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Public Records Act 2005

Public access - Determination of access status as open or restricted

43: Requirement to classify access status

You could also call this:

"Classifying Public Records as Open or Restricted"

Illustration for Public Records Act 2005

You need to classify public records as open or restricted. This happens when records are 25 years old or are being transferred to the Chief Archivist under section 21. You do this according to section 44. You can classify records as open access or restricted access. The person in charge of the public office makes this decision. They follow the rules in section 44. The person in charge can change a record's classification at any time. They must follow the rules in section 44 when making changes. This helps keep public records organised and accessible.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM345771.

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Government and voting > Government departments
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42: Chief Archivist may accept parliamentary records, Ministers’ papers, and private and other records, or

"The Chief Archivist can look after important New Zealand records and papers."

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44: Basis for determining access status, or

"How to decide if a public record is open or restricted"

Part 3Public access
Determination of access status as open or restricted

43Requirement to classify access status

  1. When public records have been in existence for 25 years or are about to be transferred to the control of the Chief Archivist under section 21, the administrative head of the controlling public office must, in accordance with section 44, classify the records as either—

  2. open access records; or
    1. restricted access records.

      1. The administrative head of a controlling public office may, at any time, change the classification of a public record, in accordance with section 44.