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Social Workers Registration Act 2003

Discipline - Procedure and decisions of Tribunal

79: Hearings of Tribunal to be public

You could also call this:

"Tribunal hearings are usually open to the public, but can be private in some cases."

Illustration for Social Workers Registration Act 2003

When you go to a Tribunal hearing, it is usually open to the public. The Tribunal can decide to hold a hearing in private if it thinks this is necessary. It can also stop people from publishing certain information about the hearing.

If someone asks the Tribunal to keep a hearing private, the Tribunal will consider this in private. You can still be present and make your views known if you are involved in the case. The Tribunal can let specific people attend a private hearing if they have a good reason to be there.

Any orders the Tribunal makes to keep things private will stay in place until a certain time or until the Tribunal changes them, as stated in section 81. The Tribunal can discuss its decisions in private, but this does not affect the public nature of the hearings. There are some exceptions to what the Tribunal can keep private, such as information from the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994.

The Tribunal's decisions about what to keep private are made on a case-by-case basis, considering the interests of the people involved and the public interest. You should be aware that the Tribunal follows rules like those in section 80 when making these decisions. The Tribunal's main goal is to balance the need for privacy with the need for public access to information.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM190262.

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Part 4Discipline
Procedure and decisions of Tribunal

79Hearings of Tribunal to be public

  1. Except as provided in this section and in section 80, every hearing of the Tribunal must be held in public.

  2. If, after having regard to the interests of any person (including, without limitation, the privacy of any complainant) and to the public interest, the Tribunal is satisfied that it is desirable to do so, it may (on application by the person or body prosecuting the charge, the social worker concerned, a complainant, or a witness, or of its own motion) make any 1 or more of the following orders:

  3. an order that the whole or any part of a hearing must be held in private:
    1. an order prohibiting the publication of any report or account of any part of a hearing, whether held in public or in private:
      1. an order prohibiting the publication of the whole or any part of any books, papers, or documents produced at a hearing:
        1. an order prohibiting the publication of the name, or any particulars of the affairs, of any person.

          1. An application need not be made for, and, except as provided in section 80(6A), an order must not be made to vary, the automatic suppression of certain evidence under section 80(6).

          2. An application to the Tribunal for an order under subsection (2) must be heard in private; but the other parties to the proceedings and any complainant are entitled to be present and to make submissions on it.

          3. If the Tribunal of its own motion proposes to make an order under subsection (2), it must consider the matter in private; but the parties to the proceedings and any complainant are entitled to be present and to make submissions.

          4. Even if a hearing of the Tribunal is otherwise held in private, the Tribunal may allow any particular person to attend it if satisfied that the person has a particular interest in the matter to be heard.

          5. An order made under this section continues in force—

          6. until a time specified in it; or
            1. if no time is specified, until revoked under section 81.

              1. This section does not prevent the Tribunal from deliberating in private as to its decision, or as to any question arising in the course of a hearing.

              2. Orders cannot be made under paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) of subsection (2) in respect of—

              3. any communication made by or on behalf of the Health and Disability Commissioner under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994 that does not contain information identifying, or capable of identifying, an individual; or
                1. the publication of the effect of any order.

                  Notes
                  • Section 79(2A): inserted, on , by section 105 of the Social Workers Registration Legislation Act 2019 (2019 No 3).
                  • Section 79(5): amended, on , by section 23 of the Social Workers Registration Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 17).