Notifying requestors and providing a link to the information when it becomes known that release of the information is imminent. 8.55 Sometimes requests are directed at or affect several Ministers or departments. Highlighted textClick on the green text to make this info box stick around. Ministers must therefore ensure that staff in their offices are familiar with the legislation and have access to appropriate guidance. But there's a pitfall to be wary of here. The Official Information Act (OIA) is a very important law that gives you and me a lot of power. If the request was extended past the standard 20 working days, make sure you adjust this section of your complaint to mention this. Taking some time to research this while writing your request can save time in the long run, as it may mean they don't need to ask you for clarification. 8.62 An Ombudsman, having investigated a complaint made under section 28 of the Act, will issue an opinion and may make such recommendations as he or she sees fit. Being able to make requests in any way means you can make them via email, phone, and I commonly ask that tabular data be released in "a machine-readable spreadsheet format, such as CSV or XLSX". The likely outcome of a complaint about this is that the Ombudsman will tell the agency that their handling of your request was not acceptable. Agencies will typically release information in PDF form. 8.23 “Official information” is defined in section 2 of the Act as any information held by a department or organisation (as defined, “organisation” includes most agencies in the wider state sector) or a Minister of the Crown (including a Parliamentary Under-Secretary) in his or her official capacity. In fact, Any person may request any local authority to make available to that person any specified official information. On 18 March 2002 the Government approved the following revised guidelines for charging for official information. slightly edited Requests made in December or early January will not get quick responses. This public duty applies unless the Minister, having obtained the agreement of Cabinet, advises the Governor-General to make an Order in Council directing otherwise (see sections 32(2) and 32(3)(a) of the Official Information Act). The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has an online tool called AboutMe to help you make these requests. Where the request is not transferred to the Minister, the views of the Minister are not determinative, and an assessment needs to be made by the department as to whether any of the withholding provisions apply. Act & Rules. It's not the only way you can make a request though. It was extended by a further 20 working days on 2017‑09‑19. The email addresses for ministers can be found on www.beehive.govt.nz. If it's already publicly available, the agency should tell you At the heart of the OIA is its Principle of Availability: The details of the OIA lay out exactly what counts legally as a "good reason" to withhold information, and other specifics like how quickly an agency must respond and how complaints are handled. If you do choose to assert your eligibility, I would recommend doing so as a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, rather than by saying that you are in New Zealand. But when I followed up by inquiring with the Office of the Ombudsman they agreed with what I had been told. Ministers are personally responsible for complying with the duties imposed on them by the Act. When this happens, you should consider if you could make a similar request for a smaller amount of information, or perhaps several smaller requests made over a longer period of time. The decision on how to respond to the request must nonetheless be made by the department, in accordance with the Official Information Act. What it says, essentially, is simple: If you ask the government for information, they have to give it to you. Complaining to the Ombudsman is a much slower process than making an OIA request, so be prepared for it to take months to be resolved. There is no obligation to form an opinion or create information in order to respond to a request. There are fairly specific guidelines for charging for requests, which lay out what activities can and can't be charged for and how much agencies can charge for their time. These are the official guidelines for the Plain Writing Act of 2010.We developed these guidelines to help you and your agency write clearly, so your users can: 20 working days Remember that the due date might be different for a request made under the LGOIMA. Type: Guidelines Date: April 2017 (updated November 2017 following release of HVDHB Strategy) Issued by: Helene Carbonatto Version: 2 Applicable to: Strategy, Planning & Outcomes Contact person: General Manager: Strategy, Planning & Outcomes Released Under The Official Information Act Here's what it says: Section 16(2) of the OIA requires that, with certain exceptions: section 98(3)(a) of the Corrections Act 2004). You don't need to tell the agency why you are requesting the information, so this section is optional. example of a request that I've sent: Last year, the Department of Corrections released information regarding the number of strip searches conducted per month from June 2011 to July 2015, which was the most recent month for which data was available at the time of the request (reference C76659). where you can find it. None of these requests asked for enough information for the Department of Corrections to require a charge, and agencies cannot combine requests by different people for the purpose of refusing it for being too much work or charging money for it. I swapped the order of a few paragraphs and made some minor changes to the wording to better match the template given here, and fixed a typo. When requesting data, you should also specify how the data should be broken down. If they agree to make the request, the agency If you can't find an agency on FYI's list, they might fall under this category. requests may be made in any form. The response to these separated requests was for the Department of Corrections to commit to publishing all the requested reports on their website. However, a high security classification or endorsement may provide a useful “flag”, indicating that there may be good reason for withholding the document (or part of it) under the Official Information Act. If you are requesting large amounts of information, especially if it's tabular data, make sure you specify that it should be released in a format that will be useful for you. Released under the Official Information Act 1982 As a New Zealand citizen, I am eligible to make requests under the OIA. DoD Directive 5400.7 defines For Official Use Only information as "unclassified information that may be exempt from mandatory release to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)." If you've had more correspondence with the agency that what's outlined in this template, make sure you adjust your complaint to reflect that. Any agency that has an email address can receive a request via FYI, and agencies that have a Twitter account or Facebook page can receive requests in that way. The agency should then take steps to make the information available to you. It also has a list of the most popular agencies. Please also explain When requesting data, you should also specify how the data should be broken down. Section 18 of the OIA allows agencies to refuse requests under certain conditions. It is good practice therefore to consult the author of the document before releasing it. Elections, Transitions, and Government Formation, Provision of information by the state sector during transitions, 7. 8.46 When considering a request, Ministers (either directly or through their office staff) should consult other Ministers who have an interest in the subject matter of the request. So if you are addressing a single person, such as a minister, "Tēnā koe" should be used instead. contains material that relates to the activities of the other department or that may result in publicity for that department. 8.39There is no blanket exemption for any class of papers under the Official Information Act. This could be the time period for which you would like data, e.g. an accessible, searchable format. Agencies will often give you this information anyway, but I find it useful to include this to prompt them to let you know if there are any important limitations to the information you're requesting that you might not be aware of. Section 15 of the OIA says agencies must make It's possible that it's already available online, in which case you could have saved yourself a month of waiting. 8.41It is good practice to indicate on Cabinet material released under the Official Information Act that it has been approved for release. But thank you for the gesture. you don't need to mention the OIA. At the heart of the OIA is its Principle of Availability: information shall be made available unless there is good reason for withholding it. Often, they will ask for your address to prove you are in New Zealand. You don't need to provide any information you don't want to, though an agency may refuse to fulfil your request if they can't establish eligibility. From time to time, the Prime Minister may issue guidance to Ministers' offices setting out consultation protocols. The number of strip searches that resulted in finding contraband. 8.24 Information held by a Minister in his or her capacity as a member of a political party or as a member of Parliament, such as caucus material, is not official information for the purposes of the Act. For example, you can break up your request into multiple smaller requests and make them sequentially. Local government bodies are covered by the LGOIMA rather than the OIA. regarding this request to date: [DATE] - [AGENCY] received my request APS employees may choose to submit information to, or appear as a witness before, a parliamentary committee of inquiry or a royal commission in a private capacity. This is a very permissive section. Basically, it says that there's a good reason to withhold information if it would be likely to harm national security, international relations, maintenance of the law, or someone's personal safety. Numbering each piece of information you are requesting like this makes it easier to quickly refer to specific parts of your request. accept ACT writing scores, so you may consider taking the writing section. If an Ombudsman considers that the original request should have been met, or that an unreasonable decision was taken, the Ombudsman will recommend to the Minister or department concerned the action to be taken. You can read this section of the OIA itself for specifics. allows anyone to make requests. However, I was later informed that the account was actually operated by the Office of the Leader of the National Party. Further guidance can also be found on its website. When you make a request on FYI, it will tell you when to expect a response. The Official Information Act (OIA) is a very important law that gives you and me a lot of power. To be eligible to request official information under the OIA, you must be:4. a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident; a person in New Zealand; or a corporate entity (that is, a company or an incorporated society) which is either incorporated in New Zealand or has a place of business here. This will let you input a date (like "2017/09/03"), and be told when a response would be due for an OIA request received on that date (like "2017/09/29"). Requirement 1. What it says, essentially, is simple: If you ask the government for information, they have to give it to you. Please release the following information There has been no further correspondence to date. Departments who receive requests for the release of Cabinet material of a current government should consider whether the request should be transferred to the responsible Minister (see paragraph 8.34). If it's straightforward, such as emailing your request to a different address, it may be easier to do as they've asked instead of fighting it. Or you can create a bookmarklet (a bookmark that runs some JavaScript code instead of going to a website) in your browser. If you don't think the agency is justified in having withheld that information for that reason, or if the relevant section of the OIA doesn't seem clear on its own, you should next have a look at the list of guidance notes produced by the Ombudsman. 8.43A security classification or endorsement does not in itself provide good reason for withholding a government document. 8.27Information held by an unincorporated body such as a ministerial or departmental committee is treated as official information held by the Minister or department concerned. Supporting requirements. Having a government authority demand private information can be intimidating. the Minister of Justice and the Ministry of Justice, are separate entities. 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