The Department can provide general information that offers background and context to articles. A story may have more depth, and provide valuable information to readers, if it includes information on such things as policies and procedures that must be adhered to and general statistical information about inmates as a group.
Email the Communications Service Desk if you have any questions.
The Department, as an agency covered by the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) and the Privacy Act 1993, will respond to requests for information under these Acts.
The OIA applies to the following types of request for personal information (ie information about an identifiable individual or individuals):
Requests by individuals (natural persons) for information about themselves are covered by the Privacy Act 1993 and must be considered and responded to under that Act.
The Department collects and holds information on its employees and on the offenders it works with.
Requests are frequently received asking the Department to disclose some or all of this personal information. Requests come from those about whom the information is held, or agents acting on their behalf.
On other occasions, the media or other organisations or individuals may request information about identifiable persons. These are treated as requests under the Official Information Act.
Personal information held by the Department about individuals (natural persons) is only disclosed to others (including the staff of other departments) where:
“avoid prejudice to the maintenance of the law by any public sector agency, including the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, and punishment of offences”.
This Act governs requests made by individuals for access to information held by the Department about them.
The General Manager, Corporate Management is the Department’s Privacy Officer and is responsible for coordinating Privacy Act requests from individuals and agents acting on their behalf, and correspondence the Department receives from the Privacy Commissioner. Privacy Act inquiries are logged by the Department as part of its official tracking and reporting processes.
Click here to see information about the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) available from the Ministry of Justice, the government agency responsible for administering the Act.
If you wish to lodge a media inquiry as an Official Information Act request, email the Department and detail the information you want. Be as specific as you can, including outlining how you prefer to receive it the information eg a transcript, an electronic file or a printout of an electronic file.
If you email your request you can be sure that we have the questions you want to have answered.
If you email the department you will receive an email confirming your request has been lodged. This will happen, usually, on the same day or within one working day of the request coming in.
Official Information is any information held by the Government, which includes all information held by the Department of Corrections.
People can ask for:
Anyone who is in New Zealand can request official information. New Zealand citizens overseas, and corporate bodies with a place of business in New Zealand can also apply.
There may be a charge, but it must be a reasonable one. You will be told of the charge, or given an estimate, before the information is provided. Charges will relate to the cost of the labour and materials that are needed to make the information available.
Click here to see the Ministry of Justice charging guidelines for Official Information Act requests.
If you think the charge is unfair you can complain to the Office of the Ombudsmen.
Under the Act, a request must be answered within 20 working days, although there is provision for this time to be extended. If the Department needs to extend the time period, a staff member will contact the person who has made the request advising them of the extension and the reasons for it.
If you would like the information urgently you can ask for the request to be treated as urgent but you must explain why.
If you do not agree with the amount of time the Department has stated it requires for the extension, you can make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsmen.
There are also a number of administrative grounds for refusing a request. These administrative grounds are authority for refusing a request and in essence apply where for some procedural or administrative reason it is not reasonable for the agency to fulfill the request. Administrative grounds are not good reasons for withholding information, they are simply authority for refusing a request in circumstances where:
The Department of Corrections may decide to withhold some or all of the information you request if good reason exists under the Act for not releasing it. This means, for example, you may receive a copy of a document you have requested, but parts of it may have been deleted.
You must be told of the reason for the refusal and be informed of your right to ask an Ombudsman to investigate the refusal.
The Ombudsmen are independent Officers of Parliament who can investigate complaints concerning New Zealand central, regional and local government organisations and agencies.
If an Ombudsman thinks your request for information should not have been refused, or that your complaint is justified in any way, he or she may make a recommendation to the Department of Corrections. Many complaints are resolved in the course of an Ombudsman's investigation. Where information has not been released and an Ombudsman thinks it should not have been withheld, the Ombudsman may recommend that it be released. Generally an Ombudsman's ruling becomes binding on the 21st day after it has been made, unless there has been an Order in Council brought about by a decision of Cabinet against it.
If you would like further information you can call the office of the Ombudsmen on freephone (0800) 802 602 or visit their website at www.ombudsmen.govt.nz