Official Information Act requests and accessing our information
We’re an open book. This page will help you find out where to access the public information we hold and how to ask for other information from us, including making an OIA request.
We’re an open book. This page will help you find out where to access the public information we hold and how to ask for other information from us, including making an OIA request.
You can find our information in many places: our website, reports, online databases, our media releases and social media posts.
If there is something you want to know – and if you can’t find what you are looking for in the information we have online – you can contact us to ask to ask for information we may not have published.
This is generally known as an “OIA request” because the right to ask government agencies for their information is set out in the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA).
There are a number of ways you can ask us for information:
You can ask us for:
We will confirm that we have received your request, and will send a response within 20 working days.
We will find out if we hold the information you are after. If we don’t, but we know the organisation that does, we will send your request there.
If you’re after a lot of information, or if we need to talk to other organisations, we may need more time to reply to you. If this is the case, we will always let you know when we expect to reply. (Note: over the Christmas holiday period, we may take a little longer to reply.)
Sometimes – if finding, gathering and preparing the information for release will take a lot of time – we may charge a fee. This doesn’t happen often, and if it does we always get in touch with you to confirm that you wish to proceed with your request. We can also work with you to narrow your query, if you prefer.
Every now and then we refuse a request, and sometimes we withhold information, but we always explain why. If your request is for something that is already available online, we will tell you where to find it. There are other cases where we might withhold part of the information or decline your request if, for example:
If you want to know more about why we might refuse parts of a request, check out sections 6, 9 and 18 of the OIA.
Read the Official Information Act - New Zealand legislation website
You can use this letter template to help write your request:
OIA request letter template (DOCX, 21KB)
Read information from the Office of the Ombudsman on making an OIA request
Check the Directory of Official Information to find out if it's us or another agency that's likely to hold the information you want:
Directory of Official Information - Ministry of Justice
Phone: 04 916 2426
Email: ministerials@epa.govt.nz