AS 4390 and AS ISO 15489

The Australian and international standard for records management, AS ISO 15489, provides guidance on creating records policies, procedures, systems and processes to support the management of records in all formats. It is widely used in Australia and internationally in both private and public organisations.

The National Archives of Australia endorses AS ISO 15489 for use in the Australian Government. This standard provides the basis for all the Archives’ records management standards, policies and guidelines.

AS 5090

AS 5090: Work Process Analysis for Recordkeeping is a complimentary standard to AS ISO 15489: Records Management. It assists organisations in understanding their work processes so that they can identify their recordkeeping requirements.

AS 5044

The AGLS metadata standard, AS 5044, is the national standard for online resource discovery, mandated for use on all Australian Government websites. There is an Australian Government Implementation Manual available for this standard.

Standard for the physical storage of Commonwealth records

The storage standard is a comprehensive guide to the storage of all Australian Government records, whether held in agency-owned or leased facilities, or with alternative storage providers. The standard covers all types of storage and represents a code of best practice for the storage of government records. The standard is supported by implementation guidelines.

Australian Government recordkeeping metadata standard

The Australian Government recordkeeping metadata standard describes the information Australian Government agencies should incorporate to establish physical and intellectual control over their records. Compliance with the standard will help agencies meet business, accountability and archival requirements in a systematic and consistent way by maintaining reliable, meaningful and accessible records over time.

Guidelines for mobile shelving

The Guidelines for mobile shelving provide information about the practical installation of mobile shelving in archives, libraries and museums.

The National Archives produced these guidelines in association with Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand.

Paper testing using Australian and international standards

Australian Government agencies wishing to print or create paper records that need to be kept for a long time should use archival quality paper.

The National Archives provides a program to analyse paper for its archival quality. Paper endorsed by the Archives as being of archival quality can use the Archival Quality trademark.

Other National Archives policies and guidelines

A full list of the National Archives' policies and guidelines are available through the publications pages of this website.