Non-Government Organisation (NGO) Service Providers Recordkeeping Procedure

It is in the interest of former and current clients of the Department of Communities (Child Safety Services) (the department) that their records be secure and accessible throughout the course of their life.

The benefits of this process are that:

• former children-in-care are confident in the knowledge that their records are safe and secure for the duration of their lifetime and accessible at anytime, free of charge, through Right to Information processes
• NGO needs are met through secure storage and accessibility of records for the long term - important as the lifetime of NGOs is undetermined
• the process used to retrieve closed records from NGOs ensures the department (and ultimately the State) can meet recordkeeping obligations as required under the Public Records Act 2002 and that the State can be accountable to the child.

Managing Non-Government Service Provider Records

The department (Child Safety Services) has initiated a guide for Non-Government Service Providers to manage closed NGO client records in a way that meets the requirements of the Public Records Act 2002 and Information Standard 40 - Recordkeeping (IS40), the Queensland Government's mandated recordkeeping standard. For guidelines on how to manage NGO records view the Basic Recordkeeping Guide for Non-Government Service Providers (PDF, 90 KB).

Transferring Non-Government Records to the Department

NGO records are processed at Document Management and Recordkeeping (Head Office Brisbane) therefore no NGO records should be sent to local Child Safety Service Centres.

The relevant forms and guidelines are:

1. Information for non-government service providers - transferring client related files to the Department of Communities (Child Safety Services)
2. Backlogs of Closed Client Files survey (PDF, 55 KB)
3. How to transfer paper based files to the department
4. Records Transfer form (PDF, 44 KB)

The department will meet all costs associated with the delivery of boxes and files to Document Management and Recordkeeping.