s 1Short title
This Act may be cited as the State Records Act 2000.
This Act may be cited as the State Records Act 2000.
This Act comes into operation on a day fixed by proclamation.
Different days may be fixed under subsection (1) for different provisions.
In this Act —
authorised applicant, in relation to an application to the Commission, means a person authorised under section 4 to make the application;
Commission means the State Records Commission established by section 57;
control, in relation to a record, means the responsibility for keeping it but does not include the responsibility for creating it;
destroy, in relation to a record, means to deal with the record —
so that any or all of the information recorded or stored on it is obliterated or rendered illegible or irrecoverable; or
so that it can not convey a meaning in a visible, audible or recoverable form;
Director means the Director of State Records referred to in section 70;
exempt record means a record —
control of which is given by a State organisation to another person in the course of the organisation’s operations;
that is part of publicly available library material held by a State organisation for reference purposes;
that was not created by a State organisation and that is part of the collection of a State collecting institution;
FOI Act means the Freedom of Information Act 1992;
government organisation means an organisation in Schedule 1 but does not include an organisation in Schedule 2;
government organisation employee means —
a person who, whether or not an employee, alone or with others governs, controls or manages a government organisation; or
a person who, under the Public Sector Management Act 1994, is a public service officer of a government organisation; or
a person who is engaged by a government organisation, whether under a contract for services or otherwise,
and includes, in the case of a government organisation referred to in item 5 or 6 of Schedule 1, a ministerial officer (as defined in the Public Sector Management Act 1994) assisting the organisation;
government record means a record created or received by —
a government organisation; or
a government organisation employee in the course of the employee’s work for the organisation,
but does not include an exempt record;
keep, in relation to a record, has the meaning affected by subsection (2);
parliamentary department means a department that is deemed to have been constituted in relation to the administration of Parliament for the purposes of the Financial Management Act 2006 by regulations made for the purposes of section 5(1) of that Act;
parliamentary record means a record created or received by —
a parliamentary department; or
a person in the course of the person’s work for the department, whether the person is employed under a contract of service or is engaged under a contract for services or otherwise,
but does not include an exempt record;
record means any record of information however recorded and includes —
any thing on which there is writing or Braille; and
a map, plan, diagram or graph; and
a drawing, pictorial or graphic work, or photograph; and
any thing on which there are figures, marks, perforations, or symbols, having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them; and
anything from which images, sounds or writings can be reproduced with or without the aid of anything else; and
any thing on which information has been stored or recorded, either mechanically, magnetically, or electronically;
record keeping plan means —
in relation to a parliamentary department, the record keeping plan approved in respect of the department under Part 2, as the plan is amended from time to time under that Part;
in relation to a government organisation, the record keeping plan approved in respect of the organisation under Part 3, as the plan is amended from time to time under that Part;
relevant Minister, in relation to a Schedule 3 organisation, means the Minister to whom the administration of the Act under which the organisation is established or continued is for the time being committed by the Governor;
reproduce, in relation to a record, has the meaning affected by subsection (3);
restricted access archive means a State archive that is a government record and to which access is restricted until it is of a certain age;
retention period, in relation to a record, means the period for which the record must be kept before it may be destroyed;
Schedule 3 organisation means a government organisation in Schedule 3;
State archive means a State record that is to be retained permanently;
State archives collection means the collection of State archives referred to in section 35;
State collecting institution means —
the Art Gallery of Western Australia preserved and continued by the Art Gallery Act 1959; and
the State Reference Library (as defined in the Library Board of Western Australia Act 1951); and
the Western Australian Museum constituted under the Museum Act 1969;
State organisation means —
a parliamentary department; or
a government organisation;
State record means —
a parliamentary record; or
a government record;
State Records Office means the entity referred to in section 72;
successor, in relation to a government organisation that is abolished or that ceases to be a government organisation, means the government organisation (if any) that takes over that organisation’s functions;
unauthorised possession, in relation to a government record, means possession that is not authorised by any of the following —
the record keeping plan of the government organisation that last had possession of, or that has the control of, the record;
the government organisation that last had possession of, or that has the control of, the record;
the archives keeping plan;
the Director;
a written law;
an order or determination of a court or tribunal.
In this Act a reference to keeping records or record keeping includes a reference —
to creating, maintaining, indexing, organising, storing, preserving, securing, retaining and managing records; and
to maintaining, preserving, securing and retaining the means by which any information on a record can be recovered.
In this Act a reference to reproducing a record in another form includes a reference to reproducing the information in the record by another means.
For example: a paper record could be reproduced in the form of a microfilm or it could be scanned and the information in it digitised for reproduction by means of a computer.
In this Act a State organisation’s State records are those records that the organisation has created or received or taken control of.
In this Act a reference to transferring a record to another person includes a reference to transferring the means of recovering the record’s information to the person.
In this Act the age of a record is to be determined from the date when it first became a State record.
Notes and examples in this Act are provided to assist understanding and do not form part of the Act.
[Section 3 amended: No. 77 of 2006 Sch. 1 cl. 159(1).]
If under section 37(2)(b), 38(3), or 48(3) a government organisation could apply to the Commission in relation to a State archive but the organisation has been abolished or has ceased to be a government organisation, then the application may be made by —
the successor (if any) to the former organisation that took over the function of the former organisation to which the archive most closely relates; or
the Minister administering the Royal Commissions Act 1968 if the former organisation was a Royal Commission; or
the Director in any other case.
This Act binds the Crown.
This Act applies to any record that on the commencement of this Act is a State record, even though the record was created or received by or on behalf of a State organisation before then and notwithstanding that the organisation may have been abolished or ceased to be a State organisation.
This Act applies to a State organisation unless this Act or another written law expressly says otherwise.
In this section —
former organisation means a government organisation that is abolished or that ceases to be a government organisation.
A government organisation that is about to become a former organisation is to notify the Director accordingly.
Subject to Part 4, control of a government record kept by a former organisation is to be taken —
if there is only one successor to the former organisation — by that successor; or
if there are 2 or more successors to the former organisation — by the successor that takes over the function to which the record most closely relates; or
if a person that is not a government organisation takes over the function of the former organisation to which the record relates — by that person; or
if the functions of the former organisation are not taken over by any person — by a government organisation designated by the Minister.
A government organisation that takes control of a government record from a former organisation must keep that record in accordance with the former organisation’s record keeping plan until the organisation’s own record keeping plan is amended.
If a person that is not a government organisation takes control of a government record from a former organisation —
the person is to be taken to be a government organisation for the purposes of this Act; and
the former organisation’s record keeping plan is to be taken to be the person’s record keeping plan.
This section is subject to any express provision in a written law about the records of a former organisation.
If a provision in another written law requires a government organisation to keep a record in respect of any matter and that provision is inconsistent with a provision in this Act, the provision in the other written law prevails.
This Act does not affect the operation of the Royal Commission (Custody of Records) Act 1992.
The individual responsible for ensuring that a parliamentary department complies with this Act is the individual who under the Financial Management Act 2006 is the accountable authority for that department.
Where a government organisation is not an individual, the individual responsible for ensuring that a government organisation complies with this Act is the individual who, under the FOI Act, is the principal officer of the organisation.
If under the FOI Act a government organisation that is not an individual does not have a principal officer, the individual responsible for ensuring that the organisation complies with this Act is the individual who holds the office or class of office prescribed by the regulations to be the office responsible in respect of that organisation.
The chief executive officer of the department principally assisting the Premier is responsible for ensuring that the government organisations described in items 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Schedule 1 comply with this Act.
[Section 10 amended: No. 77 of 2006 s. 6 and Sch. 1 cl. 159(2).]
A record keeping plan in respect of a parliamentary department is a record setting out —
the matters about which parliamentary records are to be created by the department; and
how the department is to keep its parliamentary records.
A parliamentary department’s record keeping plan must be consistent with any written law to which the department is subject when performing its functions.
Without limiting subsection (1), a parliamentary department’s record keeping plan must set out —
those parliamentary records that will be retained permanently; and
the retention period for those parliamentary records that are not to be retained permanently; and
the systems to ensure the security of the parliamentary records and compliance with the record keeping plan.
A parliamentary department’s record keeping plan may set out the manner in which records will be created.
A parliamentary department’s record keeping plan may provide —
for a parliamentary record to be reproduced in another form;
for the destruction of a parliamentary record if a reproduction of it is being kept, even though the destruction occurs at a time when the record would otherwise not be able to be lawfully destroyed.
A parliamentary department’s record keeping plan may set out —
whether or not public access is to be permitted to a parliamentary record or class of parliamentary record;
if public access is to be permitted, the age of the record at which it will be permitted.
Each parliamentary department is to have a record keeping plan approved under this section.
Within 12 months after this section commences a parliamentary department must submit a draft record keeping plan —
in the case of a department concerned with administration of the Legislative Council — to the President of the Legislative Council; and
in the case of a department concerned with the administration of the Legislative Assembly — to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly; and
in the case of any other department — to both the President and the Speaker.
A draft record keeping plan must be prepared in consultation with the Commission and taking notice of any relevant principles and standards established by the Commission under section 61.
The President or the Speaker, as the case requires, may approve or refuse to approve a draft record keeping plan submitted under subsection (2)(a) or (b).
A draft record keeping plan submitted under subsection (2)(c) may be refused approval either by the President or by the Speaker or it may be approved by both of them.
If a parliamentary department’s draft record keeping plan is refused approval the department must submit another draft plan within one month or such time as is directed by the President or the Speaker or both, as the case requires.
Showing the first 12 of 88 provisions. See all provisions