Record-keeping in public sector still worrying — Archives New Zealand report

Friday, 9 April 2021

Want to keep an eye on your local MP? This video will explain how the OIA can help.

A new report has revealed more worrying and inconsistent patterns of record-keeping within the public sector, which is struggling to keep up with rapidly-evolving technology.

But the chief archivist said its findings also show a growing maturity and awareness of the importance of effective record-keeping.

The Archives New Zealand report detailed results of its survey of information management within the public sector. It made several recommendations for improving record-keeping in government, particularly in the areas of identifying high-risk and high-value information, and identifying information that’s relevant to Māori.

Its release comes a year after Archives’ first report, which found major holes in government record-keeping.

**READ MORE:

Record-keeping in the public sector is still inconsistent and worrying, a new Archives New Zealand report has found.

* Bringing our archives to the people: Stephen Clarke on Archives New Zealand's changing role

* Survey finds worrying holes in management and accessibility of public records

* Public sector organisations criticised for poor record-keeping

Redacted - how OIA information is stripped out, frustrating the public and journalists trying to get to the heart of an issue. (Video first published March 2019).

Of 214 respondents in the new report – which includes ministries, departments, councils, district health boards, parliament offices and education entities – just 39 per cent had identified information that they hold which was of importance to Māori.

“It is a significant finding,” chief archivist Stephen Clarke said.

Of the respondents which said they don’t, or don’t know if they hold information that’s of importance to Māori, 61 per cent conducted business that intersects with the interests of Māori, including health, education, employment and the environment.

“If public sector organisations do not understand the varied information needs of Māori and how those needs connect with the information they hold, then chances are they are not creating and managing that information in ways that support those needs,” the report said.

Meanwhile, just 36 per cent of respondents had identified high-value or high-risk information. This was a particularly “worrying” finding, the report said, as identifying such information has been an explicit requirement since July 2016.

The Public Records Act requires public offices to keep full and accurate records to enable the government to be held accountable.

Other findings included 53 per cent of respondents saying they “definitely” or “possibly” had digital information which was inaccessible due to being stored in personal systems, or because of inadequate metadata and obsolete file formats.

Stephen Clarke, chief archivist, said all of the public sector could do better.

Some respondents said physical information they held was not protected against security risks.

And the proportion of respondents which were migrating out-of-date file formats was still too low, the report found. Also low was the amount of respondents which had built effective information management requirements into new systems.

“It has been mandatory for over a decade and the results raise questions about the compliance of any business systems implemented in this period,” the report said.

The report indicated a continued lack of understanding and resistance from the public sector of the importance of information management.

Some respondents, as one example, did not know what information they held or in what formats, including whether they held information in rapidly-deteriorating formats like magnetic media (VHS/audio cassette tapes).

Challenges respondents noted included the scale and pace of technological change, the number of digital storage environments and a lack of resourcing and capability to partake in effective information management.

It also highlighted concerns that Archives New Zealand itself was not providing relevant guidance.

Clarke said the public sector was still grappling with challenges of the digital environment, with many still “running to catch up”. The survey’s findings were “not a box-ticking exercise”, he said, and there were real-world consequences of inadequate record-keeping.

“We could all do better.”

More than 20 publicly-funded organisations did not respond to the survey, including Greater Wellington Regional Council, Porirua City Council, Hutt Valley District Health Board, Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Electoral Commission, the Judicial Conduct Commissioner and New Zealand Post.