Make a request for official information

You can post your request to:

Ministerial Services
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
PO Box 1473
Wellington 6140

If you are posting your request please ensure you have included name, your postal address or preferred email address, and specific details of the information you want.

We will acknowledge your request as soon as practical and respond no later than 20 working days after we receive it. Sometimes for large requests or those requiring consultation, the Act allows for a time limit extension. If so, we will let you know and give you a specific due date.

You can see when you may expect a response by using the Office of the Ombudsman Response Calculator(external link).

Data on the number of requests we have received in previous years and the timeliness of our responses are published annually by the State Services Commission(external link).

When considering whether or not to charge, we use these guidelines(external link).

If you wish to follow up your request, or are unhappy with our response, contact us in the first instance so that we can try to resolve the issue. We aim to respond to your email within 2 business days.

Alternatively you have the right to seek a review of the response by the Office of the Ombudsman(external link). The Ombudsman will decide whether to investigate and review our decision and they may make a recommendation to us.

We will sometimes refuse a request or withhold information, when there is a good or administrative reason under the OIA for not providing the information, such as to protect people’s privacy, or because the information is already publicly available.

If this occurs, we will explain the reasons why. For more information please refer to sections 6(external link), 7(external link), 9(external link) and 18(external link) of the Official Information Act.