Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

Local authority meetings

53: Oral statements at local authority meetings privileged

You could also call this:

"You can't be sued for what you say at a local council meeting, unless you said it to be mean or take advantage."

Illustration for Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

When you say something at a local authority meeting, what you say is protected by law. This means you can't be sued for defamation, unless the person suing you can prove you said it because you didn't like them or you took advantage of the situation. You still have other protections when speaking at these meetings, in addition to this one. These protections are part of the law and apply to what happens at local authority meetings, as outlined in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and other laws, such as the Defamation Act 1992.

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This page was last updated on 18 July 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM123608.

Topics:

Government and voting > Local councilsRights and equality > Privacy

52: Defamatory matter in copy of agenda or additional particulars supplied to public or in minutes of meeting, or

"Protection for local authorities from being sued for saying something bad about someone in public meeting documents"

54: This Part to prevail over other enactments, or

"This part of the law is more important than other laws about local authority meetings."

Part 7Local authority meetings

53Oral statements at local authority meetings privileged

Any oral statement made at any meeting of a local authority in accordance with the rules that have been adopted by that local authority for the guidance and order of its proceedings shall be privileged, unless, in any proceedings for defamation in respect of the statement, the plaintiff proves that, in making the statement, the defendant was predominantly motivated by ill will towards the plaintiff, or otherwise took improper advantage of the occasion of publication.
The privilege conferred by subsection (1) is in addition to and not in substitution for or derogation of any other privilege, whether absolute or qualified, that applies, by virtue of any other enactment or rule of law, to the proceedings of any local authority.

Notes

Section 53(1): amended, on 1 February 1993, by section 56(1) of the Defamation Act 1992 (1992 No 105).