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Ombudsmen Act 1975

Functions of Ombudsmen

21: Ombudsmen and staff to maintain secrecy

You could also call this:

"Ombudsmen and staff must keep work secrets to protect New Zealand and its people."

Illustration for Ombudsmen Act 1975

You are an Ombudsman or work with one. You must keep secrets about the work you do. You learn things when you do your job, and you must not tell anyone about them. Before you start working, you promise not to share any information you get, except to do your job. You can tell people some things if you think it is necessary for an investigation. But you cannot tell people things that might hurt New Zealand's security or relationships with other countries. You also cannot tell people things that might stop the police from solving crimes or things that Cabinet talks about. You cannot share information that you got because someone had to give it to you as part of your job. As an Ombudsman or staff member, you have to follow rules like those in sections 105 and 105A of the Crimes Act 1961. You also have to think about section 7 of the Official Information Act 1982 when deciding what to keep secret.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM431157.

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Government and voting > Government departmentsCrime and justice > Police and safetyRights and equality > Privacy
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20: Disclosure of certain matters not to be required, or

"The Ombudsman can't make people share secrets that might hurt New Zealand or the public."

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21A: Consultation with Privacy Commissioner, or

"Talking to the Privacy Commissioner about your job"

21Ombudsmen and staff to maintain secrecy

  1. Every Ombudsman and every person holding any office or appointment under the Chief Ombudsman shall be deemed for the purposes of sections 105 and 105A of the Crimes Act 1961 to be officials.

  2. Every Ombudsman and every such person as aforesaid shall maintain secrecy in respect of all matters that come to their knowledge in the exercise of their functions.

  3. Every person holding any office or appointment under the Chief Ombudsman shall, before he begins to perform any official duty under this Act, take an oath, to be administered by an Ombudsman, that he will not divulge any information received by him under this Act except for the purpose of giving effect to this Act.

  4. Notwithstanding anything in subsections (1) to (3), an Ombudsman may disclose such matters as in the Ombudsman's opinion ought to be disclosed for the purposes of an investigation or in order to establish grounds for the Ombudsman's conclusions and recommendations.

  5. The power conferred by subsection (4) shall not extend to—

  6. any matter that might prejudice—
    1. the security, defence, or international relations of New Zealand (including New Zealand's relations with the government of any other country or with any international organisation); or
      1. any interest protected by section 7 of the Official Information Act 1982; or
        1. the prevention, investigation, or detection of offences; or
        2. any matter that might involve the disclosure of the deliberations of Cabinet; or
          1. any information, answer, document, paper, or thing obtained by an Ombudsman by reason only of compliance with a requirement made pursuant to subsection (3) of section 19.

            Compare
            • 1962 No 10 s 18
            Notes
            • Section 21(1): amended, on , by section 4 of the Ombudsmen Amendment Act (No 2) 1982 (1982 No 164).
            • Section 21(4): replaced, on , by section 24(2) of the Official Information Amendment Act 1987 (1987 No 8).
            • Section 21(5): inserted, on , by section 24(2) of the Official Information Amendment Act 1987 (1987 No 8).