About the Official Information Act (OIA)
The Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) is a law designed to make government activities more open and transparent to the public.
Through the OIA anyone can ask for information from the government and the government usually has to provide it.
NZQA may not be able to give you some information
There are reasons why we might not give you some information.
We might be protecting:
- someone's privacy
- a company's commercial or intellectual rights
- information that only certain people should see ('received in confidence').
If it is in the public interest we might release information.
We may tell you to ask another government agency
We may not have the information you are asking for.
If another government agency has that information, we will transfer your request to that agency.
On this page
Who can make an OIA request
You can make an OIA request if you are:
- in New Zealand, or
- a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident.
If you are not eligible to make a request you can ask someone to make an OIA request for you.
How to make a request
Do your research first
Before asking us for official information, check our website to see if someone else had already requested that information:
What to include in your request
Please include the following details in your request:
- your name
- preferred email address
- contact phone number
- your postal address, and
- specific details of the information you want.
Send your request
There are two ways you can make your request:
- Email: ministerials@nzqa.govt.nz
- Post: PO Box 160, Wellington 6140
It will take up to 20 working days
Once we receive your request, we will answer your request in no more than 20 working days.
Large requests and follow-up questions
If it is a large request or if we need more information, the Act lets us extend the due date.
If this happens, we will contact you and give you an extended due date.
We may also ask you questions about your OIA request if we need to.
We may charge you for the request
We do not usually charge for a request.
If your request is large or will take a lot of time or resources to answer, we may charge you, including GST of 15%.
We will tell you the charge or give you an estimate before we give you the information.
Guidelines for charging for a request
We use the Government-approved guidelines to see if we need to charge for your request:
Charging guidelines for OIA requests (external link) - Ministry of Justice
Resolving issues with the request
If you are not happy with how your request was treated, you can contact us. We will try to resolve the issue.
Going to the Ombudsman
You can also make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman:
- will investigate and review our decision
- may issue a recommendation to us to release the information.
Resources
Official Information Act 1982 (external link) — legislation.govt.nz
Office of the Ombudsman website (external link)
Principle of Availability (external link) — legislation.govt.nz