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EmployeesCommonwealthMinimum retention

Termination records

How long should Australian businesses keep termination records, and when does the clock start?

Keep for7 years
Clock startsNot stated in the Act
Applies toNational system employersMost private-sector employers

General information, not legal advice or permission to destroy a record. Coverage may be incomplete or out of date. Check the official text, other applicable obligations and any investigations, disputes or legal holds before disposal. Get advice for your situation. Terms of use.

Under the Fair Work Act 2009, national system employers must keep termination records for at least 7 years. Clock starts: not stated in the Act.

How employment ended (by consent, notice, summarily or otherwise) and who ended it.

2 provisions in 2 laws apply to these records. Each one is set out below with its own period and start date.

The terms

s 535(1)Fair Work Act 2009
7 years
Start not stated
r 3.40Fair Work Regulations 2009
No period stated
Start not stated

Conditions and exceptions Caution

Neither the Fair Work Act nor the Regulations say when the 7 years starts.

From the provisions:

  • The record must be of a kind prescribed by the regulations

The law

Fair Work Act 2009, s 535(1) · Employer obligations in relation to employee recordsOfficial text ↗
An employer must make, and keep for 7 years, employee records of the kind prescribed by the regulations in relation to each of its employees.
Text as at 7 July 2026
Fair Work Regulations 2009, r 3.40 · Records—termination of employmentOfficial text ↗
For subsection 535(1) of the Act, if an employee's employment is terminated, a kind of employee record that the employer must make and keep is a record that sets out: (a) whether the employment was terminated: (i) by consent; or (ii) by notice; or (iii) summarily; or (iv) in some other manner (specifying the manner); and (b) the name of the person who acted to terminate the employment.
Text as at 20 June 2026
Fair Work Act 2009s 535(1) · Federal Register of Legislation
Legislation ↗
Fair Work Regulations 2009r 3.40 · Federal Register of Legislation
Legislation ↗
Fair Work OmbudsmanOfficial guidance
Guidance ↗

Other terms that apply to these records

This page covers termination records on their own. The same file is often caught by other laws as well, with different periods and start dates. See why a legal term is not a schedule.

3 records. 3 sets of rules. They don't agree.

One business file can hold all of these at once.

Termination records7yFair Work Act 2009, s 535(1) · not stated in the Act
Employee records (basic details)7yFair Work Act 2009, s 535(1) · not stated in the Act
Personal information no longer neededDestroyPrivacy Act 1988, Schedule 1, APP 11.2, APP 4.3 · no longer needed for any permitted purpose

Now do that for every record your organisation holds, and redo it when the law changes. ScheduleOne has done that work, and keeps it current.

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