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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-09 Daily Xml
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STATE RECORDS ACT

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:42): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management a question about state records.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE:The Advertiser recently reported that the South Australian government messaging service only keeps backup emails for 30 days after end-of-month reports are retrieved from the system and that this fails to meet the statutory requirements on government for records management. Section 13 of the State Records Act requires every agency to ensure that official records are maintained in good order and condition. My question is: can the minister assure the council that the government's email system archives emails in a way which meets its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act and the State Records Act, and the need for evidence in criminal and civil proceedings?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (14:42): Obviously, there is a responsibility on the chief executives of departments to ensure that they meet the requirements of the State Records Act. I know that there are some technical problems in relation to how we deal, in the longer term, with recording information electronically. Of course, one of the issues is that even the technology for the storage of records electronically changes from time to time with technological development.

What was on floppy disk some years ago has moved to CDs, we have USBs and, of course, we have gone through phases of magnetic tape and all sorts of other types of storage. There are technological issues that make this a challenge. However, the honourable member has asked an important question, and I will take the advice of State Records SA in relation to the matters he has raised. I have not seen the particular article he was referring to, but I will get some advice from State Records SA as to its assessment of the situation relating to the storage of electronic records.

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