New Zealand’s Chief Archivist Marilyn Little has released the report of her review into Prime Minister John Key’s record-keeping practices in regard to text messages.

The decision to carry out the review arose from a request by  Greens MP in November last year, to investigate whether the deletion of text messages constituted a breach of the Public Records Act 2005.

The review examined the adequacy of recordkeeping advice, processes and systems in place to support the Prime Minister (and thereby all other Ministers). Relevant agencies including the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Ministerial and Secretariat Services were interviewed.

The review highlighted that text messages can be public records and that Ministers are considered public offices under the Act. The review also found that the Prime Minister was not advised of his full responsibilities under the Public Records Act and that the advice and support provided to all Ministers was inadequate.

The report includes the Chief Archivist’s actions and recommendations for improvements to the recordkeeping advice and support for all Ministers.

It found that “Despite the Prime Minister not being made fully aware of his specific responsibilities under the Act, or the use of relevant Disposal Authorities, the Prime Minister’s management of his text messages can be viewed as pragmatic.”

“While this may occur for security reasons rather than recordkeeping purposes, the Prime Minister’s current approach does not indicate any wilful or negligent disposal of records without authority. Most text messages are transitory which means their content is already authorised for disposal under GDA 7. The Prime Minister’s practice therefore appears likely to be compliant with the Act in relation to most text messages,” the report concludes

The Prime Minister outlined his current approach for managing text messages as: “I receive a large volume of text messages on my cellphone which I routinely delete for security purposes. It is not my practice to conduct substantive ministerial business by text message. The vast bulk of text messages I receive in my ministerial capacity relate to minor administrative matters such as transportation arrangements, diary rescheduling or drawing my attention to an email I may need to read. Occasionally I may ask officials for information which is then provided to me usually in the form of an email or briefing note – the content of which is retained for the public record. I do not use a private cellphone.”

The Chief Archivist’s report concluded with the following recommendations how text messages should be managed

“Compliance with the Act requires that a text message created or received by a Minister in his or her official capacity is treated as a public record. If the message’s content is facilitative, transitory and/or of short-term value, then it may be deleted under an existing disposal authority. However, if the content of the message requires action or is potentially of longer-term value and needs to be retained, then its content should be transferred to the Minister’s support staff to manage.

“In summary Ministers should:

• identify text messages created or received that contain information that is a public record, and
• assess the value of the information, and
• delete a text message if the information contained in it is only facilitative, transitory and/or short-term value (under GDA 7 or DA 214), or
• transfer the information to staff responsible for providing recordkeeping support.”

The full report is available HERE