The Official Information Act 1982
The committee saw the essential purpose of these reforms as being to improve communication between New Zealanders and the government. One of its reports stated:
Greater freedom of information cannot be expected to end all difference of opinion within the community, or to resolve major political issues. If applied systematically, however, with due regard for the balance between divergent interests, the changes we propose should help to narrow differences of opinion, increase the effectiveness of policies adopted, and strengthen public confidence in our system of government.1
The Official Information Act 1982, often known as the OIA, implemented most of the Danks Committee’s recommendations.
What does the Official Information Act do?
The Official Information Act 1982 includes three explicit purposes:
to progressively increase the availability of official information to New Zealanders so they are able to more effectively participate in making and administering laws and policies, and to promote the accountability of ministers and officials
to make it possible for individuals to access official information about themselves
to protect official information when it is necessary for the public interest and the preservation of personal privacy.
Section 5 sets out the basic presumption of openness, or the ‘principle of availability’. This principle means information should be made available unless there is good reason for withholding it.
A technology-neutral act
One important feature of the act is that it is technology-neutral – it applies to information however it is stored or held, not just to documents. This has enabled the act to cope with the massive changes of technology and information storage since the early 1980s. Whether official information is held in an email, database or computer file, or on a piece of paper, it can be sought under the act. Even information held only in the head of a public servant is potentially accessible.