Royal Commissions
Royal Commissions are public inquiries that may be established by Commonwealth or State Governments under specific legislation. They are the highest form of inquiry that can be initiated into matters of major public importance and have broad powers to gather information, including requesting organisations to produce records as evidence.
Reviews, Investigations and Special Inquiries.
Reviews, Investigations and Special Inquiries may be established in Western Australia under other legislation such as the Public Sector Management Act 1994, the State Records Act 2000 and the Financial Management Act 2006.
Records relevant to a Royal Commission, Review, Investigation or Inquiry
Under the State Records Act 2000, disposal of government records (all data and records of information in any form) must only be undertaken in accordance with the organisation’s approved Recordkeeping Plan. In view of the possible impact of Royal Commissions, Reviews, Investigations or Inquiries, government organisations must consider the following instructions in their Retention and Disposal Authority/ies:
"If an Investigation or Inquiry is in progress (or likely or imminent), or if a request for access to information under the Freedom of Information Act 1992 has been lodged, all records relevant or subject to the Investigation/Inquiry/FOl request (or likely to be so) must be identified and retained until the action and any subsequent actions are completed. This applies regardless of whether the records in question are due for destruction."
Where an organisation creates records directly relating to its participation in a Royal Commission, Review, Investigation or Inquiry; or where they have significant input, the records should be disposed of in accordance with the relevant section of the General Retention and Disposal Authority for State Government Information or the General Retention and Disposal Authority for Local Government Information.
Records created or received by a Royal Commission, Review, Investigation or Inquiry established by a Western Australian State government organisation must be disposed of in accordance with the Sector Disposal Authority for Reviews Investigations and Special Inquiries (DA 2023-009) approved by the State Records Commission.
Current Commonwealth Royal Commissions
Show moreRoyal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (announced on 8 July 2021)
For further details on the coverage of this Royal Commission refer to the Terms of Reference. If your organisation does hold relevant records you will need to ensure that they are retained for the purpose of the Royal Commission and any subsequent actions by the Commonwealth Government. The National Archives of Australia has issued a Records retention notice which provides further guidance on the categories of records that may be relevant to this Inquiry.
Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (announced on 4 April 2019)
For further details on the coverage of this Royal Commission refer to the Terms of Reference. If your organisation does hold relevant records you will need to ensure that they are retained for the purpose of the Royal Commission and any subsequent actions by the Commonwealth Government. The National Archives of Australia has issued a Records retention notice which provides further guidance on the categories of records that may be relevant to this Inquiry.
Other Commonwealth Royal Commissions
Show moreRoyal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
The State Records Office issued a disposal freeze in April 2018 in response to this Royal Commission, which still stands. The disposal freeze applies to records documenting, or that may be relevant to, actual or alleged incidents of child sexual abuse. Any such records held by State or local government organisations, or their outsourced agents, must not be destroyed until further notice.
