New Zealand Legislation: Acts

23 Right of access to personal information

• (1) Subject to this Part of this Act, and to sections 8 and 44 of this Act, every person has a right to and shall, on request, be given access to any personal information which—

  • (a) Is about that person; and

  • (b) Is held in such a way that it can readily be retrieved.

  (1A) The right conferred by subsection (1) of this section may be exercised only by a person who is not a natural person.

  (2) Sections 10(3), 11 to 16, and 18 of this Act shall apply, with all necessary modifications, to a request made under subsection (1) of this section.

  (3) Where any person is given access to any personal information under this section, that person shall be advised of that person's right, under section 25 of this Act, to request the correction of that information.

  (4) Nothing in this section requires, or imposes any responsibility on, any local authority to compile files or data banks of personal information.

  Compare: 1982 No 156 s 24; 1987 No 8 s 13

  Subsection (1) was amended, as from 1 July 1993, by section 5(1) Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 37) by omitting the words “(in the case of a natural person, without charge)”.

  Subsection (1A) was inserted, as from 1 July 1993, by section 5(2) Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 37).