Case Study 3

Brief for writers: Case Study for IMS5010 Module 1, Topic 1

1. to investigate the provisions of specific archival legislation and other legislation relating to recorded information as they relate to establishing an accountable recordkeeping system.
2. to consider the implications for accountability of outsourcing strategies.
3. to investigate the role of ìbest practiceî standards of appraisal, description and access processes in the design of accountable recordkeeping systems.
4. to identify the requirements of a range of stakeholders in accountable recordkeeping.

The Limitations of Existing Case Studies for an International Audience:

refers explicitly to Australian legislation and administrative mechanisms and procedures
• uses examples of recordkeeping system 'failures' which may not be very meaningful in other contexts

Alternative Case Study Guidelines:

A. The essential starting point for prospective writers is to

1. Read the objectives for the Unit/Topic/Part
2. Read the commentary surrounding and leading up to the Case Study and the related reading. http://www.sims.monash.edu.au/subjects/ims5010/m1t1.html

B. To be useful in the same ways that the WAR Board example is, it will need to come with background information including:

1. Links to (or copies of) relevant Archives legislation. (c.f. Australian Archives Act)
2. A brief account of the functions of the agency.
3. A brief description of complaint/review and any appeal mechanisms that apply.
4. The structure of the agency - personnel and geographical.
5. Identification anything which has some impact upon the agency's recordkeeping requirements i.e. enabling legislation relevant to the agency, any national legislation which relates to recorded information, agency policies and procedural manuals etc.
6. A description of media formats in which records are maintained and various 'security' classifications to which they are subject.
7. Classifications for 'action.'
8. Identification functions which might be outsourced.
9. Examples of system failures.

(Feel free to use the WAR Board example as a model on which to structure your commentary.)

C. The Structure:

1. A Narrative in which relevant issues are in play.
2. Commentary in which pertinent points are teased out, elaborated upon and explained. The Commentary might also be used to explain any idioms or culturally specific references that might not be immediately understood by readers from outside the cultural context of the narrative.

Before looking at your chosen case study READ the following

Sue McKemmish, 'The Smoking Gun: Recordkeeping and Accountability', Keynote Address, 22nd Annual Conference of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand, Records and Archives Now - Who Cares?, Dunedin, 3-5 September 1998.

National Archives of Australia, Records Issues for Outsourcing, 1998 http://www.naa.gov.au/

4.1 Report on Exercise

Only questions 1 - 3 require direct reference to the context of your chosen case study. Questions 4 & 5 may be treated more generally.)

Explore your chosen case study and:

1. Make some notes (in point form) on the nature of accountable recordkeeping as it is discussed in Sue McKemmish's article (above) and its relevance within the context of the case study.
2. Identify the relationship between the agency's recordkeeping system and the socio-legal context within which it operates Begin with an analysis of the business of the organisation and the organisation's socio-legal context.

   a. What aspects of government recordkeeping are governed by Archives-specific legislation? (e.g. Are the responsibilities of a national archival authority identified? Does an archival authority set rules in relation to recordkeeping? What are they? What (if any) requirements are in place to manage the appraisal, description and access procedures of the agency?)

   (NB. Please make sure that you correctly cite the relevant sections and provisions of any legislation which you refer here.)

3. Identify those individuals and organisations which might be regarded as the 'stakeholders' in the operations of the agency
   • Who are they?
   • What authorities need to be consulted? Which recordkeeping specifications would need to be included relating to the creation, management and disposal of agency records?
   • Who will control access to the records?
   • Who will own the records?
4. Assume that some of the functions of your agency are going to be outsourced. Research the guidelines on recordkeeping in relation to outsourced government functions published by the National Archives of Australia (click on 'Government services' then on 'Outsourcing' from the NAA homepage) Write some brief notes (in point form) on what your case study agency needs to specify in any outsourcing contracts regarding recordkeeping requirements, control and ownership issues etc.
5. Assume that your case study agency also is involved in a number of tendering processes and needs to make sure that this process is appropriatelydocumented. Typically, a tendering process involves the following activities:

The records of the process which need to be created (and kept for various periods of time)

Revisit the NAA site (above) which provides guidelines on recordkeeping in relation to outsourced government functions.

Use the above list of records associated with tendering activities (i.e. list B) to create a checklist with an indication of whether they accord with NAA recommendations.

HYPOTHETICAL CASE STUDY OF ACCOUNTABLE RECORDKEEPING: The Welfare Assistance Review Board

Prepared by Anne Picot and Sue McKemmish

This Case Study is about an imaginary Commonwealth government agency, the Welfare Assistance Review Board.

The functions of the Welfare Assistance Review Board are as follows:

• review on appeal the decisions of welfare service providers funded by the Commonwealth
• monitoring of performance of certain specialist institutions (refugee support bodies, juvenile custody institutions, disabled persons' hostels, aged persons' hostels, women's refuges)
• investigation of complaints about these specialist agencies and care providers
• investigation of matters referred for review and/or mediation by the Ombudsman, social workers, children's services officers and other officers of the Health and Family Services Department, solicitors on behalf of relatives of persons in care

Complaints and reviews of decisions are settled by the Board through a mediation process where possible, arbitration if not. Criminal matters are referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Board's decisions are subject to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The Board reports through its Chair direct to the Parliament annually, much like the Ombudsman. Its records are subject to the Commonwealth Freedom of Information, Archives and Privacy legislation.

The Board is made up of 5 members, all with law, audit or social welfare type qualifications. It is supported by a 200 strong permanent staff and some contracted specialists. Its Head Office is in Canberra, and there are branches in Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, and Perth. The Secretary to the Board is also its Executive Officer, responsible for the administration of the WAR Board and its staff, and accountable to the Board for the daily operations of the agency.

The Board was established by the Whitlam government and has case files (paper) dating from that period. Investigation records are multi-media. A large portion of the records are classified "in confidence" and nearly all are governed by strict access rules based on the Privacy legislation's codes. A change to a new computer records management system has been undertaken to manage electronic documents and to reduce the amount of copying occurring through the investigation processes as the old manual tracking system broke down and exposed the agency unduly to the risk of improper disclosure of sensitive personal information.

The Board's cases need to be handled by different procedures with different time frames. Cases are classified according to the following scheme:

• urgent for life-threatening matters
• sensitive for juveniles and people connected to public figures
• special for cases of people from various ethnic communities requiring community consultation according to established protocols including Koori cases
• refugee for both declared refugees and others in the process of seeking asylum
• ministerial for all cases subject to a ministerial representation
• police for cases involving complaints against the police in the WAR Board 's jurisdiction
• routine

The urgent and ministerial cases are given top priority and there are strict procedures for special, sensitive and police cases.

The WAR Board, along with many other government agencies, is being pressured to downsize. As part of its Budget response it is looking to out-sourcing as a means of reducing costs (sic!).

Since the early 1980s the Board has had its own group of legal counsel who advise the Board, assist in the deliberations of its mediation and arbitration sittings, and help with investigations and referrals to the Director of Public Prosecutions. This service has become a prime target for outsourcing and will soon be put out to a competitive tender. One of the many issues to be dealt with in developing the tender is the matter of the records generated by the legal services, which are generally sensitive and full of information given in confidence.

The Secretary of the Board has recently appointed a new Registrar to be responsible for the Board's recordkeeping system. This appointment occurred in the wake of several embarrassing incidents involving:

• Alleged illegal destruction of records relating to cases of child abuse in juvenile custody institutions in Queensland
• Breaches of confidentiality and privacy relating to a client of a women's refuge (the wife of a prominent NSW politician)
• Failure to keep records that provided evidence of the Welfare Assistance Board's decision making in relation to its tendering processes and contract management
• Failure to provide timely access to records relating to ministerial inquiries ñ apparently the result of a breakdown in records registration and classification procedures following the introduction of an electronic records management system.

The Registrar's brief is to establish an accountable recordkeeping system, which is compliant with the Commonwealth's recordkeeping regime (such as it is) and incorporates best practice appraisal, description and access processes as specified in AS 4390, the Australian Records Management Standard.

The Registrar has appointed a recent graduate of the Monash recordkeeping course to assist her in this task.

Just to make life more complicated, the Board has asked the new Registrar as a matter of urgency to draw up provisions relating to the Board's recordkeeping requirements for inclusion in the contract that will govern the outsourcing of the Board's legal services. She has also been asked to pay particular attention to advising the Board on how it can get its act together in relation to keeping full, accurate and reliable records of its tendering processes and contract management.

Welfare Assistance Review Board MEMO To: Recordkeeping Assistant From: Registrar Re: Accountable Recordkeeping Date: 30 March 1999 I'm trying to get a handle on what constitutes accountable recordkeeping. I believe Monash University's Records Continuum Research Group has been investigating this issue - as reported in: Sue McKemmish, 'The Smoking Gun: Recordkeeping and Accountability', Keynote Address, 22nd Annual Conference of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand, Records and Archives Now - Who Cares?, Dunedin, 3-5 September 1998. Please take a look at this article and prepare a briefing note (in point form) on what it says constitutes accountable recordkeeping with your views on its relevance to our situation.

As the professional recordkeeper for the WAR Board, the new Registrar needs to map the business accountabilities of the agency to its recordkeeping requirements and to set up a recordkeeping system which ensures that essential evidence of the Board's activities, in the form of full, accurate and reliable records, is made, kept and made accessible for as long as it is needed.

Her task begins with an analysis of the business of the organisation and the organisation's socio-legal context. This necessarily includes identifying all the stakeholders involved as well as all the authorities, (e.g. the WAR Board's enabling legislation , Freedom of Information and Privacy legislation, the Archives Act and disposal schedules issued for the WAR Board, the Board's policy and procedural manuals) that govern the WAR Board's operations and impact on its recordkeeping requirements.

Welfare Assistance Review Board MEMO To: Recordkeeping Assistant From: Registrar Re: Accountable Recordkeeping Date: 1 April 1999 We need to understand the relationship between the Board's recordkeeping system and the jurisdictional regime in which we operate. In particular we need to work out the requirements of the Commonwealth's recordkeeping regime, fragmented as that seems to be. I'm also concerned that we don't lose sight of wider perspectives on the business concerns of this organisation. And beyond the black and white legal responsibilities, we must take account of the community's concerns about the protection of the rights and interests of individuals. I've been trying to build a picture from relevant legislation of the Commonwealth's recordkeeping regime and what it requires of us. I also need to know what the role of the National Archives is and what they can do to help us. A key piece of legislation for us is the Archives Act 1983. Please take a look at the Archives Act ( http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act /aa198398/index.html) and prepare a briefing note (in point form) on: what aspects of Commonwealth recordkeeping does the Act govern? what is the National Archives directly responsible for? what kind of rules does the National Archives set in relation to recordkeeping? what requirements does the Act place on the Board, especially in relation to appraisal, description and access? NOTE: Please make sure that you correctly cite the relevant sections and provisions of the Act.

High priority needs to be given to establishing the recordkeeping requirements for the legal services function so that they can be incorporated in the outsourcing contract.

The Registrar has developed a list of critical questions relating to this task, including:

• who are the stakeholders involved?
• what authorities should be consulted?
• what sorts of things need to be in the specifications relating to the creation, management and disposal of the records?
• who will control access to the records?
• who will own the records?

The Registrar has also initiated:

1. a preliminary investigation of the existing services and their organisational context (as per Australian Standard 4390.3 ( 1996, p.9)
2. analysis of the activities "to identify and document the flow of business processes and the transactions which comprise them"
3. an identification of the recordkeeping requirements, through determining what evidence of the legal activities is needed and what records will best capture that evidence
4. a risk assessment in relation to failure to make adequate records
5. an assessment of the existing records of the activities in the WAR Board as a bench mark.

She is also seeking guidance on what needs to be specified in the contract about recordkeeping requirements, control and ownership issues

Welfare Assistance Review Board MEMO To: Recordkeeping Assistant From: Registrar Re: Accountable Recordkeeping Date: 6 April 1999 I am advised that the National Archives of Australia has put out a set of guidelines on recordkeeping in relation to outsourced Commonwealth government functions. I have a meeting with the National Director in NAA responsible for providing advice on these matters tomorrow. Please provide a briefing note (in point form) on what the guidelines say we need to specify in the contract relating to recordkeeping requirements, control and ownership issues etc. National Archives of Australia, Records Issues for Outsourcing, 1998 http://www.naa.gov.au/ From the home page, click on Government Services, then on outsourcing.

The Recordkeeping Assistant, meanwhile, has been preparing a report for the Registrar on what records need to be created in the WAR Board as evidence of its tendering processes. The report presents an analysis of the tendering process which identifies the following key activities:

Establishment of a Tender Committee
Specification of the Tender and selection criteria
Registration of Tender respondents
Shortlisting of Tenders
Interviews with Tender respondents on shortlist
Selection of successful Tender
Recommendation to the Board
Decision by the Board
Notification of results

The report also specifies which records of these activities need to be created and how long they need to be kept, e.g.

Records of appointment of Tender Committee, including statements declaring no interest in the outcome signed by Committee members
Records of meetings of the Tender Committee, including determination of the selection criteria and selection process
Selection criteria
Records of weighting of selection criteria
Register of tender respondents
Records of shortlisting, interview and selection process
Record forwarding the recommendation signed by the Committee members
Record of notification to the successful tenderer
Record of notification to unsuccessful respondents

The report deals specifically with the question of risk, stating that:

The principal risk to be guarded against by recordkeeping is the matter of bias, hence the recommendations relating to the systematic documentation of the processes, particularly the determination of the criteria, the weighting of the selection criteria, the declaration of no interest, and the records of the deliberations of the Committee. Such records will act as the Board's best defence against an accusation of bias.

Welfare Assistance Review Board MEMO To: Recordkeeping Assistant From: Registrar Re: Accountable Recordkeeping Date: 9 April 1999 Thank you for your most comprehensive report on recordkeeping requirements relating to the tendering process. I see that the NAA outsourcing guidelines also provide advice on this matter. Please provide a briefing note with a check list of the records of the tendering process specified in the NAA guidelines with an indication of whether your recommendations are in line with their advice. National Archives of Australia, Records Issues for Outsourcing, 1998 http://www.naa.gov.au/ From the home page, click on Government Services, then on outsourcing.

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Maintained by Records Continuum Research Group.

Last updated 5 January 2000.