Social media has been around for a long time, but it seems relatively new. Local Government (as well as all government) has been expanding the use of social media into many different channels over time, with the community becoming more engaged.
Almost all councils now have Facebook, and almost all have X (Formerly called Twitter), and many are growing their Instagram presence. LinkedIn is significantly increasing in usage for attracting staff and promoting businesses and the community.
Councils and government departments use these channels to
Build and manage their brand with citizens
Manage critical response communications
And Engage citizens and deliver services
The number of residents following Council social media accounts in Australia and New Zealand ranges between 3% and 75%, depending on the council, while the reach is estimated to be around 5.2%. So, the government's aim is to get people to engage with their posts.
The most significant issue with the engagement is that the government department or council does not control these platforms. The posts can be deleted by the poster, a privileged council employee or the platform.
As these are official platforms, this loss of data is troublesome. The community expect responses, and evidence of those responses is important. It is also important to track social media interactions to understand the community's mood and respond to issues. It is also essential to have access to defamatory posts that may cause harm but can be deleted later. This data will help councils understand engagement (especially with analytics) and provide evidence that they are doing the right thing, especially in court (if required).
The legislation around keeping records changes based on the region, but all jurisdictions require records to be maintained.
National Archives of Australia says, “If your agency uses social media for business activities, the information created is an Australian Government record and needs to be managed.”
Let’s dive into the requirements for each State.
New South Wales
NSW determines six criteria for archiving social media. You will need to archive your social media records if they meet any of the following criteria:
are high-risk, commercial or highly valuable to the NSW Government
communicate decisions, give advice or commit to an action or outcome
are about sensitive or contentious issues
generate great interest from the public or media
contain information not communicated anywhere else
have a long-term retention period or are identified as state archives (a state record that the State Archives and Records Authority has control of). Contact govrec@staterecords.nsw.gov.au or visit the NSW State Archives and Records website to find out if yours falls into this category.
Social media posts and associated comments that fit any of these six criteria should be open by default (available publicly) for at least two years after publishing.
Victoria
The Public Records Act 1973 (s2) defines a public record as “any record made or received by a public officer in the course of [their] duties.” This definition includes all messages sent and responses received by public officers when carrying out their duties, regardless of the:• medium used to send or receive the message• account name used to send or receive the message• role or seniority of the public officer sending or receiving the message.
Social media posts are records when…
Social media posts created or received by a public officer in the course of their duties are evidence of government business. They document the actions taken by public officers and should be managed as a record for reasons of accountability and transparency.
Types of social media posts include:
Original posts on a social media site
Responses, if any are received, to the original post
Relevant posts identified when monitoring social media sites
Content is republished by the agency when the content has come from elsewhere.
Please note:
This applies whether the account used is one for the agency or a public officer's personal account when used for government business.
Copyright should always be considered before republishing non-agency messages.
Queensland
The Public Records Act 2002 (PR Act) defines a public record as “any form of recorded information, created or received by a public authority, in the exercise of its statutory, administrative or other public responsibilities or for a related purpose”.
New Zealand
Social media records are considered public records under the New Zealand Public Records Act 2005. “As such, they must be managed accordingly.” – Archives New Zealand
South Australia
State Records Act 1997 states that all councils and agencies must ensure official records in their custody are maintained in good order and condition, and not destroyed without proper authority” https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/__legislation/lz/c/a/state%20records%20act%201997/current/1997.8.auth.pdf
Tasmania
“Social media tools are often used for informal conversations, but legislative requirements still apply. If you are using social media for government business purposes, then the information you issue, share or receive via social media is official government information.”
Office of the State Archivist, Tasmania
Western Australia
Can social media content be a government record?
Yes. The State Records Act 2000 defines a record as ‘information however recorded’; therefore, any business-related content created by a government organisation using social media is subject to the same recordkeeping requirements as information created by other means. Whilst some content will be ephemeral in nature, or duplicate content from elsewhere, most content will form part of the organisation’s business activities and will need to be managed accordingly.
A Social Media Policy is recommended.
Managing social media content can be complex. If your organisation uses social media for official communications, it should have a Social Media Policy covering how content is approved and posted to social media. Incorporating the organisation’s approach to capturing and managing this content into the policy is recommended as a starting point to decide how best to manage these records.
When should social media content be captured?
When determining how content needs to be managed, consider asking yourself the following questions:
Are you posting on behalf of the organisation?
Does the post generate a lot of interest from the public and media?
Does the post communicate decisions and/or commit the organisation to an action?
Does the post seek feedback regarding organisational issues on governance, policies and procedures?
Does the post share information that addresses issues of safety, security, etc.?
Does the post relate to sensitive or contentious activities?
Does the post trigger an internal process (request for information, a threat or complaint)?
If the answer is likely to be “Yes” to any of the above questions, the organisation’s social media and other information management policies should address strategies for ensuring that social media content will be captured as a government record and retained accordingly.
Northern Territory
The Information Act 2002 (NT) defines a record as “Recorded information in any form (including data in a computer system) that is required to be kept by a PSO as evidence of the activities or operations of the organisation.” Find out more here.
It is clear that councils and government organisations are required to keep these records, but it is also essential to go beyond compliance to track information and sentiment and alert council staff based on keywords. It is also important to automatically create alerts when users post personally identifiable information, inappropriate images, and other policy violations.
At Redman, we are fortunate to offer a solution that captures and analyses all accepted social media channels.
Social Media Archiving is currently used by over 35 government authorities in Australia and New Zealand, allowing them to collect all metadata and maintain compliance.
Discover more here.
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