Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

If you need more information about this Act, please contact the administering agency: Department of Internal Affairs
2 Interpretation

(1)

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

department means a government department named in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975 (other than the Parliamentary Counsel Office)

document means a document in any form, and includes—

(a)

any writing on any material:

(b)

any information recorded or stored by means of any tape recorder, computer, or other device; and any material subsequently derived from information so recorded or stored:

(c)

any label, marking, or other writing that identifies or describes any thing of which it forms part, or to which it is attached by any means:

(d)

any book, map, plan, graph, or drawing:

(e)

any photograph, film, negative, tape, or other device in which 1 or more visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced

enactment—

(a)

means any provision of—

(i)

any Act of Parliament; or

(ii)

any secondary legislation, within the meaning of the Legislation Act 2019, that is made by Order in Council; and

(b)

in relation to section 54, includes any bylaw, standing order, or rule of procedure of any local authority

Internet site, in relation to a particular local authority, means an Internet site that is maintained by, or on behalf of, the local authority and to which the public has free access

local authority—

(a)

for the purposes of Parts 1 to 6, means those local authorities and public bodies named or specified in Schedule 1; and

(b)

for the purposes of Parts 7 and 8, means those local authorities and public bodies named or specified in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2,—

and, in both cases, includes—

(c)

any committee or subcommittee or standing committee or special committee or joint standing committee or joint special committee which the local authority is empowered to appoint under its standing orders or rules of procedure or under any enactment or Order in Council constituting the local authority or regulating its proceedings; and

(d)

a committee of the whole local authority

member, in relation to a local authority, means any person elected or appointed to that local authority or to any committee or subcommittee of that local authority, and includes the presiding member of that local authority or of any committee or subcommittee of that local authority

official information—

(a)

means any information held by a local authority; but

(b)

does not include—

(i)

information contained in library or museum material made or acquired and preserved solely for reference or exhibition purposes; or

(ii)

information which is held by a local authority solely as an agent or for the sole purpose of safe custody and which is so held on behalf of a person other than a local authority; or

(iii)

information contained in any correspondence or communication that has taken place between the office of the Ombudsmen and any local authority and that relates to an investigation conducted by an Ombudsman under this Act or under the Ombudsmen Act 1975, other than information that came into existence before the commencement of that investigation; and

(c)

does not include information contained in any correspondence or communication that has taken place between the office of the Privacy Commissioner and any local authority and that relates to any investigation conducted by the Privacy Commissioner under the Privacy Act 2020, other than information that came into existence before the commencement of that investigation

Ombudsmen means the Ombudsmen holding office under the Ombudsmen Act 1975

organisation means—

(a)

an organisation named in Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975 (other than the Parliamentary Service Commission):

(b)

an organisation named in Schedule 1 of the Official Information Act 1982

person includes a corporation sole, and also a body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate

personal information means any official information held about an identifiable person

prescribed amount, in relation to any document or copy of any document provided pursuant to this Act, means the amount determined in accordance with regulations made under this Act

presiding member means the Chairman or presiding member of a local authority; and includes the Mayor of a borough; and also includes any person acting as the Chairman or presiding member of a local authority or of any committee or subcommittee of a local authority

publicly notified means made known by means of a notice that—

(a)

is made publicly available, until any opportunity for review or appeal in relation to the matter notified has lapsed, on the local authority’s Internet site; and

(b)

is published in at least—

(i)

1 daily newspaper circulating in the region or district of the local authority; or

(ii)

1 or more other newspapers that have a combined circulation in that region or district at least equivalent to that of a daily newspaper circulating in that region or district

statutory officer means a person—

(a)

holding or performing the duties of an office established by an enactment; or

(b)

performing duties expressly conferred on that person by virtue of that person’s office by an enactment

working day means any day of the week other than—

(a)

a Saturday, a Sunday, Waitangi Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, the Sovereign’s birthday, Te Rā Aro ki a Matariki/Matariki Observance Day, and Labour Day; and

(ab)

if Waitangi Day or Anzac Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, the following Monday; and

(b)

the day observed in the appropriate area as the anniversary of the province of which the area forms a part; and

(c)

a day in the period commencing with 20 December in any year and ending with 10 January in the following year.

(2)

[Repealed]

(3)

Subject to subsection (4), information that is held by an officer or employee or member of a local authority in that person’s capacity as such an officer or employee or member or in that person’s capacity as a statutory officer shall be deemed to be held by the local authority of which that person is an officer or employee or member.

(4)

Nothing in subsection (3) applies in respect of any information that any officer or employee or member of a local authority would not hold but for that person’s membership of, or connection with, a body other than a local authority, except where that membership or connection is in that person’s capacity as such an officer or employee or member of that local authority or as a statutory officer.

(5)

[Repealed]

(6)

Any information held by an independent contractor engaged by any local authority in his or her capacity as an independent contractor is, for the purposes of this Act, deemed to be held by the local authority.

Section 2(1) enactment paragraph (a)(ii): replaced, on 28 October 2021, by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).

Section 2(1) Internet site: inserted, on 21 March 2019, by section 29(1) of the Local Government Regulatory Systems Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 6).

Section 2(1) official information paragraph (b): amended, on 1 July 1993, by section 2(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 37).

Section 2(1) official information paragraph (c): added, on 1 July 1993, by section 2(2) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 37).

Section 2(1) official information paragraph (c): amended, on 1 December 2020, by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).

Section 2(1) publicly notified: replaced, on 21 March 2019, by section 29(2) of the Local Government Regulatory Systems Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 6).

Section 2(1) working day paragraph (a): replaced, on 12 April 2022, by wehenga 7 o Te Ture mō te Hararei Tūmatanui o te Kāhui o Matariki 2022/section 7 of the Te Kāhui o Matariki Public Holiday Act 2022 (2022 No 14).

Section 2(1) working day paragraph (ab): inserted, on 1 January 2014, by section 8 of the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 19).

Section 2(1) working day paragraph (b): replaced, on 21 March 2019, by section 29(3) of the Local Government Regulatory Systems Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 6).

Section 2(1) working day paragraph (c): inserted, on 21 March 2019, by section 29(3) of the Local Government Regulatory Systems Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 6).

Section 2(2): repealed, on 1 October 1991, by section 362 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (1991 No 69).

Section 2(4): substituted, on 1 July 1993, by section 2(3) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 1993 (1993 No 37).

Section 2(5): repealed, on 1 July 2003, by section 262 of the Local Government Act 2002 (2002 No 84).

Section 2(6): replaced, on 26 March 2015, by section 4 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2015 (2015 No 23).