Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

Schedule 2A: Resolution to exclude the public

You could also call this:

"When a Meeting Goes Private: Keeping Some Discussions Secret"

Illustration for Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

You are at a meeting and someone moves to exclude the public. This means they want to keep some parts of the meeting private. They must say which parts of the meeting they want to keep private and why. They also need to give a reason for keeping it private, which is based on section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. You need to know that the person making the move must follow certain rules. These rules are outlined in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, which you can find at this link. The rules say that the resolution to exclude the public must be made when the meeting is open to the public. The person making the move might also want to let some people stay in the meeting even after the public is excluded. They can do this if those people have special knowledge that will help with the discussion. The meeting must follow the rules, which include making the resolution available to the public and keeping a record of it in the minutes, as stated in section 48(4) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

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This page was last updated on 28 October 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM123642.

Topics:

Government and voting > Local councils

Schedule 2: Local authorities (additional to those named in Schedule 1) to which Part 7 applies, or

"Other local groups that must follow Part 7 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act"

Schedule 3: Enactments amended, or

"Laws changed by the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987"

2AResolution to exclude the public Empowered by s 48(3), (4), (5), (6)


Section 48, Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

I move that the public be excluded from—

the whole of the proceedings of this meeting; or

the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting, namely,—

[state agenda items]

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

The following table is small in size and has 3 columns but no content. Column 1 is headed General subject of each matter to be considered. Column 2 is headed Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter. Column 3 is headed Ground(s) under section 48(1) for the passing of this resolution.
General subject of each matter to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter	Ground(s) under section 48(1) for the passing of this resolution
—	—	—
—	—	—
—	—	—
—	—	—

*This resolution is made in reliance on section 48(1)(a) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the particular interest or interests protected by section 6 or section 7 of that Act or section 6 or section 7 or section 9 of the Official Information Act 1982, as the case may require, which would be prejudiced by the holding of the whole or the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting in public are as follows:

[give particulars]

*I also move that [name of person or persons] be permitted to remain at this meeting, after the public has been excluded, because of their knowledge of [specify]. This knowledge, which will be of assistance in relation to the matter to be discussed, is relevant to that matter because [specify].


*Delete if inapplicable.

Note

Section 48(4) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 provides as follows:

Every resolution to exclude the public shall be put at a time when the meeting is open to the public, and the text of that resolution (or copies thereof)—

shall be available to any member of the public who is present; and
shall form part of the minutes of the local authority.”