Official Information Act Requests
People in New Zealand can request government information (official information) and can expect it to be made available unless there is a good reason to withhold it.
The Official Information Act 1982 (or OIA) enables citizens, permanent residents, visitors to New Zealand, and body corporates registered or with a place of business in New Zealand, to make a request for official information held by government agencies, including Education New Zealand (ENZ).
Making a request
Your request should be as clear and specific as you can possibly make it. Before making a request please check our other sources of information listed below.
You can contact us in a number of ways to request information:
- ENZ.Ministerials@enz.govt.nz
- Telephone (04) 472 0788
- Postal address: Level 5 Lambton House, 160 Lambton Quay, PO Box 12041, Wellington 6144
We would like:
- your name
- contact address (email or postal)
- details of the information you want.
We may ask you for more details if we’re not sure what you are seeking. If you make your request by phone or in person, we will confirm it in writing.
The State Services Commission provides tips for requesting information and guidance on how agencies will respond.
Before making a request for information
Before requesting official information from ENZ, we encourage you to check the list below to see if the information you need is already publicly available:
How long will it take?
We are required by law to give you our decision on your request as soon as possible, and no later than 20 working days after we receive your request.
If we need more time to make our decision on your request, for example if you are requesting a lot of information, we will let you know and give you an idea of how long it will take. We will also try to keep you updated on the progress of our response to your request. You can complain to the Office of the Ombudsman if you’re not happy with our decision to extend the time.
What does it cost?
Requesting official information is free, though we can charge a reasonable amount if it will take a lot of work to supply the information requested.
You can complain to the Office of the Ombudsman about our decision to charge.
What if I’m not satisfied?
You may wish to contact us in the first instance to see if we can resolve the issue.
You can make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman if you:
- have concerns regarding the decision we made on your request
- were unhappy about the way your request was treated or processed.
These concerns can relate to the withholding of information, extending the timeframe to respond to you, any charges for providing the information you have requested, delays in providing you with a decision or the information, or your request being transferred.
The Office of the Ombudsman can investigate and review our decision and may make a recommendation to us if it is considered appropriate.
Responses to Official Information Act 1982 requests
ENZ publishes responses to Official Information Act 1982 requests at the end of each month. ENZ first published its responses to requests for official information on its website in April 2018.
The response from ENZ details the information being released and explains what information, if any, has been withheld and under which grounds of the Act. The response also explains that we intend to make the information publicly available. The requestor's name and address have been removed from the response.
Documents are only available in Adobe PDF format and are listed in release date order, with the most recently released responses at the top.