Records Management – School Records

Destruction of ‘time-expired’ records

Note: School principals must approve destruction of time-expired records.

Step 1 – Identify ‘time-expired’ records

Records become ‘time-expired’ if they have passed the ‘minimum retention period’ and are no longer required by your school. For example, the minimum retention period for finance batch reports is 7 years. Batch reports from the 2012 to 13 financial year ‘expired’ in July 2020. If the school no longer needs them and the principal approves their destruction, they may be securely destroyed.

For a list of common school record types and their minimum retention periods, refer to:

• School records retention quick reference guide (DOCX) (staff login required)

For a full list of school record types and their minimum retention periods, refer to:

• School records retention guide (XLSX) (staff login required)

Step 2 – Prepare records for destruction

Create a list of records for destruction. The list should include a brief description of the records proposed for destruction and the appropriate record classification.

For a full list of school record types, their minimum retention periods and record classification, refer to:

• School records retention guide

Step 3 – Get principal approval to destroy records

Provide the list of records for destruction to your principal and obtain their approval to destroy the records.

Save the principal’s approval to destroy the records. This should be saved with other documents relating to the management of your school’s records, for example, in the same digital folder or location as your records listing/s.

For a pro-forma email to send to your principal, refer to:

• Records destruction pro-forma email (DOCX) (staff login required)

Step 4 – Destroy records

Securely destroy the records using a secure (locked) recycling bin.

Keep a list of all the records you have destroyed, including the date the destruction took place. This should be saved with other documents relating to the management of your school’s records, for example, in the same folder or location as your records listing/s.