Chief Ombudsman seeks public experience of OIA

Date: 2 November 2015

People have just four days left to tell the Chief Ombudsman about their experiences of making requests to government agencies under the Official Information Act if they are to inform her enquiry into government agencies’ OIA practices.

As part of Dame Beverley Wakem’s review of OIA practices, the Office of the Ombudsman has published online surveys to gather feedback from requesters, and from those who work in government agencies.

The surveys, which can be accessed at http://tinyurl.com/OIAsurveys, close at midnight on 5 November.

Dame Beverley says “The effective operation of the OIA is a crucial part of New Zealand’s democracy, and ensuring it works as intended is an essential part of the Office’s responsibilities.

“It is very important that OIA requesters individual members of the public, civil society organisations, journalists, academics and businesses – don’t miss out on the opportunity to tell me about their experiences with seeking information from government agencies.

“While people’s individual OIA complaints can provide me with some insight into requesters’ experiences of using the law, the surveys ask requesters about things they may not have complained to me about, including their perceptions of agencies’ attitudes to openness and whether they have ever been inhibited from making an OIA request for any reason.

“The surveys take about 30 minutes to complete, and responses are held in confidence under the Ombudsmen Act,” she says. “If people would prefer to complete the surveys in paper form and post their responses they can download a Word version of the survey from the Office’s website and return it to a Freepost address.

“I strongly urge requesters to use this opportunity to provide me with their views, so I have the strongest possible evidence for my review,” says Dame Beverley.

ENDS

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