How can an Ombudsman help?
If you are unhappy with a response to an official information request, or you have not received a response, you can complain to an Ombudsman.
An Ombudsman can investigate:
- decisions to withhold information or to delete information from documents released to you;
- delays or extensions to the time limits for responding to requests;
- charges for supplying information;
- the manner in which information has been made available;
- release of information subject to conditions; and
- the response to a request for a statement of reasons for a decision affecting the requester.
An Ombudsman will give your complaint careful and impartial consideration and decide whether your request for information has been dealt with properly.
Where a complaint is found to be justified, an Ombudsman may recommend that the agency concerned take action to remedy your complaint.
If an Ombudsman forms the view that information should not be withheld, it is not the Ombudsman who releases the information. In such cases, the Ombudsman recommends that the agency concerned release the information.
An Ombudsman’s recommendation becomes binding on the agency 21 working days after it has been made, unless:
- in the case of central government agencies, the Governor-General, by Order in Council, decides otherwise; or
- in the case of local government agencies, a resolution directing otherwise is made at a meeting of that agency.
In some cases, the agency concerned may decide to release the information at issue during the course of an Ombudsman’s investigation. If this happens, the investigation may be discontinued on the basis that your complaint has been resolved.