What is an Intention to Dispose?
Once a public office has formally submitted an appraisal report accompanied by a retention and disposal schedule, the Chief Archivist can approve the recommendations in principle. Section 20 (2) of the Public Records Act says that the Chief Archivist must then give the public no less than 30 days’ notice of an intention to dispose of the public records as recommended in the report.
Contained in the notice must be a general description of the public records concerned, the place where additional information may be obtained on the records concerned and the contact to whom any comments or feedback may be sent.
Who can provide comment?
Anybody from the public is welcome to comment on the Chief Archivists’ Intention to dispose by completing a Disposal Comment Form and returning it to Archives New Zealand before the due date. All comments received within the minimum 30 day comment period will be considered by the Chief Archivist. Comments received after this date will not be assessed as part of the review process.
Why comment?
• You may have new information that might affect the disposal recommendations
• You may be able to provide a new interpretation of existing information relating to the recommendations
• You may be able to produce evidence to which the appraisal did not give sufficient weight relating to the recommendations
• The proposed fate of the records may have an impact not yet considered. considered
To comment on Intentions to Dispose and to find out more about Archives New Zealand’s public notification responsibility, visit our main Intentions to Dispose page.