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Rongo kōrero

See the latest news and announcements.

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  • New case note—information about COVID-19 clusters

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    Issue date:

    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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    Issue date:

    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

    News article
    Issue date:

    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.

  • New guide—The OIA and the Inquiries Act 2013

    News article
    Issue date:

    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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    Issue date:

    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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    Issue date:

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

  • Follow up inspection finds improvements at Otago Corrections Facility

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    Issue date:
    The Chief Ombudsman, Peter Boshier has released his report of a follow up inspection of Otago Corrections Facility (OCF).
  • New guide – The OIA and parliamentary privilege

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    Issue date:

    The Chief Ombudsman has published a new guide in response to questions about the impact of the Parliamentary Privilege Act (PPA) on the OIA.

  • New complaints handling research announced

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    Issue date:

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

  • Awareness of whistleblowing legislation alarmingly low

    News article
    Issue date:

    Public awareness of the Protected Disclosures Act (PDA) is very low, according to research undertaken on behalf of the Ombudsman.

  • New guides – Commercial withholding grounds and consulting third parties

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    Issue date:

    The Chief Ombudsman has published a new tranche of guidance on the OIA. There are two new guides on the commercial and negotiations withholding grounds and one guide on how the OIA applies to information about public tender processes.

  • Chief Ombudsman welcomes new Oranga Tamariki role

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    Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier is welcoming the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of children and young people within the state care and youth justice system.

  • Free and frank advice and the Official Information Act

    News article
    Issue date:
    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 guides – ‘Good government’ withholding grounds

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    Issue date:
    The Chief Ombudsman has published a suite of new guides on the ‘good government’ withholding grounds under the OIA and LGOIMA.