Official information

Ombudsman’s approach to official information delay complaints

Delay
Legislation:
Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 Section 13
Ombudsman:
John Allen
Issue date:
Format:
PDF Word
Language:
English

Available formats and related files

The purpose of this guide is to explain the Ombudsman’s approach to complaints received under the OIA and LGOIMA about the failure of an agency or Minister to make and communicate a decision on a request for ‘official information’ within the maximum statutory time limit.

Introduction

We are taking a refreshed approach to official information delay complaints. These are complaints about delays by agencies in making and communicating decisions on requests within the maximum statutory timeframe of 20 working days.[1]

For many years, we have been receiving a consistent volume of delay complaints. Generally, delay complaints make up around 20 to 25 percent of all the official information complaints we receive. Timeliness is a fundamental part of compliance with the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) and the Local Government Official information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).

From 2022, our approach was based on the viewpoint that to achieve sustained improvement in OIA and LGOIMA timeliness across government, each delay complaint should be formally investigated, an opinion formed about whether there was a delay, and recommendations made as to individual remedy or administrative improvements where necessary. 

After three-year’s experience with this approach, it has become evident that continuing with formal investigations in every case is not, in itself, having a meaningful impact on the delay complaints we are receiving. We have therefore refreshed the approach to focus more squarely on remedying delay when it occurs, identifying systemic issues where relevant, and ensuring the needs of individual complainants are met. This approach will apply from 1 August 2025. 

Objective

Our intention is to implement an approach to delay complaints that will:

  • support a focus on the early resolution of complaints and incentivise agencies and Ministers to acknowledge and resolve delays that do occur as quickly as possible;
  • deter agencies and Ministers from breaching their statutory timeliness obligations through a swift, proportionate, consistent and robust response;
  • support agencies to understand the tools available in the OIA/LGOIMA to manage large and complex requests, including making extensions in appropriate cases; and
  • align with other initiatives, such as the publication of official information complaints data and the identification, monitoring and resolution of potential systemic issues.

Key features of the approach 

  • When we first receive a delay complaint, we will immediately contact the agency or Minister to make preliminary enquiries about the situation.
    • If the agency or Minister acknowledges that there was a delay in responding to the request and confirms they have now made and communicated a decision to the requester, then we will likely not investigate on the basis that the matter appears resolved.
    • If the agency or Minister is unable to make and communicate a decision on the request within a short time, we will likely commence a formal investigation and form a provisional opinion on the complaint.
  • We will then seek comments on the provisional opinion.
    • If the agency or Minister acknowledges that there was a delay in responding to the request and confirms they have now made and communicated a decision to the requester, then we will likely discontinue the investigation on the basis that the matter appears resolved.
    • If the agency or Minister is unable to make and communicate a decision on the request within one to two weeks, then the Ombudsman will likely form a final opinion and consider making recommendations.

We believe this approach will incentivise agencies and Ministers to quickly resolve delay complaints. 

To ensure that repeated non-compliance or any other systemic issues are identified and addressed, we will log and track all delay complaints. 

Information about OIA and LGOIMA delay complaints will continue to be published on a six-monthly basis, as part of our current publication of OIA and LGOIMA complaints data. This approach is consistent with our view that transparency will drive better agency performance and compliance with the official information legislation and help maintain public trust in government.

Footnotes

  1. Or extended timeframe. See s 15(1) OIA and s 13(1) LGOIMA. Return to text
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