Future Proof – Protecting our digital future

Systems migration is a frequently occurring activity for any organisation that conducts its business digitally. And the ‘digital on the inside’ priority of the NSW Government Digital Strategy may be a driver for migration as agencies streamline their business processes and consolidate their legacy systems.

The general retention and disposal authority for source records that have been migrated (GA33) permits NSW public offices to destroy the source records remaining after a successful migration project, subject to certain conditions being met. We are currently reviewing this authority, and are seeking feedback from NSW public offices.

The current authority requires source records to be kept for a period of no less than six months after the success of the migration has been confirmed. Agencies have suggested that this mandatory minimum retention period is unnecessary for projects where the migration process has been relatively straightforward.

We are therefore considering removing the six month minimum retention period as a specific condition for destruction of source records. Instead, we are proposing that the authority will require the source records to be retained for a sufficient length of time after the migration to enable confirmation that the migration has been successful. Public offices will be responsible for determining an appropriate retention period, on a case by case or project by project basis, based on an assessment of risks associated with the business purposes of the records, size and complexity of the migration process etc.

We would appreciate comments regarding:

• the proposed change
• GA33 in general
• any insights or experiences of public offices on the management of migration projects that could be used as examples to support the development of updated guidance.

Further information about the review and how to submit comments is available on our website.