Email messages created using Australian Government systems are Commonwealth records and must be managed in accordance with the Archives Act 1983. They are also subject to related legislation such as the Freedom of Information Act 1982, Privacy Act 1988 and the Evidence Act 1995. Courts have accepted electronic communications as a legitimate source of evidence and email is therefore subject to legal processes such as subpoena.

Not all emails need to be kept and most can be destroyed legally under the provisions of the Archives Act, by using one of the following three tools:

• Records Authorities – issued to individual agencies to cover their agency-specific core business
• General Disposal Authorities – covering business performed by many agencies – an example is the Administrative Functions Disposal Authority, which covers common administrative business activities
• Normal Administrative Practice – how records can be routinely destroyed if they are not needed as evidence of agency business and do not form part of its corporate records

To determine which tool is best used for each email, see Sentencing records.

Email needs to be actively managed through agency policies and procedures, with staff trained to implement these directions.

Agencies can have a separate policy on managing email, or incorporate specific directions on managing email in their corporate records management policy.

Emails that support ongoing business

If an email supports the ongoing business of the agency it should be placed in the agency’s records management system (either electronic or paper). Its retention and destruction can then be managed according to the requirements detailed in a disposal authority or in the agency’s NAP policy. 

Saving records into a records management system will mean that they can be trusted as being authentic and reliable. They will be:

• usable and accessible for as long as required
• secure from unauthorised access, alternation and deletion
• related to other relevant records that support the particular business activity

The following questions can help staff determine if an email supports ongoing business and needs to be saved into the agency’s records management system:

• did I receive or send this email in the course of my work?
• does this relate to a project that I am working on?
• does the email document approval of an action?
• does the email provide advice or give a direction?

If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’ the email should be saved in the agency’s records management system.

Staff should be made aware of the rules and conventions surrounding the use of email and that they are communicating on an official business system. Corporate policies and guidelines for managing email could include the following:

Key points

• that the agency owns the email system and transactions occurring on it
• what email system conditions of use are in place, including private use
• that emails providing evidence of business transactions should be placed in the agency’s records management systems (paper or electronic)
• that emails should have enough details about the sender and addressee to identify them over time (eg a signature block providing the name and position of the agency officer sending the email) – your agency might like to consider developing a email template to capture important contextual information
• the conditions under which emails can be deleted by action officers (eg detailed in an agency’s records authority or normal administrative practice policy)

Supplementary points

When an agency has worked out its policies and procedures relating to email management, these need to be distributed to staff. Some suggestions for doing this include:

• incorporating instructions on managing email into work procedures
• incorporate email management instructions into records management training sessions
• directions in staff newsletters and on the intranet

For more information on the relationship between email archiving solutions and records management software, see Are email archiving solutions records management solutions?

Metadata is descriptive information about a record (or structured data about other data, such as records titles). There is specific information that should be captured when emails are exchanged. For more information on this topic, see Australian Government Email Metadata Standard.