Resources and publications
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Search guides, case notes, opinions, reports and other information. Resources and publications can also be searched by date and other options.
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More information about the resource categories on this page
Guides
Commonly used guides include:
- The OIA for Ministers and agencies
- The LGOIMA for local government agencies
- Making official information requests: a guide for requesters
Detailed guidance on the official information legislation and aspects of good administrative practice.
We also have guidance on disability rights and protected disclosures.
Case notes and opinions
Case notes are a short case summary, often demonstrating an aspect of a case.
An Ombudsman's Opinion is published where there is public interest in showing the full details of a case.
Reports
Reports include OPCAT, disability rights, official information practice and systemic investigation.
Outreach
Contains our media releases, newsletters, pamphlets, speeches and fact sheets. Fact sheets are published in multiple language and accessible formats.
Corporate documents
This includes our annual reports and strategic intentions.
Projects, reference and data
This includes our official information complaints data, updates on investigations and other projects, and submissions by the Ombudsman.
View all projects, reference and data
Template letters and work sheets
These template letters and work sheets can be used by agencies to help respond to official information requests.
1001 Resources Show all
Ombudsman Quarterly Review Summer 2024
Ombudsman Quarterly Reviews (OQR)The Ombudsman Quarterly Review for Summer 2024 is out now. In this issue:Inland Revenue refusal to provide tracing information for overseas borrowers justified
Case notesA complainant requested information from Inland Revenue about how it traces student loan overseas. Inland Revenue refused the request on grounds it would be contrary to the provisions of the Tax Administration Act.Omission by Civil Aviation Authority to consider the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Case notesThe Chief Ombudsman received a complaint from Deaf Action NZ (a disability advocacy organisation) about the response of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to its November 2018 request to include New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) captions in airline-safety briefing videos.Ombudsman Quarterly Review Spring 2023
Ombudsman Quarterly Reviews (OQR)In this issue the Chief Ombudsman calls for council workshops to be open by default; the Ombudsman’s new accessibility strategy; an overview of the Ombudsman’s engagements both locally and abroad; and a round up of the most popular guides on our website.Council decisions on new home’s code compliance certificate unreasonable
Case notesThe Council’s decision that it was homeowner’s responsibility to fix the non-compliance was unreasonable. The Council failed to maintain communication and did not propose suitable remedies.Request for official information about scholarship criteria framed as question
Case notesFailure by the Ministry of Education to respond to a request for official information within the statutory timeframe – Ministry did not process the request as an OIA request as Ministry considered that it required the generation of comment – OmbudsmComplaint from rangatahi about experience in care
Case notesThe Chief Ombudsman received a complaint from a young person who came into the care of Oranga Tamariki as an infant.Unreasonable omission by WorkSafe to adequately consider hazard mitigation for serious incident
Case notesComplaint concerning the adequacy of WorkSafe’s investigation into a serious choking incident at an early childhood service leaving a young child severely disabledOmbudsman Quarterly Review Winter 2023
Ombudsman Quarterly Reviews (OQR)The Winter 2023 Ombudsman Quarterly Review is out now. In this issue:Children in Care - published outcomes of complaints
Case notesRead some of the published outcomes of complaints in relation to Children in Care that the Chief Ombudsman has investigated:Ombudsman Quarterly Review Autumn 2023
Ombudsman Quarterly Reviews (OQR)The Autumn 2023 Ombudsman Quarterly Review is out now.Failure by Minister to respond to three OIA requests within the statutory timeframe
Case notesThe Chief Ombudsman dealt with three separate complaints in the second half of 2022 concerning delay by the Minister for Māori Development in responding to requests for official information under the Official Information Act.Request for information about vaccination certificates for domestic use
Case notesBackground On 9 October 2021, the New Zealand Council of Civil Liberties (NZCCL) sent a joint letter to the Minister for COVID-19 Response and the Prime Minister expressing concern about the civil liberties implications of the planned introduUnreasonable approach by INZ to the removal of the ability to support a Partnership Category visa for deemed perpetrators of family violence
Case notesIn 2018, the Ombudsman received six complaints from New Zealand citizens and residence class visa-holders about Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ’s) application of the Victims of Family Violence (VFV) visa category.Decision to decline a character waiver and associated visa application
Case notesImmigration New Zealand acted unreasonably in deciding not to grant a character waiver and in subsequently declining a visa application.Ombudsman Quarterly Review Summer 2023
Ombudsman Quarterly Reviews (OQR)In this issue: a first for a NZ Ombudsman at Waitangi, an illuminating piece from the architect of the Official Information Act, international news from integrity organisations in the Pacific and Australasia, new case notes and more.Omission by school board to follow due process before excluding student for gross misconduct
Case notesA student was suspended by the principal on the basis of ‘gross misconduct’ after bringing alcohol to school and sharing it with another student. The Chief Ombudsman investigated whether the board followed a reasonable process in relation to the suspension hearing, and whether the decision to exclude the student was sound.Exercise of discretion to refuse request for personal information not unreasonable
Case notesA complainant made a request for information about themselves that they believed had been provided to Inland Revenue (IR) by a third party. IR provided a summary of the information it had received but refused to provide a full copy of the information, or details of who provided it.Determination of ineligibility for publicly funded healthcare was wrong
Case notesComplaint about a determination by the Ministry of Health that a person was ineligible for publicly funded healthcare as they did not meet the time criteria prescribed in the Health and Disability Services Direction 2011.Ombudsman Quarterly Review Spring 2022
Ombudsman Quarterly Reviews (OQR)The Spring 2022 Ombudsman Quarterly Review is out now. It includes Govt agencies receive OIA report card, Oranga Tamariki’s “litany of failures” in Malachi Subecz case, Ombudsman’s disability rights role featured at the UN, 60 years of the Ombudsman in NZ, and more.Overseas borrower liable for student loan debt when IR unable to contact them
Case notesThe Chief Ombudsman received a complaint from an overseas borrower about the way the Inland Revenue Department (IR) administered their student loan and the addition of interest and penalties that they were required to pay.Omission by school board to consider behavioural support prior to exclusion of student
Case notesA School Board excluded a student for ‘continual disobedience’ under the Education and Training Act 2020. The Chief Ombudsman found the Board failed to properly examine the level of support offered to the student before excluding them.Inadequate record-keeping and unreasonable decisions by school board: Student discipline
Case notesInvestigations into decisions of Bethlehem College School Board to exclude a students on the basis of ‘gross misconduct’.Ombudsman Quarterly Review Winter 2022
Ombudsman Quarterly Reviews (OQR)The Winter 2022 Ombudsman Quarterly Review is out now. It includes an opinion piece from Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier on the OIA and LGOIMA, Mr Boshier’s submission to the Abuse in Care Royal Commission, a systemic investigation into the use of workshops by local councils is announced, and a stronger approach to delay deemed refusal complaints.Lack of review mechanism for community participation services funding unreasonable
Case notesThe Chief Ombudsman received a complaint about the level of Community Participation Services provided by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD).Ministerial notifications and the obligation to communicate decisions ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’
Case notesComplaint to the Ombudsman, raising Police’s obligations to communicate a decision to them ‘as soon as reasonably practicable'.Requests for information relating to the COVID-19 vaccination programme
Case notesA requester sought a broad range of clinical information provided to Medsafe by the pharmaceutical companies that were developing the COVID-19 vaccine, including safety trial data.Delay in responding to request for information about transferrals between hospitals
Case notesOn 18 February 2021, the Ministry of Health (the Ministry) received a request for official information, and transferred it to the Southern District Health Board. On 28 September 2021, the requester emailed the Board about the lack of response to her request, and made a complaint to the Ombudsman.Requests for information deemed vexatious and not in good faith due to offensive language
Case notesA complainant made a number of information requests to Inland Revenue Department for information on the same subject. IR refused four of these requests because it considered each request ‘to be offensive and an abuse of the right to access official Information’.Ombudsman Quarterly Review Autumn 2022
Ombudsman Quarterly Reviews (OQR)This edition includes Ombudsman’s opinion on the Erebus Memorial consultation process, third report highlights overrepresentation of Māori in mental health seclusion, Chief Ombudsman elected as Second Vice President of IOI, council not entitled to withhold internal workshop presentation.Request for data gathered by Inland Revenue contractor
Case notesThe Ombudsman formed the opinion that it was unreasonable for IR to rely on sections 18(e) and 18(c)(i) of the OIA in this case.Council not entitled to withhold internal workshop presentation
Case notesIn September 2020, a workshop was held to discuss short-listed wastewater treatment options. No decisions about the options were made. A journalist requested a copy of the information presented at the workshop.