| Status |
Optional (see Notes section below) |
|---|---|
| Source |
Commonwealth Contract Terms clause C.C.22A |
| Legislation / Policy | |
| Additional information |
Archives Act – available at: https://www.naa.gov.au/information-management/getting-started-information-management PGPA Act - available at: https://www.finance.gov.au/government/managing-commonwealth-resources |
This clause should be included to ensure that the Supplier is properly maintaining records for contract management purposes. This is important amongst other things, for transparency and accountability purposes, to support decision making and to inform better future business systems.
Also, it is important as the Commonwealth has legislative record keeping obligations to comply with under the Archives Act 1983 (Cth) and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth) and the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).
This clause also deals with unauthorised access to Commonwealth records and their return or destruction. This clause is often used in conjunction with audit and access clauses. It does not deal with audit, copies and return of Commonwealth Material, security requirements, storage n and handling classified material, delivery of Contract Material, intellectual property and disclosure of information/confidentiality.
Record Keeping and Management
X.1 The Supplier must:
- maintain proper business and accounting records; and
- keep copies of all certifications, licences and records confirming compliance with any other regulatory requirements, relating to the supply of the Goods and/or Services and the performance of the Contract, including records:
- enabling the amounts payable by the Customer under the Contract to be determined and verified, including any pass through costs or reimbursable expenses; and
- confirming compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements or Australian or international standards.
X.2 The Supplier must not transfer, or permit the transfer of custody or ownership, or allow the destruction, of any Commonwealth record (as defined in the Archives Act 1983 (Cth)) without the prior written consent of the Customer.
X.3 All Commonwealth records, including any held by Subcontractors, must be protected at all times from unauthorised access use by a third party, misuse, damage and destruction. Commonwealth records must be retained for the periods set out in the Archives Act 1983 (Cth)) or delivered to the Customer after the finalisation of the Contract as directed by the Customer.
X.4 The Supplier must ensure that it keeps all records relating to the Contract in accordance with any applicable regulatory or statutory requirements and in any event for a period of at least seven (7) years after the expiration or earlier termination of the Contract.
X.5 The Supplier acknowledges that unauthorised disclosure of security-classified information is an offence. Legislation (including, but not limited to, the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) contains provisions relating to the protection of prescribed official information and sets out the penalties for the unauthorised disclosure of that information.
While use of this clause is optional, it is common for contracts to include a clause of this type.
Standardisation of contractual text results in efficiencies for both Parties to a contract. Before deciding whether a particular clause is appropriate, procurement officials should carefully consider the context of their procurement.
Clause wording may need to be changed to align with related clauses in a Contract such as clauses dealing with the issues listed in the Guidance. This clause may need to be amended where there are particular licensing or regulatory requirements that are to be met.
Otherwise, where this clause is included, the clause wording should be used without change.
Terms that are capitalised may need to be changed to align with the Contract terminology.
