Statements required under the Act

The Archives Act requires the Minister and the Archives to place before the Council certain materials that specifically relate to disposal practices and special access matters.

National Archives’ records disposal practices

Under subsection 25(1) of the Archives Act, the Archives is required to inform the Advisory Council of disposal practices followed by the Archives or approved for other agencies. The Council received a briefing on the Archives’ macro-appraisal project on 27 May 2005.

Special access to official records

Under subsection 56(2) of the Archives Act, access may be granted to official records under the 30-year age threshold. Application is made directly to agencies responsible for controlling the relevant records. Deciding whether to grant access is the responsibility of the agency. Special arrangements have been in place since 1988 to assist agencies in this decision-making.

At each Council meeting, members noted reports prepared by the Archives on requests for, and decisions relating to, access requested under section 56(2) of the Act.

Five applications for access to records under section 56(2) of the Archives Act were received in the reporting period. Of these, four were granted access by the agencies concerned and one was refused. One request received before the reporting period was approved, and two requests received before the reporting period are pending a decision by the agencies concerned.