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Official Information Act requests

We're subject to the Official Information Act 1982. This means you can make a request to us for the information that we hold.

Before making a request we encourage you to check out our other sources of information. You may find the information you need is already publicly available.

Our policies

Briefing to the Incoming Minister

NZ Defence Force public information(external link)

Requests should include:

your name
your postal address or preferred email address, and
specific details of the information you want.

You can:

email us, or
post your request to us.

We'll:

acknowledge your request—usually within 2 working days of receiving it, and
make a decision about what—if any—information will be released no later than 20 working days after receiving your request.

Sometimes for large requests or those requiring consultation, we'll need to seek an extended time limit. If we need to do this we'll let you know and give you a specific due date.

We may seek further information from you if we feel your request isn't clear. We may also seek to refine your request if the scope is very broad.

If the information you seek is not held by us or is more closely connected to another agency we'll transfer your request to that agency. We'll tell you if we decided to transfer your request.

We'll try to respond to your request in your preferred format. We'll respond by restating your request and answering every question asked.

Any supporting documentation we supply will usually be as a PDF attachment.

If we're not able to supply all the information you requested we'll explain why. Our explanation will refer to specific sections of the Official Information Act, such as section 6, 9, or 18.

View sections 6, 9, and 18 of the Official Information Act 1982 on the New Zealand Legislation website(external link)

If you have not received a response by the due date or are not satisfied with our response you can complain to an Ombudsman.

More about complaining to an Ombudsman(external link)

A-Z of services

Last Modified: 14 May 2018

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