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  • Training Institution fails to adequately address a complaint about its course

    Case notes
    Whether a training institution failed to address a complaint made by a student—Ombudsman found the institution’s appeals and complaints processes to have been inadequate—the institution accepted the finding and agreed to re-hear the appeal and then refunded the complainant’s course fees in resolution of the complaint
  • Request for information about mental health

    Case notes
    Refusal justified but not because request was vexatious—some information not held but would need to be created—some information could not be provided without substantial collation or research
  • Submission of the Ombudsman - Education (Update) Amendment Bill 2016

    Submissions
    While we agree that on-line learning can make an important contribution to education, we are concerned about the breadth of the proposed Communities of On-Line Learning (COOL) scheme, and in particular the apparently unrestricted ability of any st
  • Request for tender submissions to replace jetty at Philomel Landing

    Case notes
    Release of tenderers’ pricing strategy would give an unfair advantage to their competitors and unreasonably prejudice their commercial position—s 9(2)(b)(ii) OIA applies—release would make tenderers reluctant to provide as much detail about their design specifications in future— s 9(2)(ba)(i) applies—it was in the public interest for NZDF to receive full and detailed submissions as this would otherwise undermine its ability to make an informed decision on the best tenderer to award a contract
  • Request for Customs’ staff engagement survey

    Case notes
    Section 9(2)(ba)(i) OIA applied—express obligation of confidence—release of personalised comment that could be attributed to particular individuals would be likely to prejudice the future supply of similar information—it is in the public interest for ag
  • Investigation into reduction of funding for care of adult disabled children

    Opinions
    Mr Cliff Robinson was a plaintiff in the Atkinson v Ministry of Health case which won the right for parents of intellectually disabled adult children to be paid for the care of their children.
  • Request for information relating to request for inquiry into convictions of Peter Ellis

    Opinions
    Dr Lynley Hood and Dr Don Brash, the complainants, requested information held by the Ministry of Justice relating to their request to the Minister of Justice, Hon Amy Adams (the Minister), for a Commission of Inquiry into the Peter Ellis case.
  • Earthquake Commission’s handling of a claim unreasonable in the circumstances

    Case notes
    Whether the Earthquake Commission (EQC) had handled a claim for drapes and carpets in a reasonable manner—Chief Ombudsman found aspects of EQC’s handling of the matter to have been unsatisfactory
  • Immigration New Zealand unreasonable to proceed with deportation when inadequate reasons were given for decision

    Case notes
    Whether INZ gave adequate consideration of interests of deported person and of his New Zealand partner and their New Zealand citizen child before work permit declined and deportation order put in place—also whether partner received adequate information about deportation and if deportee had a reasonable opportunity to consult lawyer—Chief Ombudsman found INZ failed to consider the deportee’s section 61 requests following the issue of a deportation order, under s177 of the Immigration Act 2009 and proceeded with the deportation on the basis of an assessment by a Compliance Officer who did not record reasons for his decision, nor the matters required by s177 of the Act
  • Annual Report 2015/2016 - full report

    Annual reports
    We have already begun to make great strides in the 2015/16 reporting year. Despite overall intake once again increasing, we completed 7% more work than last year and finished the year with 11% less work on hand than at the same time last year. Our overall net clearance rate for complaints was 105%, meaning that we closed 178 more complaints than we received, and so started to make significant inroads into our backlog of aged complaints.
  • Annual Report 2015/2016 - at a glance

    Annual reports
    This document shows our Annual Report for 2015/2016 at a glance.
  • Request for CAA investigation report on Minister’s airport security breach

    Case notes
    Section 9(2)(a) OIA applied to information that would identify Minister’s staff—s 9(2)(a) did not apply to non-sensitive information about actions that occurred in a public place, or to the name of the Investigator—s 6(c) did not apply to information su
  • Request for affidavits relied on to establish diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

    Case notes
    Section 9(2)(a) OIA applied—strong privacy interest in information about childhood, family life and health—privacy interest not extinguished by prior disclosure of certain information in court—no public interest override
  • Request for video footage recorded during an investigation

    Case notes
    1100 hours of video footage—extension of time limit reasonable—concerns about volume of information addressed by disclosing a sample
  • Request for ‘movement log’ and police file

    Case notes
    Requester not deprived of right to access official information because he had already received all relevant information—requester not deprived of access to justice because his underlying concerns had been conclusively resolved in a range of forums¬—vexatious complaint, Ombudsman refuses to investigate
  • Request for draft terms of reference for an inquiry

    Case notes
    Draft terms of reference largely the same as publicly available final ones—release would not inhibit the future free and frank expression of opinion or provision of advice to the Prime Minister—s 9(2)(g)(i) did not apply
  • Request for the Callinan report on David Bain’s compensation claim

    Case notes
    A requester asked the Minister of Justice, Hon Amy Adams, for a copy of the report by Hon Ian Callinan QC concerning David Bain’s claim for compensation for wrongful conviction and imprisonment (the Callinan report).
  • Strategic Intentions 2016/2020

    Strategic intentions
    Our Strategic Intentions document sets out the nature and scope of our functions, the strategic direction of our organisation, what we are hoping to achieve, and some key measures.
  • David Bain's contribution to legal aid grants - release of some information required in the public interest

    Case notes
    A journalist made a request under the Official Information Act (OIA) to the Legal Services Commissioner seeking information relating to Mr David Bain’s contributions to his legal aid. The Commissioner is an employee of the Ministry of Justice.
  • No confidentiality in Government Ministers' travel expense claims; information 'official', regardless of purpose of travel

    Case notes
    The Department of Internal Affairs (the Department) refused a request for information relating to the surface travel expenses of Government Ministers.
  • Overseas Investment Office consent application summaries

    Case notes
    Ombudsman Ron Paterson carried out an investigation of multiple complaints made by the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) against various decisions by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) to withhold information redacted from some of t
  • Investigation into SSC conduct of MFAT leaks inquiry

    Opinions
    This investigation was triggered by a complaint about an inquiry by the State Services Commission (SSC), which culminated in the publication of the Report to the State Services Commissioner on the Investigation into the Possible Unauthorised D
  • Request for health practitioner’s complaint history with HDC

    Opinions
    The requester, a reporter at the Otago Daily Times (ODT), sought details of complaints made to the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) against a midwife.
  • Request for information relating to the business case for Wiri Prison

    Opinions
    Max Rashbrooke asked the Department of Corrections (the Department) for copies of reports to Government entitled ‘Business Case Prison Capacity Supply & Procurement 2010 – 2019’ (First Business Case) and ‘Detailed (Stage Two) Business C
  • Request for surgical complications data

    Opinions
    The New Zealand Herald made a request to five District Health Boards (DHBs) for information about the nature and outcomes of public hospital work by cardiothoracic surgeons and neurosurgeons.
  • Request for successful tenderer’s proposal

    Case notes
    Release would reveal successful tenderer’s marketing strategy which would unreasonably prejudice its commercial position— s 9(2)(b)(ii) applies—public interest met by disclosure of tender scores and minutes of evaluation panel
  • Local Authority provided unreasonable advice regarding its investigation process

    Case notes
    Whether the Local Authority (District Council) reasonably provided advice to complainant regarding an investigation it was undertaking into a Code of Conduct complaint—Ombudsman of the view that the Council erred in this respect
  • Ministry of Social Development’s decision not to review student allowance application

    Case notes
    The Ministry of Social Development refused an application for a student allowance and on review, concluded that the application should not proceed—Chief Ombudsman concluded that the decision to review the application as an administrative review (rather than a statutory review pursuant to section 305 of the Education Act 1989), was unreasonable—Ministry agreed to reconsider the application under the Education Act 1989
  • Requests for emails of former Minister

    Case notes
    Emails of former Ministers held by Parliamentary Services pursuant to contract with DIA deemed to be official information held by DIA
  • Article 24 The Right to an Inclusive Education

    Reports, Disability rights reports
    An report of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities looking at implementation of the Article 24 right to inclusive education.
  • Request for names of frontline forestry officers in information about the felling and milling of kauri

    Case notes
    Section 9(2)(g)(ii) OIA applied—MPI provided evidence of past instances of harassment and comments from the staff concerned—reasonable expectation that release would lead to improper pressure or harassment which would be detrimental to MPI’s administrat
  • Police ‘Alco-link survey’ - public interest in information connecting arrests to last bar where alcohol consumed outweighs prejudice to commercial position

    Case notes
    New Zealand Police (Police) refused a request for information linking the last bar a person had been drinking at before being arrested, otherwise known as the ‘Alco-Link survey’.