(4) FAQs

How many OIA requests are made each year?

The Public Services Commission publishes data on OIA requests. This data tell us that there are now around 40,000 OIA requests a year.

But there are some big caveats. Some agencies are excluded, e.g. Police and the Defence Force.

More importantly, not all requests for information are actually ‘tagged’ as an OIA request by an agency. For example, a journalist might ask for some figures from an agency’s comms team and this may be provided outside of the OIA process. Another example is a person ringing a call centre and asking to be sent an application form for something. Technically this is a request for ‘official information’ since it’s someone asking for a document, but it’s not treated as such.

So who makes the most requests?

There aren’t figures on this and each agency will be different.

Certainly there are a good number of requests made by journalists and opposition MPs.

Depending on the topic, industry bodies will tend to make requests for information (e.g. the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants or the Meat Industry Association), as well as NGOs (e.g. Greenpeace or Amnesty International) and academics/researchers.

A surprisingly high number of requests come from ordinary members of the public just trying to find out some information on a one-off topic that interests them.

Does the Ombudsman have to approve a decision to withhold information?

No, each agency (or minister) makes their own decision whether a withholding ground applies.

If they do decide that one (or more) of the withholding grounds applies, then they are required to notify the requester of their right to complain to the Ombudsman about the decision.

Some people shrug their shoulders and accept the decision. Others do complain and so the Ombudsman may then review the decision of the agency to withhold. The Ombudsman may make a finding that the agency’s decision was right or wrong on the facts of the case. So the Ombudsman’s involvement is ‘after the fact’, i.e. once a decision has been made and a complaint made. Which means in practical terms that of the 40,000 or so requests made each year, the Ombudsman reviews only a fraction of them.

Isn’t the OIA a bit of a have? People just have phone conversations or talk face-to-face if they want to avoid the OIA.

In reality, that can be true. Rather than send something sensitive in an email (in which case a digital record is automatically created), someone may pop down a level to chat directly with someone or talk it over coffee. Boom. No record. Take that OIA!

But…..there is always a but…the Public Records Act 2005 requires officials to “create and maintain full and accurate records of its affairs, in line with normal prudent business practice”. So if someone had a significant phone conversation around a policy or operational mater, the Public Records Act effectively requires them to create a memo, file note, or email to capture the essence of an oral conversation.

Now does that actually happen in practice? The answer seems to be that agencies vary considerably in how they meet their Public Records Act obligations.

It’s also worth remembering our quiz. There are several cases where the Ombudsman has required officials to 'write down’ what they can recall about a meeting, who was there, and what was said. Granted, in some cases a meeting may have been several months ago, so the Ombudsman just asks people to recall what they can.