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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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    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

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

  • Ombudsman Quarterly Review Autumn 2020

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    Issue date:

    Our latest OQR is out. In this issue:

    how our Office responded to lockdown COVID-19 inspections of prisons and care homes complaints resolution—avoiding a backlog Chief Ombudsman’s term renewed.
  • Independent oversight to ensure the rights of disabled people are upheld during the COVID-19 pandemic

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    Issue date:

    The Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) is made up of the Disabled People’s Organisations’ Coalition, the Human Rights Commission and the Ombudsman.

  • New case notes released today

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    Some interesting OIA issues are covered in new case notes published by the Chief Ombudsman today.

  • Chief Ombudsman’s term extended for five years

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    Parliament has agreed to extend Peter Boshier’s appointment  as Chief Ombudsman for another five years.

    In the Chamber, the Leader of the House, Chris Hipkins highlighted Mr Boshier’s efforts to resolve complaints in a timely way.

  • COVID-19: The duty to document does not cease in a crisis, it becomes more essential

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    The Chief Ombudsman joins his international counterparts in their call for documentation, preservation and access to information as governments, businesses and citizens deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.  

  • 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.

  • Awareness of whistleblowing legislation alarmingly low

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    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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    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

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    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.