Request information from us

Before you request information

Official and personal information

We aim to provide official information for free wherever possible.

In some cases — particularly where a request involves substantial search, collation, consultation, redaction, or copying — we may charge for supplying information. Any charge will be:

reasonable
assessed case by case
calculated in accordance with the Government’s OIA charging guidelines and the Ombudsman’s charging guide.

We’ll let you know in advance if a charge is proposed and offer options to refine your request to reduce or remove the need to charge.

We don’t charge for deciding whether to grant a request, or for considering withholding grounds.

Charging guidelines for Official Information Act requests

A guide to charging for official information under the Official Information Act and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (PDF 531KB)

NAIT data

It usually costs $150 (including GST) to request NAIT data.

Find out more about NAIT data requests below.

How to request information

Official information includes all information held by us in regard to the TBfree and Mycoplasma bovis programmes, and the NAIT scheme — but not personal information and not data held in the NAIT information system, as those are covered by different laws.

The Ombudsman's office has guidelines about who can make an official information request and advice on how to do it.

Guidelines for requesting official information

Personal information is any information about a specific individual.

The Privacy Commissioner's website gives details on who can make a request for personal information and the rules.

Personal information requests – Privacy Commissioner's website

Personal information we collect

NAIT data includes information held in NAIT about animals, their locations, movements, and people in charge.

NAIT data access has its own separate legal process. Find out more about this and download the NAIT data request form.

Requesting NAIT data

Personal and official information request form

Use this form for requesting personal or official information only. You do not need to mention the Official Information Act or the Privacy Act to make a request.

Alternative ways to request official or personal information

If you prefer, you can request information by:

email: inforequest@ospri.co.nz
post: PO Box 3412, Wellington 6140.

Make sure you include:

your name and full contact details
full details of information you're seeking
whether there is a particular time pressure for the response and the reason for urgency.

We may contact you if we need more information from you.

If you make your request by phone or in person, we will obtain contact details from you and confirm your request in writing to ensure we have captured the information you are seeking correctly.

To change your request, contact us. We will let you know whether the changes will impact on the time it will take us to respond.

We will find all the information you have asked for, if it is available, and review it carefully. Before we decide, we may need to consult with other agencies or people who might be affected by release of the information.

We will make the information you request available unless there is a reason why we are unable to do so or there is a good reason for withholding it.

Some of the reasons we might withhold information are, if:

it doesn’t exist or can’t be found
it contains other people’s personal information
consent is required from the person whose information it is, and that consent hasn’t been obtained
you have requested statistical information, but it might be able to be used to identify individual people
it is commercially sensitive
it is legally privileged.

You can find the legal grounds for this decision-making process in:

We will acknowledge your request and are required by law to give you our decision on your request as soon as possible, and (in the case of Official Information Act and Privacy Act requests) no later than 20 working days after we receive your request.

If you are requesting a lot of information and we need more time to make our decision, we will 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.

In the first instance, contact us if you have concerns about the information we provide. Your concerns could relate to:

withholding of information
extending the timeframe to respond to your request
any charges for providing the information you requested
delays in providing you with a decision or the information
your request being transferred.

If you are not satisfied, you may decide to make a complaint.

Complaints about official information requests

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.

The Office of the Ombudsman can investigate and review our decision. It may make a recommendation to us if necessary.

Complaints about government agencies – Office of the Ombudsman

Complaints about personal information requests

You may be able to make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner if you think that we haven’t handled your personal information, or a request for it, properly.

Complaining to the Privacy Commissioner