• Section 1 - Records Disposal
• Section 2 - Identification and Classification
• Section 3 - Disposal Authorisation
• Section 4 - Disposal
• Section 5 - Review

Section 1 - Records Disposal

(1) As both a company limited by guarantee and a publicly funded university, ACU’s records and information management practices are informed by regulatory requirements. ACU’s obligations extend to the creation and capture of business records, the duration for retention and how records should be disposed of. Completing regular records disposal activities within your business unit or Faculty can help:

1. reduce storage costs (for both physical and digital records);
2. avoid problems associated with managing and storing vast quantities of business records;
3. identify what digital business records may need to be migrated to new systems or new storage media;
4. identify business records that may have ongoing or permanent value to ACU and allow for transfer to Records and Information Management Services (RIMS);
5. make business records easier to find by reducing their volume; and
6. ensure eligible business records are destroyed in a routine, transparent and timely way.

Section 2 - Identification and Classification

(2) The first step in commencing disposal activities is to identify the relevant physical and digital records and to classify them in accordance with the Records Retention and Disposal Schedule.

Section 3 - Disposal Authorisation

(3) Following the identification and classification of relevant business records, consideration is given to whether there are particular records that may be disposed of.

(4) Before any disposal activities are completed, staff are required to fill out a Records Disposal Authorisation Form which can be accessed via Service Central. For records that may be disposed of via Normal Administrative Practice (NAP), please see the Records Disposal: Normal Administrative Practice Guideline.

(5) The Records Disposal Authorisation Form assists ACU to meet its obligations in relation to keeping registers of records that have been destroyed. It also ensures that records are not disposed of prior to the minimum retention period.

Section 4 - Disposal

(6) Once the relevant member of Senior Management has approved the disposal of records in writing (endorsed by RIMS), the approved records may be disposed of using the following methods:

1. physical (paper) records should be placed in a secure document destruction bin;
2. magnetic media records need to be reformatted at least once; and
3. rewritable disks and other optical media must be destroyed by either cutting them up or crushing them.

Section 5 - Review

(7) Unless otherwise indicated, this Protocol will still apply beyond the review date.