Inspector-General of Defence Act 2023

Inspector-General’s powers to obtain information and assistance - General powers

24: Inspector-General may access defence records directly

You could also call this:

"The Inspector-General can look at Defence Force files to help them do their job."

Illustration for Inspector-General of Defence Act 2023

The Inspector-General can look at defence records that the Defence Force has, if they think it will help them do their job. You can think of defence records like files or documents that have information about the Defence Force. The Defence Force must let the Inspector-General see these records easily, including by letting them search through databases. The Defence Force should not make it hard for the Inspector-General to see the records by requiring them to ask first or wait for approval. They must give the Inspector-General full access to the records, so they can do their job properly. This means the Inspector-General can look at the records without needing to follow extra steps that are not really necessary.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS718713.

This page was last updated on 11 December 2025 — View changes

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23: Person may bring matter to Inspector-General’s attention, or

"Tell the Inspector-General about something that's important for them to know"

25: Defence Force must provide information and assistance on request, or

"The Defence Force must give you information and help when you ask for it."

Part 4Inspector-General’s powers to obtain information and assistance
General powers

24Inspector-General may access defence records directly

The Inspector-General may access directly all defence records that are in the possession or control of the Defence Force and that the Inspector-General considers may be relevant to the performance of the Inspector-General’s functions.
The Defence Force must provide the Inspector-General with full and direct access to those records, including by enabling the Inspector-General to browse and search Defence Force databases (and must not make access in any particular case dependent on a request, an approval, or any other administrative step that is not reasonably necessary).