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Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

Requests for access to information held by local authorities

10: Requests

You could also call this:

"Asking for information from your local council"

Illustration for Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

You can ask a local authority for official information. You can make this request in any way you like, such as by talking to them or sending a letter. Your request does not need to mention this Act.

If you are asking for personal information about yourself, your request will be treated differently, according to the Privacy Act 2020. You need to clearly say what information you want. If you want the information quickly, you must give a reason why.

If you make an oral request, the local authority might ask you to write it down to make sure they understand what you want. If you do not want to write it down, or cannot, the local authority will write down what they think you asked for and give you a copy. They might also ask you to clarify your request in writing if they need more information.

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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=DLM122292.

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

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11: Assistance, or

"Local authorities must help you ask for information in the right way."

Part 2Requests for access to information held by local authorities

10Requests

  1. Any person may request any local authority to make available to that person any specified official information.

  2. A request under subsection (1)—

  3. may be made in any form and communicated by any means (including orally); and
    1. does not need to refer to this Act.

      1. Notwithstanding subsection (1), a request made, on or after the date of commencement of this subsection, by or on behalf of a natural person for access to any personal information which is about that person shall be deemed to be a request made pursuant to information privacy principle 6(1)(b) set out in section 22 of the Privacy Act 2020, and shall be dealt with accordingly, and nothing in this Part or in Part 5 shall apply in relation to any such request.

      2. The official information requested shall be specified with due particularity in the request.

      3. If the person making the request asks that that request be treated as urgent, that person shall give that person's reasons for seeking the information urgently.

      4. A local authority to which an oral request is made under subsection (1) may, if written clarification is reasonably necessary, ask the person requesting the information to put the request in writing to clarify the request.

      5. If the person requesting the information declines or is unable to put the oral request in writing, the local authority must record its understanding of the request, and provide a copy of the record to the person.

      Compare
      Notes
      • Section 10(1AA): inserted, on , by section 6(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2015 (2015 No 23).
      • Section 10(1A): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 37).
      • Section 10(1A): amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
      • Section 10(4): inserted, on , by section 6(2) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2015 (2015 No 23).
      • Section 10(5): inserted, on , by section 6(2) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2015 (2015 No 23).