Transfer Authorisations

Transfer of Custody

A Transfer of Custody authorisation from the State Archivist may be required under certain circumstances, where the custody of agency records is to be managed outside of an agency's direct physical control, or records are to be transferred to a successor agency or organisation.

Circumstances that may require a formal Transfer of Custody include:

• When a function is transferred between Tasmanian Government agencies
• When a function is transferred to another tier of government
• Amalgamation of agencies into larger agencies/entities

There may be an inclusion in accompanying legal orders that will define records amongst the agency assets to be transferred. Where this occurs, formal Transfer of Custody authorisation is not required.

Where records are not explicitly included in the transfer orders, a Transfer of Custody from the State Archivist will be required.

Transfer of Ownership

Transfer of ownership occurs when the agency, or a series of records, passes out of government control. If your agency is being privatised please contact OSA as soon as you are notified.

We will need to help you to identify the series of records that:

• need to be transferred to the succeeding organisation
• need to be transferred to OSA (Permanent records not required by the succeeding organisation)
• need to be transferred to Treasury (temporary records not required by the succeeding organisation)

Once the records have been identified an Authority needs to be obtained from the State Archivist to allow the transfer of records. As you can imagine this process will take some time, hence the need to know of the privatisation as soon as possible.

If records that have been appraised as Temporary, are sought by a community organisation, such as a Local History Society, the agency must apply for a Transfer of Ownership. A form is available here.

Agencies should contact OSA on 03 6165 5581 to determine whether a Transfer of Custody or Transfer of Ownership authorisation may be required for their individual circumstances. A number of Guidelines and Advices are also available to assist agencies – refer to the topic list under the heading 'Government Administration + Change'.

Transfer exemptions

Agencies are required to transfer State records identified as having permanent value to OSA when business use ceases. Periodically, OSA may actively seek transfer of permanent value records from agencies, in order to update the collection.

When this occurs, agencies may request an exemption from transfer from the State Archivist, if the records are still being actively used by business. Agencies are advised that the granting of such an exemption is a temporary measure at the State Archivist’s discretion, and is typically limited to a maximum period of 12-24 months duration.

In order to request a temporary exemption from transfer, agencies are advised to complete the transfer exemption template provided, and email to osa@libraries.tas.gov.au