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Inquiries Act 2013

Sanctions and miscellaneous matters - Miscellaneous matters - Official Information Act 1982 and Public Records Act 2005

33: Application of Public Records Act 2005

You could also call this:

"Following the Public Records Act 2005 rules during an inquiry"

Illustration for Inquiries Act 2013

When you are part of an inquiry, it is like being a public office. This means the Public Records Act 2005 applies to you. You must follow the rules of the Public Records Act 2005, which you can find on the New Zealand legislation website. After the inquiry is finished, the Chief Archivist will decide what to do with the records. The Chief Archivist can take control of things from the inquiry, even if they are not public records. If an order is made to keep some information secret, you must act consistently with that order. You must also consider whether the reasons for keeping the information secret still apply. If they do, you must keep the information secret. If they do not, you must decide how to classify the record, using the rules in the Public Records Act 2005. A public record is something that is defined in the Public Records Act 2005. You can find the definition in section 4 of the Public Records Act 2005.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM2555201.

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Part 4Sanctions and miscellaneous matters
Miscellaneous matters: Official Information Act 1982 and Public Records Act 2005

33Application of Public Records Act 2005

  1. An inquiry is a public office for the purposes of the Public Records Act 2005.

  2. As soon as is reasonably practicable after an inquiry has reported under section 12,—

  3. the Chief Archivist must authorise the disposal of the public records of the inquiry under section 20 of the Public Records Act 2005; and
    1. the relevant department must dispose of the public records of that inquiry in accordance with the authority issued by the Chief Archivist.

      1. The Chief Archivist may accept the transfer of any things from an inquiry to the control of the Chief Archivist, even though that thing is not a public record.

      2. In determining, for the purposes of Part 3 of the Public Records Act 2005, the access status of the public records or any things transferred to the control of the Chief Archivist under this section, if an order has been made under section 15(1) of this Act that—

      3. applies for a specified time period, the relevant department must act consistently with the order:
        1. applies permanently, the relevant department must take the order into account.

          1. In this subsection and subsection (4),—

            act consistently with the order means,—

            1. if the order forbids publication of any thing described in section 15(1)(a)(i) to (iv), to classify any records relating to that thing as restricted access records as defined in section 4 of the Public Records Act 2005:
              1. if the order restricts public access to any part or aspect of the inquiry, to classify any records relating to that part or aspect as restricted access records:
                1. if the order requires the inquiry or any part of it to be held in private, to classify any records relating to that inquiry or part of an inquiry as restricted access records as defined in section 4 of the Public Records Act 2005

                  take the order into account means to consider whether the reasons for making the order still apply and,—

                  1. if they do, to act consistently with the order:
                    1. if they do not, to classify the record in accordance with section 44 of the Public Records Act 2005.

                    2. In this section, public record has the meaning it is given in section 4 of the Public Records Act 2005.

                    Notes
                    • Section 33(4): replaced, on , by section 77 of the Statutes Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 74).
                    • Section 33(4A): inserted, on , by section 77 of the Statutes Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 74).