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Practice Guidelines - Official Information

These guidelines have been developed to:

• assist holders of official information to interpret the Official Information Act and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act and to respond to official information requests;
• assist requesters to make official information requests;
• provide insight into the adminstration of the Official Information Act and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act; and
• provide advice on the approach of the Ombudsman to various parts of this legislation.

Each request for official information must be considered on its own merits and measured against the relevant statutory criteria.  These guidelines should not detract from the need to take a case-by-case approach to each official information request.

Electronic copies of the Guidelines can be downloaded from this website in either MS Word or pdf format.  Alternatively, you may also purchase a hardcopy of our guidelines either by using our publications subscription page or by telephoning us on freephone 0800 802 602.

Index to the Practice Guidelines

• Part A:   How the official information legislation works
• Part B:   Reasons for refusing requests
• Part C:   Other important provisions of the legislation
• Part D:   An Ombudsman's investigation
• Part E:   Common misconceptions

Part A:  How the official information legislation works

This part explains how the Official Information Act works.  It sets out the principles and purposes of the Act, provides guidance on how to respond to official information requests and also discusses the issue of charging for the supply of information.

Part B: Reasons for refusing requests

This part explains how the Ombudsmen interpret the reasons set out in the Official Information Act for refusing requests for official information.   It reflects the approach that the Ombudsmen have adopted to some of the more frequently used provisions in the Act.  It does not, however, detract from the need for each request to be considered on its own merits.

Part C: Other important provisions of the legislation

This part discusses some of the other parts of the Official Information Act that arise frequently.

Part D: An Ombudsman's investigation

This part explains the role of an Ombudsman when investigating complaints about decisions made under the Official Information Act.  While investigations will often progress in slightly different ways, this Part provides some general advice as to the issues an agency might be asked to address during the course of an investigation.

Part E: Common Misconceptions

This part summarises some of the common misconceptions about the operation of the official information legislation which continue to arise even though the Official Information Act has been in force since 1983 and the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act has been in force since 1987.  These common misconceptions tend to creat false expectations and often unnecessarily complicate the processing of simple requests.  It is important for both holder and requesters of official information to understand, and work within, the parameters of the legislation.      (PDF version - 140KB))     (MS Word version - 109.0KB)

Note

Please note that most sections of the Official Information Act have corresponding sections in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.  Where this is the case, a footnote in the relevant guideline will indicate the parallel provision.

Abreviations and definitions

In respect of the legistation referred to frequently in these Guidelines, the following abbreviations are used:

"OIA" means the Official Information Act 1982.

"LGOIMA" means the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

"OA" means the Ombudsmen Act 1975.

"PA" means the Privacy Act 1993.

Throughout these Guidelines, the word "agency" is used to indicate those people or organisations that are subject to the official information legislation (as defined in section 2 of the Official Information Act and section 2 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act).

The two reports of the Danks Committee are frequently referred to throughout these Guidelines.  The Committee's general report "Towards Open Government" led to the enactment of the Official Information Act.  The discussion in this report is often helpful when considering the purposes of the various parts of the legislation.  The Committee's supplementary report also provides some useful commentary.  Copies of the two Danks Committee reports can be downloaded from our publications page.