How long to keep interview records
Too short is a compliance fail. Too long is a different one.
Records retention cuts both ways. Destroy interview records too early and you cannot respond to an FOI request, an MPC promotion review, or an AAT application that may arrive months after the round closes. Keep them indefinitely and you breach Australian Privacy Principle 11, which requires personal information to be destroyed or de-identified when no longer needed.
Under the National Archives’ AFDA Express, unsuccessful candidate applications and interview notes are typically destroyed one year after action completed. Successful candidate documentation, selection reports, and merit pool records are typically kept for seven years. These are minimum periods, Agencies can retain longer if a selection decision is under review.
The obligation is not retain or destroy. It is to do the right thing at the right time, with evidence that you did it.