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Records referred to in this FAQs sheet relate to all available information, documents and records about a child or young person in statutory out-of-home care (OOHC). This includes evidence of the services and activities carried out by the designated agency.
Records are created, received or maintained in physical (i.e. hard copy / paper) or electronically (digital) form.
The NSW Child Safe Standards for Permanent Care 2015 also provides a number of requirements for recordkeeping. The standards can be accessed in full from the NSW Children’s Guardian website.
DCJ has produced a suite of information sheets for designated agencies to guide the record keeping procedures related to paper and digital records involving children and young people in statutory out-of-home care (OOHC). These include:
Please familiarise yourself with the content in these information sheets as they provide context for the responses contained in this FAQ document.
Yes. Section 170 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 requires a designated agency to deliver to DCJ (on behalf of the Secretary) those records (paper or digital) it held seven years after ceasing to be responsible for the placement of a child or young person in OOHC, or when it ceases to be a funded or designated agency.
It is acknowledged that a designated agency can have a mix of paper and digital records that agencies will need to consider as part of these provisions under the Act.
Further information can be found in the Information Sheets.
No.
There are a number of steps involved in the process of transferring records to DCJ.
Where a designated agency is ready to start this process, they should discuss this with their DCJ Contract Manager, who can coordinate an initial consultation meeting with the DCJ Records Management Team to clarify the transfer requirements.
Further information can be found in the Information Sheets 2 and 3
Yes, any closed records that meet the legislative 7 year threshold for a child or young person in statutory OOHC, must be transferred to DCJ for ongoing management.
Where a designated agency has a large volume of archival closed records, it may be appropriate in some circumstances for these records to be transferred in multiple schedules owing to the resource issues at delivery.
Further information can be found in the Information Sheets 2 and 3.
No, the records will remain with the designated agency until the 7 years of last placement have past.
Yes, DCJ is happy to commence initial consultation meetings ahead of your nominated implementation period. Where a designated agency is ready to commence this process ahead of the suggested implementation timeframe, the agency should contact their DCJ lead contract manager to start discussing this process.
DCJ will work closely with designated agencies to determine the most strategic approach and work together to develop a plan with agreed timeframes to transfer records, making sure that no bottlenecks are created along the way.
Yes, when an agency ceases to be funded or when they are no longer a designated agency, the records must be transferred to DCJ. Ideally, this should be done prior to the agency’s end of contract or within a reasonable time soon after.
Yes, where an agency is exiting, all children and young people records (closed and open) for statutory OOHC must be transferred to DCJ in accordance with section 170 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.
Further information can be found in Information Sheet 1.
Yes, at a point in time in the future.
When a designated agency starts using digital records as their primary source of record keeping and those records have been closed for more than 7 years, DCJ will at that point in time seek to retrieve an agency’s digital records.
Further information can be found in Information Sheet 3.
During the nominated implementation period, DCJ will work with designated agencies in a considered way to commence the transfer of their closed records.
An initial consultation meeting will be coordinated by the DCJ lead Contract Manager to meet with the DCJ Records Management Team to commence this process. An agency’s availability, volume of records as well as when records are prepared and ready for transfer will determine the timing of this process.
Further information can be found in the Information Sheets 2 and 3.
DCJ retains paper and digital records permanently for children and young people previously in statutory OOHC. These records are classified as State archives and therefore need to be kept on an ongoing basis. For more information, refer link:
DCJ uses the Government Records Repository (GRR) as its preferred supplier for the management and storage of archived paper records. DCJ has well established relationship with the GRR and is well accustomed to the storage, retrieval and scan on demand services offered by the GRR.
Digital records received as part of the implementation process, will be securely stored with restricted access on DCJ’s Electronic Document Records Management System (EDRMS). DCJ has a process for the transfer of end-to-end digital records using a secure platform. This includes sending designated agencies a secure link to upload and send their digital records to DCJ.
No, any records transferred across to DCJ will not be reviewed. These records will be stored for ongoing management in a safe and secure way with access only made available, should a retrieval request be received.
DCJ will conduct a quality assurance process to confirm the number of records transferred matches the number of records received by DCJ.
Where a designated agency seeks to retrieve records that have been transferred to DCJ, they must complete the DCJ Records Retrieval form.
The designated agency must identify the reason for the request (e.g. aftercare support, administrative or subpoena) along with the client related information. Agencies can also indicate whether a request is urgent.
Further information can be found in the Information Sheets 2 and 3.
Where a designated agency has requested the retrieval of a record, DCJ will provide a digital copy via ‘scan on demand’. The Government Records Repository (GRR) offers a ‘scan on demand’ service.
Sending a digital copy to the requesting agency ensures DCJ can preserve the hard copy record.
Further information can be found in Information Sheets 1 and 4.
For non-urgent requests, the retrieval of paper records takes about 2 weeks. The volume of records requested may also have an impact on the timing of this retrieval.
There is an expectation that designated agencies maintain their recordkeeping systems as they do currently. This includes meeting the obligations along with any associated costs for the storage and transfer of records as described in the Funding Deed and Program Level Agreement (PLA).
Ongoing agency storage costs will reduce as closed records are transferred to DCJ.
Further information can be found in Information Sheet 1, 2, 3 and 4.
The bulk of the work for designated agencies to prepare records for transfer will occur during the implementation phase of the project. Agencies will need to consider the use of their resources to complete this work.
As records are transferred to DCJ, an agency’s ongoing storage costs will reduce. DCJ will work closely with all stakeholders to make sure this is done in the most cost effective and efficient way possible.
DCJ will then move to a Business as Usual process, this will mean that every year as closed records meet the 7-year legislative threshold, the volume of records to transfer will be minimal, compared to the initial bulk transfer.
Further information can be found in the Information Sheets 2 and 3.
Where a designated agency is seeking to retrieve OOHC records, there are no costs for these records if it is:
Costs relating to the retrieval of client paper and digital records for other reasons (e.g. administrative purposes) will be determined by the number or volume of records to be retrieved from DCJ.
Further information can be found in the Information Sheets 2 and 3.
The provisions to retrieve a record as outlined in question 21 above, apply to both hard-copy or digital records.
Further information can be found in the Information Sheets 1 and 2
The implementation project is about ongoing management of a designated agency’s records in accordance with the section 170 legislative requirement.
Where a designated agency continues to operate, the expectation is that the legal request is responded to by that agency. There is no change to this process.
Further information can be found above under the heading ‘Retrieving a record’.
Further information can be found on DCJ Website: DCJ Website – Accessing your care records
Designated agencies are required to retain carer records. Where an agency ceases, carer records must be transferred to DCJ for ongoing management.
DCJ is currently developing additional sector advice to address the issues related to carer records and the process involved, for the return of carer records for ceasing agencies.
Designated agencies are required to retain carer records. Where an agency ceases, carer records must be transferred to DCJ for ongoing management.
DCJ is currently developing additional sector advice to address the issues related to carer records and the process involved, for the return of carer records for ceasing agencies.
Designated agencies are required to retain carer records. Where an agency ceases, carer records must be transferred to DCJ for ongoing management.
DCJ is currently developing additional sector advice to address the issues related to carer records and the process involved, for the return of carer records for ceasing agencies.
DCJ can provide guidance on the requirements for recordkeeping for other programs.
No, other record types are not in scope of the implementation project for the retrieval of closed records under section 170 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection Act) 1998.
Further information on storage and destruction requirements of other record types, please refer to State Archives and Records Authority (SARA).
No, not at this stage.
The same level of support is provided by DCJ to all designated agencies irrespective of rural or metro location.
The same level of support is provided by DCJ to all designated agencies irrespective of rural or metro location.
The same level of support is provided by DCJ to all designated agencies irrespective of rural or metro location.
19 Sep 2023