OIA and LGOIMA requests over the holiday period

If you ask an agency for official information, by law they must respond to your request as soon as reasonably practicable - and no later than 20 working days after they receive it.

However, over the holiday period there are three weeks that don’t count as ‘working days’.

For Official Information Act (OIA) requests, that period is 25 December 2021 to 15 January 2022 (inclusive). OIA requests received on or after 29 November 2021 may take a bit longer than you expected. The OIA calculator can show you the latest date you can expect a response.

For Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) requests, the holiday period is 20 December 2021 to 10 January 2022 (inclusive). This affects LGOIMA requests received on or after 22 November 2021, or those on or after 21 November 2021 for agencies observing Chatham Islands or Westland anniversary dates. The new LGOIMA calculator can show you the latest date you can expect a response.