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Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

Access to local authority information

8: Information concerning existence of certain information

You could also call this:

"When you ask for information, the council might not say if it exists to keep it safe."

Illustration for Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

If you ask a local authority for information under this Act, they might not tell you if the information exists or not. This can happen if the information is protected by section 6 or section 7(2)(b), and the local authority thinks that saying whether the information exists or not would harm the reason it is protected. In this case, the local authority will send you a written notice saying they cannot confirm or deny that the information exists. You will get this notice if the local authority is satisfied that saying whether the information exists would be likely to cause harm to the protected interest. The local authority makes this decision to protect the information and the reasons for protecting it.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM122289.

Topics:
Government and voting > Local councilsRights and equality > Privacy
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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."

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9: Exclusion of public interest immunity, or

"Councils must share information with you, even if it's usually secret, when an Ombudsman is investigating or you're reviewing a decision."

Part 1Access to local authority information

8Information concerning existence of certain information

  1. Where a request under this Act relates to information to which section 6 or section 7(2)(b) applies, or would, if it existed, apply, the local authority dealing with the request may, if it is satisfied that the interest protected by section 6 or section 7(2)(b) would be likely to be prejudiced by the disclosure of the existence or non-existence of such information, give notice in writing to the applicant that it neither confirms nor denies the existence or non-existence of that information.

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