MeetUp – Building Trust in the Public Record to 2028: Practical Implications for AI, Records, and Information Governance

Description

Special guest: Sean Wright, Director (a/g) Government Information Policy and Standards, National Archives of Australia

The National Archives of Australia has extended Building Trust in the Public Record Policy through 31 December 2028.  The Policy is the current whole of government information management policy and sets out the key requirements for how Australian Government agencies should manage their information assets, explicitly including records, information and data, to support accountable government and community trust.

Join InfoGovANZ for a practical discussion with special guest Sean Wright,  Director (a/g) Government Information Policy and Standards, National Archives of Australia, on what the extension is intended to achieve, what it means for agency leaders and practitioners in 2026, and how the accelerating adoption of AI changes the “trust” equation. As AI becomes embedded in everyday workflows, from drafting and summarisation to triage and decision-support, organisations need information governance that ensures they can still evidence what was done, why it was done, and who was accountable.

Discussion themes include:

• The rationale for extending Building Trust in the Public Record Policy to 2028, and what it suggests about persistent capability gaps and priority focus areas.
• How information management expectations are evolving, including digital continuity, control of information assets across platforms, and consistency of practice in hybrid environments.
• Practical implications of AI for recordkeeping and evidence, including capturing AI-assisted work appropriately, avoiding fragmented or unverifiable records, and maintaining traceability of key decisions, approvals and communications.
• Strengthening holistic information governance for AI: aligning records and information management with risk management, assurance, procurement, vendor oversight, and operational controls, so AI-enabled work remains auditable and defensible.
• APS “Managing Information” (Principle 4) expectations, including that good recordkeeping is essential for accountability and that employees must be able to demonstrate care, diligence, and appropriate consideration in decisions and actions.

This MeetUp is designed for information governance, records, archives, legal, risk, audit, assurance, data, and digital teams who need a clear, practical lens on how to maintain trust in the public record while adopting AI-enabled tools and services.

Note:
This is an interactive discussion-based session. Participants are required to have their video cameras on to support active engagement.

The MeetUp will be conducted under Chatham House Rule and will not be recorded, to enable open discussion and the free exchange of views.