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Managing records at CQUni

As a public authority CQUniversity must capture, manage and destroy its information in accordance with various legislation.

What is a record?

Records provide evidence of actions and decisions you undertake on behalf of the university. They also provide context around those decisions and actions; who did what, why and how they did it and when they did it.

Records can be in any format such as; paper, electronic documents, emails, conversations, maps, plans, photographs, audio recordings, video recordings etc. 

How do I know if I should keep a record?

To determine if you should keep information you need to consider the risk to yourself and the organisation if the information is not available. What is the likelihood you will need the information as evidence of actions or decisions and what is the risk to yourself and the organisation if you can't prove those actions or decisions?

There are five main categories of information managed within the university:

Category name
 Retention period
 Explanation
 Example
CQU
 Permanent
 Information of historical significance to the organisation, State or Nation.

Nobel prize winners

Scientific discoveries,

High profile visitors

Council minutes
MAJOR
 25 to 80 years
 Information of high risk to the organisation that needs to be retained for an extended period of time as evidence of actions.

Construction records in order to prove buildings were built to code (for the life of the building)

Personnel records

Workplace Health & Safety records
MINOR
 8 to 15 years
 Information of moderate risk to the organisation that needs to be retained for a reasonable period as evidence of actions.

Signed contracts and agreements

Legal advice

Industrial negotiations and agreements
ADMIN
 2 to 7 years
 Information generated and used on a daily or weekly basis during the normal course of business.

Invoices

Internal meetings

Budget submissions

Internal procedures
REFERENCE
 no retention period
 Information kept for reference purposes only, where the original information can be retrieved from business systems, other business units or other organisations.

Copies of invoices

Duplicates of manuals or instructions

Newspaper clippings

Copies of minutes and agendas

If your information falls into any of the first four categories you will need to capture the information into CQUniversity's official recordkeeping system.

How do I keep records?

Information that needs to be managed by the university must be kept in the official recordkeeping system, TRIM.

Please refer to the procedure Registering Information in TRIM.

For further assistance or advice regarding your records please contact the Records Team on x2628 or email records@cqu.edu.au