Release of revised List of protected records for local authorities

15 May 2024

We've been working with the Association of Local Government Information Managers (ALGIM) to complete a review of the List of protected records of local authorities (the List). The accompanying Explanatory notes (the Notes) have also been reviewed and updated and both are now available on our website. The Notes are designed to sit alongside the List to provide further context and advice about the practical implementation of it.

Read the final version of the List

Read the final version of the Notes

Why we have the List

Section 40 of the Public Records Act 2005 (the Act) allows the Chief Archivist to declare, by notice in the New Zealand Gazette, that certain classes of local authority information and records are ‘protected’ for the purposes of the Act.

This requirement must be considered alongside other factors in the regulatory environment. Destruction of local authority information and records must not occur contrary to legislation requiring retention.

It's important to note however, that ‘protected’ does not automatically mean ‘keep forever’. Local authorities need to notify the Chief Archivist before they can dispose of these information and records. Dispose means 'decide what to do with', for example, by destroying or transferring control to a local authority archive or some other archival institution.

Why we reviewed the List

The current List is based on the Local Government Schedule. This was first published in 1990 under the Archives Act 1957 and Part 17 of the Local Government Act 1974.

In 2004, ALGIM and consultants SWIM Limited developed the ALGIM Information Management Toolkit. This contained a disposal schedule which incorporated the Local Government Schedule, as well as our General Disposal Authorities 1, 2 and 3.

In 2005, the Act repealed the Archives Act and incorporated the provisions of Part 17 of the Local Government Act. But it was not until 2013 that the Local Government Schedule was substantially refreshed and replaced by the List and issued under section 40 of the Act. This was a collaborative piece of work with SWIM representing ALGIM, which also resulted in the creation of the Notes.

There has been little change in the content of the List since 2013. It was well overdue for a substantial review to complement the current and evolving needs in the local government sector, and to make it more future-focussed and format neutral.

Changes to the List and Notes

Since April 2023, we've worked with ALGIM to revise the List and the accompanying Notes. This has included several rounds of consultation with local authorities and relevant stakeholders.

Following this consultation, the main changes made to the List and Notes are:

• clarification of the purpose of the List

• consideration of the Treaty of Waitangi intentions and principles, as well as information and records of significance to Māori

• inclusion of a description and reasons for protection for each class

• inclusion of a separate class for common corporate management information and records

• replacement of 2 classes that are inconsistent with our current disposal guidance with appropriate explanatory text

• removal of examples from the List to the Notes, as well as examples to retain for long-term business practice only, and examples that are excluded from meeting a particular class.