Social media archiving for Tasmanian government

Tasmanian social media records, ready when an RTI request arrives.

Brolly automatically captures supported posts, comments, edits and deletions from connected official accounts, helping your team find and export records with their metadata and an audit trail intact.

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Supported posts, comments, edits & deletions · Search & export · Metadata & audit trail
Public authoritiesCouncils

'Public authority' expressly includes a council (RTI Act s 5(1)(c)).

Parliament House, Hobart / nipaluna
Hobart / nipaluna · Photo: Mairremena, CC BY-SA 4.0

Tasmania organisations that use Brolly

  • Department of Education Tasmania
  • Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management
  • Homes Tasmania
  • Leighland Christian School
  • Sorell Council
Know your legislation

Four things shape the record in Tasmania.

The records Act, the access regime, retention and disposal, and the authority that oversees them — each named from the legislation and linked to its source.

Records act

Archives Act 1983 (Tas)

State and local government authorities must keep the records of their business and may only dispose of them with the authorisation of the State Archivist. The State Archivist issues guidelines and retention and disposal schedules that relevant authorities must follow. Archives Act 1983 No. 76 of 1983

Access to information

RTI Act

A public authority must notify its decision on an accepted application as soon as practicable and within 20 working days after acceptance — acceptance is generally receipt, though a fee must first be paid or waived. The period can extend by agreement or, for complex or voluminous applications, with the Ombudsman's approval, and required third-party consultation adds a further 20 working days. Provision of the information itself is dealt with separately under s 18. Request term: RTI application · Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas)

Retention & disposal

Disposal schedules issued by the Office of the State Archivist

The Disposal Schedule for Local Government Records. Retention follows the function the content documents, not the platform. Social media records are kept under the same disposal schedule as the business activity they evidence. Retention and disposal authorities

Records authority & oversight

Office of the State Archivist (Tasmanian Archives, Libraries Tasmania)

Office of the State Archivist (Tasmanian Archives, Libraries Tasmania) · Information Management FrameworkOversight: Ombudsman Tasmania

Your organisation determines what must be captured and how long it is kept by applying the relevant authority, record class, business context and legal holds. Sources last reviewed 30 August 2026.This page provides general information only and is not legal advice. Your organisation is responsible for determining its legal, regulatory, retention and disposal obligations.

Free download
BrollyFree guide · PDF
Archives Act 1983 (Tas)
Archiving Social Media: A Guide For Tasmania Government
Tasmania lawAccess lawRetention & disposalChecklist
Captured. Searchable. Defensible.PDF
Free guide

Download the free Tasmania
Social Media Legislation Guide.

The Tasmania edition, written for records and communications teams in Tasmania government.

The Tasmania records Act, access regime and retention framework Records obligations explained in plain English Bonus compliance checklist inside
Get the guide

PDF · free · delivered on the guide page

From current guidance
Where government business is undertaken through social media applications, those applications may contain State records subject to the Archives Act 1983. The Office of the State Archivist’s social media guideline is currently marked as under review.

Paraphrase of current guidance — Office of the State Archivist — read the guidance

For councils

Local Government Act 1993 (Tas)

Councils are relevant authorities under the Archives Act and public authorities under the RTI Act; councillors' official-capacity communications can be council records.

  • Integrity body: Director of Local Government (Office of Local Government, Department of Premier and Cabinet)

Social media archiving for councils

Brolly illustration of records being organised for a request
How Brolly helps

Meeting the obligation in Tasmania, with an automatic archive.

Automatic capture from connected official accounts

Brolly connects to Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok and captures supported posts, comments, replies, edits and deletions with available metadata, and every export carries a digital checksum. Coverage varies by platform and depends on the content and metadata made available through platform APIs. That helps you meet the recordkeeping expectations set by the Office of the State Archivist (Tasmanian Archives, Libraries Tasmania).

  • Searchable exports in PDF, CSV, HTML or JSON to support RTI Act response workflows
  • Records keep their metadata and audit history; exports carry digital checksums for audit and evidentiary workflows
See the archive

Harmful comments hidden, the record kept

Comments on official accounts can be subject to the Archives Act 1983 (Tas) just like the posts above them, and the harmful ones arrive at any hour. Brolly Protect hides scams, abuse and personal attacks on connected accounts around the clock, while the archive keeps the original comment, the action taken and the time. Moderation never has to mean deletion.

  • AI moderation 24/7 across cyberbullying, scams, personal information and custom keywords
  • The original comment, the action and the time are retained in the archive
Explore Brolly Protect
A road closure, preserved

One closure notice. Every version, every reply.

This interface reconstruction uses a fictional council, Willowdale Council, and a flood road closure on 7 March 2026. It shows how the original notice, each edited version and the community replies around it can be reviewed together.

01
The council publishes

An official account posts a road closure notice with an estimated reopening time.

02
The post is edited

The reopening time and the cause are updated as contractors confirm them.

03
Your team reviews

Records, comms and the information-access officer can see the whole chronology, and export it.

Brolly Archive

Archive feed

Captured posts and conversations from connected accounts

All networksAll accountsAll dates12 captured posts
A waterfront civic quarter
♡ 42　 8
A flooded road closed at a bridge crossing
♡ 86　 24
Edited
Staff at a district council service centre
♡ 61　 12
A waterfront civic quarter
A flooded road closed at a bridge crossing
Staff at a district council service centre
Post Inspector
3 versions
A flooded road closed at a bridge crossing
Willowdale Valley Road is closed by flooding. Slip damage at the bridge approach has been confirmed; contractors are repairing it. Estimated reopening 11:30 am 2:30 pm.
♡ 86　 24
Export prepared
Straight answers

Questions Tasmania records teams ask

Can a Tasmanian council's social media content be a state record?
Yes, it can. The Office of the State Archivist's guidance says information issued, shared or received through social media for government business is official government information, and the Archives Act 1983 governs how relevant authorities keep and dispose of their records. Your disposal schedule and records policy decide what is kept.

Source: Archives Act 1983 (Tas) · Office of the State Archivist (Tasmanian Archives, Libraries Tasmania): Information Management Framework

How long does a Tasmanian public authority have to decide an RTI application?
The Right to Information Act 2009 requires the decision to be notified as soon as practicable and within 20 working days after the application is accepted, extendable by a further 20 working days where a third party must be consulted, or by agreement or Ombudsman approval. Provision of the information is dealt with separately under the Act. The statutory period governs the decision and notice; locating the complete record set is the operational work needed to make that decision defensibly.

Source: Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas) · Ombudsman Tasmania

Why does a minor post matter later?
If a resident relies on a post to make a decision, you may need to show exactly what was published at that time and what was said in reply. Content that was edited or removed is hard to reconstruct from screenshots. Continuous capture keeps the evidence, including changes, without extra effort from the comms team.
How does Brolly help a Tasmanian authority meet these obligations?
Brolly captures official accounts as they are used, keeps posts, comments, edits and deletions searchable with their metadata, and exports in formats your records team can file or produce for an RTI application. It helps you meet your obligations under the Archives Act; it does not replace your disposal schedule.
How long must social media records be retained?
Official social-media guidance exists — the Office of the State Archivist's Guideline 18 says social-media records can be State records and must be managed like records created by other means — but no dedicated social-media class or period has been verified, and the guideline is currently marked under review. Retention depends on the purpose and content of the communication and the disposal schedule applying to the function. Confirm the applicable class with the Office of the State Archivist or your legal adviser.

Source: Right to Information Act 2009 (Tas) · Ombudsman Tasmania

See your channels as records.

See capture, search and export on your own Tasmania channels in a 20-minute walkthrough. Records teams welcome.

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