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Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

Requests for access to information held by local authorities

17: Refusal of requests

You could also call this:

"When a local authority can say no to your request for information"

Illustration for Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

If you ask a local authority for information, they can refuse your request for some reasons. They can refuse if they have a good reason to keep the information secret, as stated in section 6 or section 7. They can also refuse if they do not want to confirm or deny that the information exists, as stated in section 8.

They can refuse your request if giving you the information would break a law or be against the court. They can also refuse if the information is already available to the public or will be soon. If you are asking for information as part of a court case, they can refuse your request if you could get the information through the Criminal Disclosure Act 2008.

They can refuse your request if the document with the information does not exist or cannot be found. They can also refuse if it would take a lot of work to find the information. If the local authority does not have the information and does not think another organisation has it, they can refuse your request.

They can refuse your request if it is not serious or the information is not important.

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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=DLM123005.

Topics:
Government and voting > Local councilsRights and equality > Privacy
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16: Deletion of information from documents, or

"Getting some information, but not all: what happens when a local authority deletes parts of a document"

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17A: Requests involving substantial collation or research, or

"When a local authority thinks your information request is too much work to answer"

Part 2Requests for access to information held by local authorities

17Refusal of requests

  1. A request made in accordance with section 10 may be refused only for 1 or more of the following reasons, namely:

  2. that, by virtue of section 6 or section 7, there is good reason for withholding the information:
    1. that, by virtue of section 8, the local authority does not confirm or deny the existence or non-existence of the information requested:
      1. that the making available of the information requested would—
        1. be contrary to the provisions of a specified enactment; or
          1. constitute contempt of court or of the House of Representatives:
          2. that the information requested is or will soon be publicly available:
            1. that the request is made by a defendant or person acting on behalf of a defendant and is—
              1. for information that could be sought by the defendant under the Criminal Disclosure Act 2008; or
                1. for information that could be sought by the defendant under that Act and that has been disclosed to, or withheld from, the defendant under that Act:
                2. that the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found:
                  1. that the information requested cannot be made available without substantial collation or research:
                    1. that the information requested is not held by the local authority and the person dealing with the request has no grounds for believing that the information is either—
                      1. held by another local authority or a department or Minister of the Crown or organisation; or
                        1. connected more closely with the functions of another local authority, or a department or Minister of the Crown or organisation:
                        2. that the request is frivolous or vexatious or that the information requested is trivial.

                          Compare
                          Notes
                          • Section 17(da): inserted, on , by section 37 of the Criminal Disclosure Act 2008 (2008 No 38).
                          • Section 17(e): amended, on , by section 10 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2015 (2015 No 23).