1. Plan before changing access
Arrange a review with records, governance, communications and IT staff. Do not assume that a personally owned or campaign account should transfer to the next office holder.
Record the office, account scope, outgoing/incoming responsible roles and planned change date.
For each account record URL, ownership, purpose, administrators, recovery owner and proposed destination. Never record passwords.
Ask records staff to identify the applicable authority, any restrictions or holds and who may approve disposal. Do not choose a default retention period.
2. Preserve and verify
A file download is a starting point. Have the receiving team check that the required material and context can be used.
Record dates, content types, source accounts and what is unavailable. Confirm coverage with the relevant provider or records team.
Record storage reference, receiving owner, transfer date and retrieval check result.
Record missing context, impact, owner and follow-up date.
3. Complete the transition
Change access only in the agreed order and with the appropriate authority.
Record case references, responsible team and next action without copying personal case contents.
Record tested incoming access, approved outgoing-access changes and any public account notice.
Record receiving owner, outgoing owner, records reviewer, date and conditions.
Completion checklist
Record evidence or an open action beside each item. A checked list is not legal approval.
Before using this pack
This original working aid supports discussion and documentation. It does not replace your policies, legal advice, retention authority or an authorized decision. No fixed retention period or universal permission to remove content is supplied.
Find guidance for your state or territory
Choose your jurisdiction, then record the policy, responsible officer and retention authority agreed with your team.
New South Wales
Agree how council-business posts and conversations reach the council records team.
Victoria
Use council policy to agree which information is passed to council and who receives it.
Queensland
Discuss council-business correspondence, including social posts, with your records officer.
Western Australia
Use the Local Government Council Members’ Records advice to agree capture responsibilities.
South Australia
Start with the state standards, then confirm your council’s elected-member policy and applicable disposal schedule. This is general records guidance.
Tasmania
Use the councillor advice to discuss records across social media, messages and other formats.
Office of the State Archivist: advice for councillors (PDF) ↗
Northern Territory
Confirm the council’s capture and retention arrangements with its records team. This general guidance includes NT local authorities.
Australian Capital Territory
For ACT government teams: use the social media requirements and capture scenarios. The ACT has no municipal councils; adapt office roles rather than using the councillor workflow unchanged.