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See the latest news and announcements.

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  • First children in care case notes published

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    Five case notes published today concern complaints about children in care, and how these were resolved. 

  • New guide on proactive release

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    One of the purposes of the Official Information Act (OIA) is to make official information increasingly available to the NZ public.

  • Ombudsman Quarterly Review Autumn 2020

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    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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    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.  

  • OIA calculator back online

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    The OIA calculator is back online.

    Thank you for your patience while we addressed the issues in the previous version.

    OIA calculator

  • OIA and LGOIMA requests over the holidays

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    By law, when you ask an agency for official information they have to respond to your request as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 20 working days after they got it.
  • 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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    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.