People in New Zealand can request government information (official information) and can expect it to be made available unless there is a good reason to withhold it.

The Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) enables citizens, permanent residents, visitors to New Zealand, and body corporates registered or with a place of business in New Zealand, to make a request for official information held by government agencies, including the Education Review Office.

Making an OIA or Privacy Act request

Your request should be as clear and specific as you can possibly make it. Before making a request please check our other sources of information listed below.

Please provide us with:

  • your name
  • contact address (email or postal)
  • details of the information you want.

We may ask you for more details.

If you make your request by phone or in person, we will either confirm it in writing ourselves or, if we’re not sure what you’re seeking, we may ask if you’d mind putting it in writing.

Before making a request please check our other sources of information. You may find the information you require is already available:

If you would like to make a request contact us via email, phone or post.

View our contact details.

How long will it take?

We will acknowledge your request and are required by law to give you our decision on your request as soon as possible, and no later than 20 working days after we receive your request.

If we need more time to make our decision on your request, for example if you are requesting a lot of information, we will let you know and give you an idea of how long it will take. You can complain to the Office of the Ombudsman if you’re not happy with our decision to extend the time.

You can see data on the number of requests we receive each year and the timeliness of our responses on the Official Information Act Statistics part of the Public Services Commission’s website.

What does it cost?

Requesting official information is free, though we can charge a reasonable amount if it will take a lot of work to supply the information requested. There’s no charge for the first hour spent on your request or for the first 20 pages of photocopying.

If you are unhappy with our decision to charge, you can complain to the Office of the Ombudsman.

What if I’m not satisfied?

You may wish to contact us in the first instance to see if we can resolve the issue. 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.

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

The Office of the Ombudsman can investigate and review our decision and may make a recommendation to us if it is considered appropriate.

Responses to Official Information Act (OIA) Requests

We publish some responses to OIA requests where they release substantive information and are of public interest. This is part of our commitment to openness and accountability.

Note that the personal details of requesters are removed.

If you need any additional information or want to lodge a request, please contact us.

Read our OIA responses.