In a Nutshell

Emails must be disposed of according to approved Retention and Disposal Schedules.

Emails that are public records must not be deleted, or altered without first consulting your agency's Retention and Disposal Schedule approved by the Director & State Archivist.

If in doubt contact your records unit.

In Depth

• Prior to any automatic or manual overwriting or deletion occurring, emails are to be appraised and a determination made as to their value and any requirement for ongoing retention. This determination is generally known as a Retention and Disposal Schedule and outlines the period of time for which a record must be kept. Each agency should have their own Retention and Disposal Schedule and you should contact your record management unit as to the provisions laid down in your schedule.
• Disposal may be subject to the public authority's internal procedures and may require the approval of the records management unit, or the approval of the individual with delegated authority for disposal.
• There are General Retention and Disposal Schedules that apply to all agencies and assist in the control of records for a specific purpose. The General Retention and Disposal Schedule for Administrative Records or the General Retention and Disposal Schedule for Local Government Records should be consulted to determine requirements for the ongoing retention of those particular records.
• If you relate and attach emails to existing corporate files, they will automatically 'inherit' retention and disposal scheduling from the 'parent' file. Thus, it is important that you conduct a search to ascertain if your email is part of a 'parent' file.
• Generally, emails will have the same retention period as similar records in other media.
• In cases where no retention period exists for a class of records, approval from Queensland State Archives must be sought through your records management unit, or the person at your agency with delegated authority for disposal.
• Regular and appropriate disposal of emails should take place to avoid overloading systems resulting in possible unplanned or indiscriminate deletion of records by end users and email administrators.
• On transferring or ceasing employment, employees, contractors or other personnel employed in a government activity are required to ensure their emails are appraised, captured and preserved in a recordkeeping system.

Questions

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Policy

Click here to link to the policy.

Management

Do staff store emails that are public records within personal folders on either the file server or email system?

What happens to those email accounts and folders when the employee leaves the agency?

Record Staff

The retention period for multiple copies of the one email is determined during the appraisal process and must be documented in a Queensland State Archives approved Retention and Disposal Schedule.

Public authorities should use effective techniques for ensuring permanent destruction of emails that are public records that are appraised as having no further value according to valid and approved disposal authorities.