Annual Report 2014-15

Kangaroo Paws
COMPLIANCE WITH STATE
RECORDS ACT
The State Records Act 2000 requires the City to have an
approved Recordkeeping Plan which details the way the
City keeps its records. The Recordkeeping Plan has been
approved for five years from 2012 to 2017.
Improvements to the City’s records management include:
• Seeking offsite scanning of paper documents to turn
them into electronic documents enabling better access,
cheaper storage and releasing resources from the
onerous task of scanning documents.
• Integrating the Archives and Information Management
teams to share knowledge, improve resource availability
and provide faster client service.
• Extending the electronic delivery of documents to
improve business practices and safeguard documents.
• Further integration between the electronic document
and records management system and corporate business
systems.
• Development of a vital records register and vital records.
• A helpdesk service in recordkeeping, TRIM and archives
is also provided to staff. Increased consultation with
colleagues and integration in line with business systems
has led to improvements with records compliance.
The number of records captured into the City’s corporate
recordkeeping system during 2014/15 was 40,220 (42,960
in 2013/14). This included incoming and outgoing letters,
emails, faxes, online forms and internal documentation. The
number of new files created during this period was 18,165.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI)
Access to documents may be granted to members of the
community under the Freedom of Information Act 1992.
An Information Statement is available along with application
forms on the City’s website. The statement is a guide on the
Freedom of Information (FOI) process and also lists the types
of documents available outside of FOI.
During 2014/15, the City received a total of 20 Freedom
of Information applications, with an average of 26 days to
complete each application. Decisions were made on 14
applications during 2014/15. 9 Applications were completed
within the legislative timeframe of 45 days.
Although any document may be requested, it is
recommended that only documents that cannot be
provided outside the FOI process should be sought under
the FOI Act as the process is onerous, slow and expensive
for both the City and the applicant. Additionally documents
released are frequently edited to remove exempt
information. The most frequently removed information
is third party personal information which is often the
information sought. The City’s FOI Officer can be contacted
on 9405 5596 prior to submitting your application.
NATIONAL COMPETITION POLICY
The National Competition Policy obligations were
considered in respect of competitive neutrality and other
competitive advantage issues in respect of the City’s aquatic
(Aquamotion) operations. Notwithstanding that the National
Competition Policy provides reasonable scope for the City
134 | ANNUAL REPORT 2014/2015 | CITY OF WANNEROO | ADDITIONAL STATUTORY INFORMATION