How can you request official information?

Any New Zealander or person within New Zealand may make a request for official information. There is no prescribed way in which a request must be made. The only requirement is that the request must be "specified with due particularity”. ³⁷⁴⁹  The request does not need to:

• Be in any particular form;
• Be in writing; or 
• Refer to the Official Information Act or the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

The Office of the Ombudsman has created a guide on how to make official information requests, it can be found here. 

The agency must decide whether the request for official information will be granted (and if so in what manner and for what, if any, charge) as soon as reasonably practicable but within 20 working days of the request being lodged. ³⁷⁵⁰  If the request will be granted, the agency must release the official information without undue delay. ³⁷⁵¹

The agency may extend the maximum time limit only if: ³⁷⁵²

• The request is for a large quantity of information or necessitates a search through a large quantity of information and meeting the time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the agency; or
• Consultations necessary to make a decision on the request are such that a proper response to the request cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit.

Last updated at 6:15PM on January 17, 2018