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Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

Access to local authority information

6: Conclusive reasons for withholding official information

You could also call this:

"When the council can keep information secret from you"

Illustration for Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

If you want to get official information from your local council, they might not give it to you. They can keep it secret if sharing it would hurt New Zealand's security or relationships with other countries. They can also keep it secret if sharing it would stop other countries or organisations from trusting the New Zealand government.

You might not get the information if sharing it would make it hard for the police to solve crimes or for people to have a fair trial. The council can keep the information secret if sharing it would put someone's life in danger. This is because of what is said in section 5 and section 2(1) of the Official Information Act 1982.

The council has to follow these rules to decide what information they can share with you.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM122286.

Topics:
Government and voting > Local councilsRights and equality > Privacy
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5: Principle of availability, or

"Councils must give you information unless they have a good reason not to."

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7: Other reasons for withholding official information, or

"When councils can keep information secret for good reasons, like protecting people or businesses."

Part 1Access to local authority information

6Conclusive reasons for withholding official information

  1. Good reason for withholding official information exists, for the purpose of section 5, if the making available of that information would be likely—

  2. to prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand or the international relations of the Government of New Zealand; or
    1. to prejudice the entrusting of information to the Government of New Zealand on a basis of confidence by—
      1. the Government of another country or an agency of that Government; or
        1. any international organisation (as defined in section 2(1) of the Official Information Act 1982); or
        2. to prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial; or
          1. to endanger the safety of any person.

            Compare
            Notes
            • Section 6(a): inserted, on , by section 11(2) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2023 (2023 No 41).
            • Section 6(b): inserted, on , by section 11(2) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2023 (2023 No 41).
            • Section 6(c) paragraph number: replaced, on , by section 11(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2023 (2023 No 41).
            • Section 6(d) paragraph number: replaced, on , by section 11(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2023 (2023 No 41).
            • Section 6 compare note: replaced, on , by section 11(3) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2023 (2023 No 41).