Legislation
The powers and functions of the Ombudsmen are contained in four main pieces of legislation:
- The Ombudsmen Act 1975;
- The Official Information Act 1982;
- The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987; and
- The Protected Disclosures Act 2000.
The agencies that come under the Ombudsmen's jurisdiction under the Ombudsmen Act are listed in the First Schedule of the Ombudsmen Act.
The agencies that come under the Ombudsmen's jurisdiction under the Official Information Act include:
- Ministers of the Crown;
- the departments and organisations listed in Part 1 and Part 2 of the First Schedule of the Ombudsmen Act (except for the Parliamentary Counsel Office, the Parliamentary Service and mortality review committees); and
- the organisations listed in the First Schedule of the Official Information Act.
The agencies that come under the Ombudsmen's jurisdiction under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act include:
- the local authorities listed in the First and Second Schedules of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act; and
- council-controlled organisations and council organisations: the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act applies to council-controlled organisations as if they are local authorities - see section 74 of the Local Government Act 2002. (To view a copy of the Local Government Act, you can visit www.legislation.govt.nz).
If you are unsure whether an agency comes under the Ombudsmen's jurisdiction, please contact us.