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Privacy Act 2020

Complaints, investigations, and proceedings - Investigations by Commissioner

94: Procedure after completion of other investigations

You could also call this:

“What happens after an investigation is completed”

After you finish an investigation, you can decide if a complaint has a good reason or not. If it’s not about a complaint, you can decide if the issue should be looked into more or not.

If you think a complaint is valid, you should try your best to solve it and get a promise from the person or group involved to do better.

If you decide an issue needs more attention, you should try hard to get a promise from those involved to fix the problem.

If you can’t solve the complaint or issue even after trying hard, you can send it to the Director or do something else you think is right.

You might send the complaint or issue to the Director if someone didn’t follow a promise they made before to fix a problem.

You need to tell everyone involved in the investigation about what you decided, if you sent it to the Director, or if you did something else to try to fix it.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS23467.

Topics:
Rights and equality > Privacy
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Part 5 Complaints, investigations, and proceedings
Investigations by Commissioner

94Procedure after completion of other investigations

  1. After the Commissioner has completed an investigation under this subpart, other than an investigation to which section 91 or 93 applies, the Commissioner may,—

  2. in the case of an investigation conducted in respect of a complaint, make a determination that the complaint—
    1. has substance; or
      1. does not have substance; or
      2. in the case of an investigation conducted on the Commissioner’s own initiative, make a determination that the subject of the investigation—
        1. should be proceeded with; or
          1. should not be proceeded with.

          2. If the Commissioner determines that a complaint has substance, the Commissioner must use best endeavours to secure a settlement of the complaint and an assurance of the kind specified in section 83(1).

          3. If the Commissioner determines that a matter that is the subject of an investigation should be proceeded with, the Commissioner must use best endeavours to secure an assurance of the kind specified in section 83(2).

          4. If the complaint or matter has not been resolved despite the Commissioner using best endeavours, the Commissioner may do either or both of the following:

          5. refer the complaint or the matter, as the case may be, to the Director:
            1. take any other action the Commissioner considers appropriate.

              1. Without limiting subsection (4)(a), the Commissioner may refer the complaint or matter, as the case may be, to the Director if the action that is the subject of the complaint or investigation was done in contravention of any term of settlement or assurance previously secured under this Act or the Privacy Act 1993.

              2. As soon as practicable, the Commissioner must notify the parties to the investigation of—

              3. any determination made, or not made, under subsection (1); and
                1. any referral made under subsection (4)(a); and
                  1. any other action taken under subsection (4)(b).

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