How your information is withheld

Kiwis are being denied access to information, because government agencies are illegally refusing to accept the transfer of Official Information Act (OIA) requests, a Justice Ministry document suggests.

The document was one of 290 submissions about the OIA, which highlighted problems with delays, documents rendered meaningless by deletions, political interference and government agencies drowning under the sheer volume of information requests.

Earlier this year, Stuff launched Redacted, exploring the abuses of the OIA.

In her submission, Justice Ministry acting director of operational improvement, Jenna Bottcher, raised the issue of ‘‘transfers not being accepted by other agencies – where we don’t have the information we then have to decline the request, even where we know the info exists elsewhere’’.

When Stuff asked for examples, Bottcher could not recall who had refused the transfer requests and the ministry said its OIA logging system could not provide the information.

Government agencies can transfer official information requests to another department, if that department holds the information sought, or the request fits better with what they do.

The State Services Commission guidelines for transferring requests say ‘‘there is nothing in the OIA that allows an agency to refuse a lawful transfer of a request’’.

A commission spokesman said it was not aware of transfer refusals being an issue, and the law was clear that requests should be transferred to whoever held the information.

The Office of the Ombudsman said there could be ‘‘robust discussions’’ about which agency should respond. ‘‘But when a request is formally transferred, it cannot be ‘refused’.’’

The Justice Ministry had asked Kiwis about problems with the OIA, to help Justice Minister Andrew Little decide whether to review the 37-year-old act. The submissions showed widespread support for a review, with both those who request information and the government agencies who process the requests saying the act was not working due to delays, the workload it created and the lack of any real enforcement tools.

Little said the ministry was analysing the submissions and would report back by September, so he could decide whether to review the act.