storage, retention and destruction information
managing information
While a young person is assigned to your service, you do not need to hold a hard copy of their forms and supporting documents.
Once you have scanned and uploaded the documentation into ART:
- hand the documents back to the young person to keep for their own records (preferred method)
- dispose of the information using a secure destruction management system, i.e. secure destruction bin
All critical documents should be scanned and uploaded into ART enabling you to have easy access and visibility to the client’s information in ART.
For more information about managing young people’s information, refer to the following links:
- Minimum Processing Standards, Scanning and recording and
- Digitisation Standard
disposing of information
Your organisation is responsible for managing the disposal of information using a secure destruction management system, i.e. a secure destruction bin. If you do not have a secure destruction bin, you must dispose of the information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.
In retaining and disposing of your own client information you must adhere to the Privacy Act 2020 and Public Records Act 2005. For more information, refer to the links below.
original documents
If you have exhausted all avenues to contact the young person to return any original documents, e.g. birth certificate, and cannot get a hold of them, the original documents must be kept in a safe and secure location and should be destroyed after two years in a safe and secure manner, i.e. secure destruction bin.
keeping an electronic copy of information
You must not save a young person’s information to a shared or separate drive or cloud storage system. Once scanned and uploaded into ART, you must return the document back to the young person or dispose of the information using a secure destruction management system, i.e. secure destruction bin, and delete the electronic copy from your computer.