How do these Acts work for you?
by Talklaw Project Coordinator 10:33am, 9 December 2009
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What comments do you have relating to process?
The legislation imposes administrative standards for answering or transferring requests, extending time, dealing with large requests and imposing charges.
The operational environment is very different than when the Acts were passed. Official information is no longer managed with paper based information systems. There is capacity to publish large amounts of information and raw data electronically that requesters can look up for themselves. On the other hand the volume of official information has increased and can include e-mail, meta-data and the internet, texts, instant messaging, wikis and blogs.
Complaints about noncompliance by officials with the lawful reasons for withholding information or not meeting administrative standards can be made to the Ombudsmen.
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felix marwick Comment 1
5:39pm, 9 December 2009
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the 20 working window for statutory responses is frequently the response time used by agencies. This despite the fact the law states the information must be provided as soon as is practical, particularly if it is readily available. Some mechanism should be considered to mitigate this problem
Kimeros Comment 2
1:09pm, 16 December 2009
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I think part of the problem with the way this act works is that it is often difficult to know *exactly* what is needed to be asked to get the results you want.
At the minimum I suggest that a catalog of all government records/documents be provided as a guide to someone creating a request.
Paddock Comment 2.1
7:28pm, 17 February 2010
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I agree with the problem of just where is the information one requests. One wastes a lot of taxpayer money trying to establish just where the information you want resides.
Recently after three OIA requests I have finally tied down where the answer I want lies. Now it's a wait of another 20 days for the next answer.
Paddock Comment 2.2
7:37pm, 17 February 2010
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Another difficulty is who has information covered by the OIA.
Recently I requested information from an agency administered by Veterans Affairs to be informed it was not covered.
Currently I am trying to distinguish if there are any correspondance on the subject within the department that is covered.
Again beause there is no evidence of what is available one continues to waste taxpayer money asking supplementary questions.
Darel Comment 3
2:48pm, 15 February 2010
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What I've found is that agencies routinely extend the 20 days and then say no or only partially respond. What they should do is refine the search with the requester.
As a rule local bodies are very poor at answering requests because the come back is about nil except on the very few occasions when the media care.
