Know Exactly How Long to Keep Every Record — and Prove It
M-Files delivers modern Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) governance without the friction of legacy platforms — enforcing AS ISO 15489 and Privacy Act retention schedules automatically based on what a record is, with a full audit trail and zero upfront migration required.
Apply compliance retention policies, legal holds, and defensible disposal across network drives, SharePoint, and repositories.
Sound familiar?
The compliance risks and storage clutter that happen without automated retention governance:
Nobody's confident how long to keep something
A record needs to be kept for a legally or contractually defined period — but nobody's entirely sure what that period actually is for a given document type, so the default becomes keeping everything indefinitely, just in case.
Old records pile up because deleting feels risky
Without a system enforcing retention rules, records accumulate well past the point they're required to be kept. Under Australian Privacy Principle 11 (APP 11.2), over-retaining personal information that is no longer needed is itself a compliance breach.
Records are scattered across systems nobody controls
Records live across network folders, old archives, someone's inbox, and whatever system happened to create them. Or worse, you have a legacy EDRMS (like TRIM or Content Manager) that staff actively avoid using because it is too rigid.
A compliance review or audit exposes the gap
Everything seems fine until an audit, a legal hold, or a regulatory review asks for records that should exist and are provably managed — and the retention discipline that should have been happening quietly wasn't.
Modern EDRMS & retention that runs itself
Records managed by what they are and how long they're required to be kept — not by someone remembering to check a retention schedule.
Retention on Autopilot
Retention rules are tied to metadata — what type of record it is (e.g., 7-year ATO financial record, 7-year Fair Work employee file, or statutory clinical record) — so the system calculates expiry and routes disposal approvals automatically.
Records Don't Have to Move First
Records can stay in the systems they already live in — network folders, SharePoint, CRM platforms, legacy archives — and still be found, governed, and retained correctly through metadata.
Find It By What It Is, Not Where It's Filed
The same metadata-driven approach used across every other M-Files use case applies here — a record is findable by its type, client, matter, or date, not by remembering which archive box or folder path it ended up in.
Protected, Monitored, and Provable
Dynamic permissions restrict access automatically based on what a record is, full audit trails capture every access and change, and legal holds pause disposal workflows immediately when litigation or regulatory inquiries arise.
“M-Files makes my office so much more efficient. I have all my records and handouts at my fingertips.”
“We have to compliment Range Information Systems on their excellent support, no task too big or small and their passion for making M-Files the best experience in a DMS is commendable. M-Files itself is one of the most customisable systems and with Range's advice and expertise we have managed to automate and streamline many business processes — the reduction in paper use is staggering.”
Gartner Magic Quadrant
Leader & Visionary in Enterprise Content Services
Forrester TEI Study
Validated 301% ROI over 3 years
TrustRadius Top Rated
Top Rated Records Management 2026
Nucleus Research
Ranked Leader 10+ consecutive years
Common Questions About Records Management, EDRMS & Retention
Clear answers for records managers, compliance officers, and IT leaders across Australia.
Deep-Dive Australian Records & Compliance Guides
Practical guides on retention schedules, AS ISO 15489, Privacy Act obligations, and industry governance.
Records Management & Retention Best Practices for Australian Firms
How to design automated retention schedules and defensible disposal workflows in M-Files.
Staying Compliant in Australia: Meeting Privacy Act & ISO Requirements
Aligning document governance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and ISO standards.
The Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) Scheme: What Australian SMEs Must Know
Why over-retained records increase breach liability and how metadata permissions reduce risk.
Information Governance for Healthcare, NDIS & Aged Care Providers
Securing sensitive participant and clinical records while automating audit readiness.
Stop guessing how long you're required to keep something.
See how M-Files applies retention automatically — without requiring a full migration to get started.
Book a Free Demo →