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See the latest news and announcements.

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  • New case note—information about COVID-19 clusters

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    The Chief Ombudsman has published a case note on a complaint about a request for information about the names of COVID-19 clusters linked to cases in the Bay of Plenty District.

  • New guidance—the OIA’s confidentiality withholding ground

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    The Chief Ombudsman has published a new guide today on the OIA’s confidentiality withholding ground.

    The OIA says that information must be made available unless there is a good reason not to.

  • New privacy guide and case notes

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    The Chief Ombudsman has published a new guide today on the OIA’s privacy withholding ground.

    The OIA says that information must be made available unless there is a good reason not to.

  • Delay in responding to OIA request

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    The Chief Ombudsman has published a new case note today on an OIA delay complaint.

    Antarctica New Zealand responded to an OIA request well outside the extended deadline, and only after the Chief Ombudsman began an investigation.

  • New case note—Consultation on health and safety plans for Managed Isolation Facility

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    The Chief Ombudsman has published a case note on his investigation of complaints by Stamford Plaza residents.

  • New guide—The OIA and the Inquiries Act 2013

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    The Inquiries Act 2013 provided a new framework for the conduct of public and government inquiries into matters of public importance.

    But there has been some uncertainty about how it interacts with the Official Information Act (OIA).

  • Case note on treatment of disabled mother and removal of newborn child

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    A case note released today looks into a complaint about Child, Youth and Family, which became Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children, removing a five-day-old child from their autistic mother.

  • Invitation: disabled people's experiences during COVID-19

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    The Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) is writing a report about disabled people’s experiences during the COVID-19 emergency.  

  • OPCAT aged care inspections programme information published

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    One of the Chief Ombudsman’s roles is to check on the treatment and conditions of people held in secure facilities – places people can’t leave even if they want to.

  • 2018/2019 Annual Report released

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    Our annual report is now online and it shows what we’ve been doing over the past year to improve how we handle your complaints and protect your rights to request information.

  • Thanks to those helping make disability rights real

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    With our Independent Monitoring Mechanism partners, we have just finished gathering your input on the state of disability rights in Aotearoa New Zealand.
  • New whistleblowing guide for agencies and submission on Protected Disclosures Act consultation

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    Today the Chief Ombudsman published a new guide for agencies on whistleblowing and his submission to the State Services Commission consultation on the Protected Disclosures Act (PDA).
  • New Opinion published

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    The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has published his findings on a case referred to during parliamentary question time last week.
  • Your OIA rights and responsibilities – now and in the future

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    On 13 July, Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier addressed around 800 delegates at the New Zealand School Trustees Association’s annual conference.
  • New complaints handling research announced

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    We’re helping with research by the University of Newcastle Australia into the benefits of good complaints handling in public sector organisations.

  • Changes to the LGOIMA, including ‘working day’ definition

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    Changes to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) which came into effect on 21 March 2019 will affect ‘working day’ calculations for LGOIMA.

  • Message from the Chief Ombudsman - 19 March 2019

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    Last Friday’s attacks in Christchurch have shaken us all to the core.

    To the people of Christchurch and to all those who have lost loved ones, my thoughts are with you. Kia kaha.

  • Free and frank advice and the Official Information Act

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    How do we strike the right balance between enabling confidential consideration of free and frank advice, and enabling the public to access official information to support open government? Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier discusses in a new Victoria University Policy Quarterly article.
  • New guide – Publicly available information

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    Read our new guide on the publicly available refusal grounds.