New Zealand is a member of the Open Government Partnership, which is an international agreement by governments to create greater transparency, increase civic participation and use new technologies to make their governments more open, effective, and accountable. The Public Service Commission leads this programme for New Zealand: Home | Open Government Partnership (ogp.org.nz)(external link)
During 2023-2024, New Zealand is implementing its Fourth National Action Plan(external link) under the Open Government Partnership. The Ministry of Justice is leading a commitment in this plan to strengthen the scrutiny of legislative clauses that propose to override the disclosure requirements of the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA).
The aim of Commitment 7 is to strengthen current processes and guidance with respect to scrutiny mechanisms, for example, by improving guidance for public servants when considering the inclusion of clauses in legislation that look to modify or exempt aspects of the OIA from applying.
Work has been undertaken to improve guidance mechanisms across the public service, where possible, to increase scrutiny of any future OIA exemptions and to raise public awareness of the rationale for when exemptions are included in legislation. The Ministry of Justice has therefore held discussions with the Ombudsman, the Legislative Design Advisory Committee, and other agencies where relevant.
In March 2024, the Ministry of Justice sought feedback from civil society organisations, as partners in the Open Government Partnership (OGP), on proposed measures to strengthen guidance and procedures for public servants when considering future exemptions. A discussion paper outlining various options, such as updates to guidance from the Legislation Design and Advisory Committee, was shared. Feedback from other organisations and individuals with an interest in this work was also welcomed.
A total of nine submissions were received.
Read a submission’s summary and the submissions now published on the OGP website here: Commitment 7: Ministry of Justice consultation | Open Government Partnership (ogp.org.nz)(external link)
In December 2024, the Ministry circulated a letter to all policy agencies providing guidance to improve scrutiny of legislative clauses that propose to override the disclosure requirements of the OIA. The letter is intended to raise the profile of this issue and remind agencies to consider proactively discussing policy and legislative proposals that relate to the OIA with the Ministry of Justice, as administrator of the legislation, as well as the Office of the Ombudsman.
The letter has been proactively released and can be found here: Letter to Tier 2 Policy Leaders Network - Protecting the integrity of the Official Information Act 1982 [PDF, 1.3 MB]
See: Strengthening independent oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system(external link)