News
Consultation opens on the Digital Records Bill
We are asking how long public services should keep records, who should be able to correct them, and what should happen when a service is retired. Responses close on 30 September 2026.
At a glance
- Consultation closes 30 September 2026
- Responses accepted online, by post, or by telephone
- Summary of responses published within 8 weeks of closing
The Commonwealth is consulting on the Digital Records Bill, which would replace retention rules written in 1998 and last amended in 2009. The Office is running the consultation on behalf of the Commonwealth.
The Bill would introduce a single retention schedule across public services, a statutory right to have an inaccurate record corrected within 20 working days, and an obligation on any service being retired to transfer its records to a named successor before it closes.
We are particularly interested in hearing from people who have tried to correct a public record and found it difficult, and from the service teams who received those requests. Both experiences are usually worse than the policy assumes.
The consultation is open until 30 September 2026. You can respond online, by post to Northgate House, or by telephone with someone from the records team. All three routes carry equal weight.
We will publish a summary of responses within eight weeks of the consultation closing, including the responses that disagreed with the proposals.
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Request your public records
Ask for a copy of the information a Commonwealth department holds about you, and track the request until it is answered.