ARCHIVAL GUIDANCE TOOL

© Inspired EC 2013

Why Is Archiving So Important?

All Early Childhood Services, regardless of their nature (non-profit or for profit) or their type (Long Day Care, Preschool, Family Day Care or OOSH) is at its core a business. As such, accurate record keeping and management is crucial.

During my experience as a Long Day Care Centre Director, there were numerous occasions were accurate archiving proved to be very important. Some examples include:

•Random Child Care Benefit Audit – we needed to provide sign in sheets, copies of invoices etc for families, some of whom had since left to attend school.

•Court Ordered Subpoena’s – there have been several occasions where I have been order by the Family Court to provide information regarding child attendances, accident history, welfare concerns etc.

•Management decisions – being a non-profit service and operating with a voluntary management committee that changes most year, it became crucial to archive meeting minutes and documentation of decisions. Access to this information ensured that consistency was maintained in the service.

Hopefully this tool will support you to manage your archiving and maintain organised records.

Nicole

© Inspired EC 2013

TIPS FOR ARCHIVING

Set aside a day at the end of each year to destroy old records and properly archive new records

Have one box for child records each year (e.g. Child Records 2013) staple their enrolment form as well as any developmental records, medical records etc. together. Although not all pieces of documentation are required for the same length of time, this makes them easier to find.

Only archive child records once they have left the service – do not archive each year of the child’s attendance separately as it makes it harder to find specific information about the child.

Use archive boxes that support suspension files – file different items separately (e.g. in the financial records box – separate bank statements from receipts etc.) clearly label each suspension file

If in doubt about whether any particular piece of documentation needs to be archived and the length of time required – contact the regulatory body or authority that the document relates to. It is always best to ask as opposed to disposing of the documentation only to find it is later required. For example – if you are unsure how long CCB records must be kept – contact the Department of Human Services.

Be mindful of where you store your archive boxes – you may be asked to present this information at short notice so it is important to ensure that it is accessible

Use good quality, reinforced archive boxes – there is nothing worse than having a box full of papers collapse on your feet!

© Inspired EC 2013

WHAT TO ARCHIVEITEM EXAMPLES HOW LONG

FOR?

Financial Records

Bank statements, cheque books, receipts

7 Years

Child Development Records

Copies of observations, reporting

Until end of 3 years after the child's last attendance

Child Health Records

Medication forms, accident reports, risk of significant harm reports

Until the child is at least 25 years of age

Staff Records Record of responsible person in charge, Staff record, record of educators working directly with children, record of access to EC Teachers

Until end of 3 years after staff member last worked for the service

Child Attendance Records

Sign in sheets, enrolment forms

Until end of 3 years after last attendance

Record of services compliance history

Assessment reports, compliance notices

Until the end of 3 years after the approved provider ceased operations

Record of students/volunteers

Sign in sheets, declarations

Until the end of 3 years after they attend the service

© Inspired EC 2013

WHAT TO ARCHIVEITEM EXAMPLES HOW LONG

FOR?

Insurance Records

Workers Compensation, Public Liability, claims, policy details

7 Years

Management/Business records

Meeting minutes, annual reports, financial reports (The Office of Fair Trading and Business Affairs maintains their own copies of these records and imposes no requirement regarding services keeping these records, provided they have been submitted in accordance with legislation governing these management bodies.)

At discretion of service

Child Health Records

Medication forms, accident reports, risk of significant harm reports

Until the child is at least 25 years of age

© Inspired EC 2013

Individual services or organisations may have additional record keeping requirements. For more information regarding business record keeping requirements – visit http://www.ato.gov.au/Non-profit/Record-keeping-and-payments/In-detail/Record-keeping/Record-keeping-for-small-business/

References/Support Documents:

•ACECQA•Gowrie Victoria

ARCHIVE LABELSThe following page contains a sample archive box label - you may wish to edit these on the computer and print out or simply print out multiple copies and write on them as needed.

By providing as much detail as possible on the label it is easy to see at a glance what is contained in each box and when the information within the box can be destroyed.

© Inspired EC 2013

ARCHIVE BOX NUMBER _______

CONTENTS

~~~~~~~~

DATE FOR DESTROYING _______

© Inspired EC 2013

ARCHIVE BOX REGISTER

BOX NUMBER

CONTENTS LOCATION

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

This document can be kept on your computer and updated or printed out and updated. It is a quick way of locating particular information as required.

© Inspired EC 2013