Document Destruction Q & A

This is a question that we are often asked. The general advice from the Australian Taxation Office & other relevant industry bodies is;

• Financial & accounting records – seven years is the minimum period
• Taxation records – five years is the minimum (but the Taxation Commissioner may extend this period of time if records are in dispute)
• Minutes of meetings, lists of members & other corporate records – five years is the minimum
• Assets which are subject to Capital gains tax should be kept for five years following the disposal of the asset.
• Documents relating to Payroll Tax should be kept for five years
• Fringe benefits tax records should be retained for seven years
• Records relating to workers compensation should be kept indefinitely as an employee can make a claim on a former employer up until the employee’s death

If you are uncertain or require clarification about how long you should keep any records you should check with your accountant or the relevant industry body that oversees the particular document in question.

If you destroy documents before the end of the retention period & are then required to produce them, you are in fact liable & may be committing a criminal offence.

• ALL plastics including plastic sleeves, plastic binders, plastic covers
• Garbage
• Food / lolly wrappers – plastics of any kind
• Food waste, tissues, hand towels
• Foil or foil-coated paper
• Wax coated paper
• Paper bags or drink cartons
• Polystyrene
• Non paper fiber waste
• Carbon paper

Yes, We welcome clients to view the shredding process. Contact the office to make an appointment. To ensure total satisfaction, we allow clients to view the destruction of their records (by arrangement).

Every company holds documents that contain sensitive or personal information relating to the company, staff or customers. When considering document destruction for these documents, it is important to ensure that confidential information remains just that! Confidential.

It is, however, easy to overlook documents that you may not normally consider to be of a confidential or personal nature. We have compiled a list of some of the documents that may contain sensitive information and that should be destroyed in a reliable manner.

Records that require safe destruction are;

• Accounting Records
• All Outdated Business Records
• Bank Statements
• Bids and Quotations
• Blueprints
• Budget Data
• Business Plans
• Cancelled or Blank Cheques
• Classified Documents
• Computer Print Outs
• Confidential Letters/Memos
• Contracts
• Copy Machine Rejects/Excess
• Customer Lists
• Customer Mailing Lists
• Engineering Drawings
• Estimates
• Expense Reports
• Financial Records
• Inventory Lists
• Invoices
• Labour Estimates
• Legal Documents
• Legal Signatures
• Lottery tickets
• Maps and Blueprints
• Medical Information
• Meeting Minutes
• Negotiable Documents
• New Product Proposals
• Patent Application Material
• Payroll Records
• Personnel Records
• Price Lists
• Product Proposals
• Production Reports
• Prospect Lists
• Research and Development Data
• Sales Forecasts
• Security Holding Statements
• Seismic Data and Maps
• Tax Records

Yes we do. There is a minimum charge of $96.00 including GST

• Office Paper
• X-rays
• Computer Disks
• Cartridges
• Video Tapes
• Microfiche
• CDs
• DVDs

A certificate of Destruction is always issued on completion of the job.

Plastic items can be shredded, but should be kept separate from paper items where possible.

Abbotsford, Aberfeldie, Airport West, Albanvale, Albert Park, Albion, Alphington, Altona Meadows, Altona North, Altona, Ardeer, Armadale North, Arthurs Creek, Arthurs Seat, Ascot Vale, Ashburton, Ashwood, Aspendale Gardens, Aspendale, Attwood, Avondale Heights, Avonsleigh, Balaclava, Balwyn North, Balwyn, Bangholme, Banyule, Baxter, Bayswater North, Bayswater, Beaconsfield Upper, Beaconsfield, Beaumaris, Bedford Road, Belgrave, Belvedere Park, Bend Of Islands, Bennettswood, Bentleigh East, Bentleigh, Berwick, Beveridge, Bittern, Black Rock, Blackburn North, Blackburn South, Blackburn, Blairgowrie, Bonbeach, Boronia, Box Hill North, Box Hill South, Box Hill, Braeside, Braybrook, Brentford Square, Briar Hill, Brighton East, Brighton Road, Brighton, Broadmeadows, Brookfield, Brooklyn, Brunswick East, Brunswick West, Brunswick, Bulla, Bulleen, Bundoora, Burnley, Burnside, Burwood East, Burwood Heights, Burwood, Cairnlea, Camberwell East, Camberwell North, Camberwell South, Camberwell West, Camberwell, Campbellfield, Cannons Creek, Canterbury, Cardinia, Carlton North, Carlton South, Carlton, Carnegie, Caroline Springs, Carrum Downs, Carrum, Caulfield East, Caulfield Junction, Caulfield North, Caulfield South, Caulfield, Central Park, Chadstone, Chelsea Heights, Chelsea, Cheltenham East, Cheltenham, Chirnside Park, Christmas Hills, Clarinda, Clarkefield, Clayton South, Clayton, Clematis, Clifton Hill, Clyde North, Clyde, Coatesville, Coburg North, Coburg, Coldstream, Collingwood, Collins Street East, Collins Street West, Coolaroo, Cottles Bridge, Craigieburn, Cranbourne East, Cranbourne North, Cranbourne South, Cranbourne West, Cranbourne, Cremorne, Crib Point, Cromer, Croydon Hills, Croydon North, Croydon South, Croydon, Dallas, Dandenong North, Dandenong South, Dandenong South, Dandenong, Darling, Deer Park East, Deer Park, Delahey, Dendy, Derrimut, Devon Meadows, Diamond Creek, Dingley Village, Dixons Creek, Docklands, Doncaster East, Doncaster Heights, Doncaster, Donnybrook, Donvale, Doveton, Dromana, Eaglemont, East Keilor, East Melbourne, East Melbourne, Edithvale, Elsternwick, Eltham North, Eltham, Elwood, Emerald, Epping Dc, Epping, Essendon North, Essendon West, Essendon, Eumemmerring, Exford, Fairfield, Fawkner, Ferntree Gully, Fingal, Fitzroy North, Fitzroy, Five Ways, Flemington, Flinders Lane, Flinders, Footscray, Forest Hill, Fountain Gate, Frankston North, Frankston South, Frankston, Garden City, Gardenvale, Gembrook, Gilderoy, Gladstone Park, Glen Huntly, Glen Iris, Glen Waverley, Glenroy, Gowanbrae, Greensborough, Greenvale, Gruyere, Guys Hill, Hadfield, Hallam, Hampton East, Hampton North, Hampton Park, Hampton, Harkaway, Hastings, Hawksburn, Hawthorn East, Hawthorn, Healesville, Heatherton, Heathmont, Heidelberg Heights, Heidelberg Rgh, Heidelberg West, Heidelberg, Highett, Highpoint City, Hillside, Hmas Cerberus, Hoddles Creek, Holmesglen, Hopetoun Gardens, Hoppers Crossing, Hotham Hill, Houston, Hughesdale, Huntingdale, Hurstbridge, Ivanhoe East, Ivanhoe, Jacana, Jeetho, Junction Village, Kalkallo, Kallista, Kalorama, Kangaroo Ground, Karingal, Kealba, Keilor Downs, Keilor North, Keilor Park, Keilor, Kensington, Keon Park, Kerrimuir, Kew East, Kew, Keysborough, Kilsyth South, Kilsyth, Kings Park, Kingsbury, Kingsville, Knox City Centre, Knoxfield, Kooyong, Krowera, Kunyung, Kurunjang, Laburnum, Lalor, Launching Place, Laverton North, Laverton, Law Courts, Law Courts, Lilydale, Little River, Lower Plenty, Lysterfield South, Lysterfield, Macclesfield, Macleod, Maidstone, Main Ridge, Malvern East, Malvern, Maribyrnong, Maryknoll, Mccrae, Mckinnon, Meadow Heights,Melbourne Airport, Melbourne University, Melbourne, Melbourne, Melton South, Melton, Mentone, Menzies Creek, Merlynston, Merricks, Mickleham, Middle Camberwell, Middle Park, Mill Park, Mitcham, Monbulk, Mont Albert North, Mont Albert, Montmorency, Moonee Ponds, Moorabbin Airport, Moorabbin East, Moorabbin, Moorooduc, Mooroolbark, Mordialloc, Moreland, Mornington, Mount Cottrell, Mount Dandenong, Mount Eliza, Mount Evelyn, Mount Martha, Mount Waverley, Mountain Gate, Mulgrave, Murrumbeena, Nar Nar Goon, Narre Warren East, Narre Warren North, Narre Warren South, Narre Warren, Newport, Niddrie, Noble Park North, Noble Park, North Melbourne, North Warrandyte, Northcote, Northland Centre, Notting Hill, Nunawading Bc, Nunawading, Nutfield, Oak Park, Oaklands Junction, Oakleigh East, Oakleigh South, Oakleigh, Officer, Olinda, Ormond, Pakenham Upper, Pakenham, Park Orchards, Parkdale, Parkville, Pascoe Vale South, Pascoe Vale, Patterson Lakes, Pines Forest, Plenty, Point Cook, Port Melbourne, Powelltown, Prahran, Preston South, Preston, Princes Hill, Rangeview, Red Hill South, Red Hill, Regent West, Research, Reservoir, Richmond, Ringwood East, Ringwood North, Ringwood, Ripponlea, Robinson, Rosanna, Rosebud West, Rosebud, Rowville, Roxburgh Park, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Rye, Safety Beach, Saint Helena, Sandown Village, Sandringham, Sassafras Gully, Sassafras, Scoresby Bc, Scoresby, Seabrook, Seaford, Seaholme, Seddon West, Seddon, Selby, Seville, Sherbrooke, Shoreham, Silvan, Skye, Somers, Somerton, Somerville, Sorrento, South Kingsville, South Melbourne Dc, South Melbourne, South Yarra, Southbank, Southland Centre, Spotswood, Springvale South, Springvale, St Albans, St Andrews Beach, St Kilda East, St Kilda Road Central, St Kilda Road, St Kilda South, St Kilda West, St Kilda, Steels Creek, Strathewen, Strathmore Heights, Strathmore, Studfield, Sunbury, Sunshine, Surrey Hills, Sydenham, Syndal, Tankerton, Tarneit, Taylors Lakes, Tecoma, Templestowe Lower, Templestowe, The Basin, The Patch, Thomastown, Thornbury, Three Bridges, Toolangi, Toolern Vale, Toorak, Tootgarook, Tottenham, Travancore, Truganina, Tuerong, Tullamarine, Tunstall Square Po, Tyabb, University Of Melbourne, Upper Ferntree Gully, Upwey, Vermont South, Vermont, Viewbank, Wandin North, Wantirna South, Wantirna, Warrandyte South, Warrandyte, Warranwood, Waterways, Watsonia, Watsons Creek, Wattle Glen, Wattle Park, Werribee, West Footscray, West Melbourne, Westmeadows, Wheelers Hill, Williamstown, Windsor, Wishart, Wonga Park, Woodleigh, Woori Yallock, World Trade Centre, World Trade Centre, Wyndham Vale, Yallambie, Yarra Glen, Yarra Junction, Yarrambat, Yarraville West, Yarraville, Yellingbo, Yuroke.