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Minimum requirements for metadata
If your organisation is a public sector organisation , you must capture or generate metadata when creating and managing information and records.
This guide will help you develop a trusted minimum set of metadata to meet the requirements of the mandatory Information and Records Management Standard (the Standard).
Recordkeeping publication: 16/G7, updated June 2026.
Information and records must include specific metadata
Information and records must include specific metadata (data about data) if they are to be considered:
authoritative,
reliable, and
trustworthy.
This metadata must describe:
content — what the information and records contain
structure — what their form and format are and how different parts are connected
business context — the circumstances in which they were created, received and used
relationships — how they are connected to other information, records and metadata
actions and events — what business activities are connected to the information and records during their lifecycle
retrieval — what data is necessary to find and present the information and records.
Required metadata corresponds with the Australian/New Zealand Standard
The metadata listed in the following checklists corresponds to specific elements (or combinations of elements) in the Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 5478:2015 Recordkeeping Metadata Property Reference Set (RMPRS).
The RMPRS provides a standard for recordkeeping metadata to ensure:
systems can work together, and
information and records remain accessible.
Creating and managing information and records
Your organisation must capture or create metadata when creating and managing your information and records to meet the minimum compliance requirements 2.3, 3.2 and 3.3 of the Standard.
Minimum compliance | Description |
|---|---|
2.3 Information and records management must be a design component of all systems and service environments where high-risk/high value business is undertaken. | Integrate metadata into the specifications when designing systems and service environments. This will ensure that authorised staff can identify, access and use the information and records. Applies if your organisation's operations are high-risk, high-value, or both. |
3.2 Information and records must be reliable and trustworthy. | Use metadata appropriately to ensure your organisation’s information and records are reliable and trustworthy. |
3.3 Information and records must be identifiable, retrievable, accessible and usable for as long as they are required. | Use metadata appropriately to guarantee that authorised staff can identify, access and use the information and records for as long as required. |
Minimum metadata to assign when creating and managing information and records
You must capture or generate this minimum metadata when you create or manage information and records. You must also retain it for at least 10 years. See Disposal process and Class 8.1.3 of General Disposal Authority 6 (pdf, 969KB).
Minimum metadata includes:
unique identifier
name
date created
business activity documented
creator (person or system)
name and version of the software application used to create or document a record
any later actions carried out on the record, such as accessing, modifying or disposing
identification of the persons or systems carrying out those later actions
dates those actions were carried out.
Further metadata
Your organisation may need to assign further metadata to:
ensure that the record is full and accurate
establish a complete context
prove authenticity.
More information
Read the best practice guidance for our Standard, which includes AS/NZS 5478: Implementation guide.
Disposing of information and records
Disposal describes a range of processes that evaluate whether information and records should remain in the control of the organisation that created them. For public records in Aotearoa New Zealand, disposal actions can include:
transferring control of the information and records to the Chief Archivist
selling, altering, destroying or discharging the information and records.
You must manage metadata associated with the disposal of information and records to meet the minimum compliance requirements 3.1 and 3.4 of the Standard.
For information on the destruction rather than the disposal of metadata, see Methods of destruction.
Minimum compliance requirement | Description |
|---|---|
3.1 Information and records must be routinely created and managed as part of normal business practice. | You must manage disposal of metadata systematically. Add to existing metadata if necessary to reflect changes in location or control. Define and implement procedures for altering metadata, for example, during data cleansing processes. Do the same when redacting metadata, for example, as part of information sharing arrangements. |
3.4 Information and records must be protected from unauthorised or unlawful access, alteration, loss, deletion and/or destruction. | Appraise metadata before disposing of it. Protect it from unauthorised disposal. Prevent point-of-capture metadata from being overwritten. Protect process metadata as appropriate. Preserve metadata during the transfer of records and aggregations between systems and organisations. |
Minimum metadata to assign when disposing of information and records
You must capture or generate this minimum metadata when you dispose of information and records. You must also retain it for at least 10 years. See Disposal process and Class 8.1.3 of General Disposal Authority 6 (pdf, 969KB).
Minimum metadata includes:
unique identifier
name
date created
business activity documented
creator (person or system)
date of disposal
authority governing the disposal
person or role carrying out the disposal action.
Protecting the metadata
To protect the minimum metadata set, your organisation can choose to:
keep the metadata with their information and records system(s)
document the metadata in a separate register, or
add the metadata to existing indexes or finding aids.
Why this is important
You must protect this metadata to:
meet internal reporting requirements
meet external accountability obligations
ensure the reliability, authenticity and trustworthiness of the associated information and records.
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