Transfer plans

Requirement for each public office to submit a transfer plan under the State Records Act

Under section 32(4) of the State Records Act 1998, each public office must provide information to Museums of History NSW (MHNSW) in connection with the transfer of state records under Part 4.

The requirement for public offices to submit a transfer plan is new and commenced on 1 January 2024. We require information relating only to state records which have been identified as required as state archives in an approved retention and disposal authority. Retention and disposal authorities are issued by the Board of the State Records Authority NSW (State Records NSW). We do not require information about state records which are not required as state archives.

The information required in a transfer plan is prescribed by the State Records Regulation.

Public offices have not been asked to provide this information to MHNSW before and we expect that there will be many questions. To support you, we have developed a frequently asked questions (FAQ) resource.

Why are transfer plans required?

Until now, the transfer of records into the State Archives Collection has been a largely ad-hoc process by most public offices. Transfers are often undertaken because of a relocation of office accommodation or a desire to reduce the storage costs for records. MHNSW often has little prior notice when public offices are planning to transfer state records to our control. This new requirement for public offices to make transfer plans is to ensure that records of enduring value that are no longer in business use are appropriately cared for within the State Archives Collection.

Transfer plans will better enable us to plan the future storage needs of the State Archives Collection, support public offices with transfer and understand the holdings across government of these important and significant state records.

Benefits of transfer

Transferring records required as state archives to our custody:

• provides efficiency and cost savings
• passes management and protection of these records to MHNSW
• passes management of public access to these records to MHNSW
• enables public offices to comply with section 29 of the State Records Act.

Records in the State Archives Collection are securely stored and protected through measures such as climate control. This ensures that the records are preserved and can be made accessible for future generations.

What information needs to be included in a transfer plan?

Your transfer plan must include the following information. We only need this information for the records you control that are required as state archives:

• Type of records (physical or digital)
• Format
• Indicative date of transfer (an estimate)
• Current location
• Condition
• Quantity (estimate)
• Description (of the records)

How to submit a transfer plan

We have developed a tool to support the provision of transfer plans by public offices. It is available in our Service Portal. Use this tool to provide the required information and submit your transfer plan. Please refer to our fact sheets How to build a transfer plan and How to edit existing transfer plans, which explain how to use the tool and the steps involved.

A transfer plan does not result in an automatic approval to transfer records into the State Archives Collection. For more information on transferring records into the collection, please see Transferring state archives.

A new transfer plan is required every 5 years. Public offices have until 31 December 2024 to submit their initial transfer plan. We acknowledge that circumstances change, so your plan can be amended by you at any time. The tool allows you to add more information, as well as edit the information already provided.

Steps for submitting a transfer plan

• Information relating to current retention and disposal authorities approved by State Records NSW can be accessed here. You can contact State Records NSW if you need assistance.
• Assess what records you know are held by your public office that are required as state archives.
• Investigate the quantities of these records – the transfer plan accepts quantities in meterage or GBs, depending on the format selected.
• Consider your internal resources. What needs to be in place for you to be able to transfer these records? Advice relating to the transfer requirements can be found at Transferring state archives.
• Consider the condition of the records. Are any damaged and potentially in need of conservation treatment?
• Log into the Service Portal, click on the Transfer Plan tile and create your transfer plan.
• Add the information on the records you hold that are required as state archives.
• Submit your transfer plan.
• A submitted transfer plan can be edited and records can be added at a later date if required by any registered contact of your public office.

Please contact the Agency Services team at transfer@mhnsw.au if you have any questions or need assistance with submitting your transfer plan.