Hi Elizabeth
I agree with Anthony.
State Records Authority NSW – see FA450. I believe this applies to both physical and digital records.
No 20.6 requires the applications to be retained for 7 years after rebate no longer applies.
I think it would be very difficult to only digitise those physical records that were still current, so would want to do that for all records before they are destroyed. Also important to be able to identify and locate these for any particular property/ratepayer in case of audit.
Our practice has been to keep current records in a specific container in our document management system – that never get destroyed. We then only move them to an annual container in the year the use ceases. That annual container has a 7 year retention on it, although we haven’t been so ruthless to destroy any at this stage.
It’s certainly a lot of work to digitise those, but I think it is worth it in the long run.
Best of luck.
Lyndal
