records should be returned to the custody of the Portfolio Agency before the incoming Minister takes up duties.

Declaration of Interests of Chief Executive Officers should be recalled temporarily from the Office of the Public Service Commissioner and be noted by the incoming Minister before they are returned

Details of pecuniary interests of any Ministerial staff who do not continue in the employment of the new Minister should be forwarded to State Archives.

Caretaker period

In accordance with the Queensland Cabinet Handbook, Cabinet documents should be prepared for return to the Cabinet Secretariat upon Cabinet Secretariat instructions.

Portfolio Agency records should be prepared for return to the custody of the portfolio agency at the expiration of the caretaker period.

Change of government

Cabinet records must be returned to the Cabinet Secretariat within 48 hours of the election result being known and/or prior to the new government being sworn in.

Portfolio Agency records must be returned to the portfolio agency within 48 hours of the election result being known and/or prior to the new government being sworn in.

Ministerial records should be transferred to State Archives.

Declaration of Interests of Chief Executive Officers should be recalled temporarily from the office of the Public Service Commissioner and be noted by the incoming Minister before they are returned.

Details of pecuniary interests of Ministerial staff shall be forwarded by the outgoing Minister to State Archives.

In the case of electronic records, the back up tapes held off site will be returned to the facilities manager within 48 hours of the election result and/or prior to the new government being sworn in.

All electronic data, with the exception of back up tapes and diskettes, stored in the Ministerial Network will be deleted by Ministerial Services or its agent within a period of 48 hours after the election result and/or prior to the new government being sworn in.

A tape back up of file servers will be made prior to deletion. The full network back up will be forwarded to State Archives.

If an electronic record is not deleted through an error or is subsequently recovered from the Ministerial Network, that record will be deemed to be the property of the prior government and will be treated in accordance with the disposal schedule for Ministerial Office records.

If any Ministerial Records are to be transferred from an outgoing Minister to an incoming Minister, those records are to be in paper format and clearly marked as 'Records for the Incoming Minister'. These records left in a Ministerial Office following a change of government will be available to the incoming government for normal Ministerial duties.

Any other paper-based record left in a Ministerial Office following a change of government will be deemed to have been left in error. That record will be deemed to be the property of the prior government and should be treated in accordance with the disposal schedule for Ministerial Office records.

2.5.4 Storage and Access

Records transferred to State Archives will be stored in accordance with the Disposal authority. Those records with the status of permanent, will be stored by the State Archivist for eventual release after 30 years.

If records are received at State Archives that are deemed not to be public records, the relevant former ministers will be contacted to determine what is to be done with those records. For example the records could be retained, transferred to a Department, disposed of or returned to the former minister. Where the former minister can not be contacted or it is inappropriate to do so, the present leader of the party which formed the Government during whose period in office the records were created will be contacted.

Prior to release of the documents after 30 years, the State Archivist will give the present leader of the party which formed the Government during whose period in office the records were created, at least one months notice that the records are to be released.

Access by Past Governments:

Former Ministers will be entitled to access Ministerial records held by State Archives with which they dealt personally while in office, but they may not retain such documents.

The State Archivist can arrange access after discussion with the present leader of the party that formed the Government during whose period in office the records were created.

Access by Present Government:

Current Ministers will not have access to Ministerial Office records of a past Government of a different political party.

Current Ministers will normally be able to see the Ministerial Office records of former Ministers of the same political party provided the need to do so arises in the course of their current Ministerial duties. There may be exceptional circumstances in which it might be appropriate first to seek the agreement of the former Premier concerned.

Before affording access to Ministerial Office records of a previous Government, to anyone not otherwise entitled to see them, the agreement of the former Premier concerned or the current leader of the relevant political party would be sought.

Access required under Legislation or by Courts and Investigatory Bodies:

Access to Ministerial Office records may be sought by a court, a tribunal or an investigatory body or, in any event, under:

Access will be granted in accordance with the relevant legislation under which the information is sought and/or the jurisdictional powers of the particular court, tribunal or investigatory body seeking the information.

Access by Other Parties:

Access to Ministerial Office records less than 30 years old may be granted to various persons under special conditions (eg. scholars working on projects of recognised State importance, such as biographies). Request for access to these documents must be referred to the State Archivist who will liaise with the current leader of the political party that formed the Government at the relevant time.

2.5.5 Disposal Authority

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Last reviewed: 17 July, 2009

Last updated: 22 July, 2009

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