New data from Archives New Zealand reveals both improvements and ongoing challenges in government record-keeping practices across New Zealand's public sector.

In the recently released "Report on the State of Government Recordkeeping 2023/2024," Chief Archivist Anahera Morehu describes the current situation as "two steps forward and one step back for IM [information management] across the sector."

The report, based on a survey of 174 public sector organizations and an audit of 23 agencies, highlights several key trends in information management practices.

The number of governance groups with information management oversight has increased, with 48% of organizations now having governance groups that include IM as part of their mandate, up from previous years.

Public offices are also showing improved practices in authorized destruction of records. The percentage of organizations reporting authorized destruction of physical information rose from 51% in 2022 to 68% in 2024, while digital information destruction increased from 34% to 50%.

Although the report concludes more work needs to be done in building IM requirements into new business systems. Only 21% of organisations survey reported that all their systems meet minimum requirements.

Workforce Reductions

After several years of modest growth in information management personnel across the public sector, numbers have declined from 677.2 staff in 2022 to 573.46 in 2024. Many organizations reported plans to further reduce their IM workforce.

"Since 2020, there has been an increase in IM staff, but this trend is sadly reversing with many organisations telling us that there would be further reductions of their IM workforce later in the year," the report notes.

The audit program, which assesses the maturity of information management practices, revealed that most audited organizations are still operating below expected standards. Out of 23 organizations featured in the report, only 7 (30%) were rated at the required 'Managing' level or higher in at least half of the 20 assessment areas.

However, there were standout performers, with the Inland Revenue Department and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand achieving high ratings, with most of their assessment topics rated at "Maturing" or "Optimising" levels.

Response to Royal Commission Findings

A significant focus for Archives New Zealand has been addressing record-keeping improvements in response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care. In April 2024, the Chief Archivist issued a Temporary Care Records Protection Instruction to protect care records while allowing agencies to carry out their wider disposal responsibilities.

The organization has also undertaken a substantial project to improve access to care records, with staff listing more than 40,000 cards for people under care and protection, indexing various registers and logbooks, and completing the listing of over 2,300 boxes of patient records from hospitals in Auckland.

Archives New Zealand is developing guidance and tools to support public sector organizations in managing records created or affected by artificial intelligence, and has resumed sector webinars to share information management best practices across government.

As public sector organizations continue to navigate organizational and fiscal changes following the change of government in 2023, Archives New Zealand is actively advising on maintaining proper record-keeping during periods of transition.

The report underscores the critical role of proper information management in supporting trusted, open, and accountable government, with the Chief Archivist emphasizing that improvements are both necessary and possible.

The full report is available here.