LGOIMA Requests

Requests for Information

Any person can make a request for information held by the Council.

The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) tells Council how to deal with requests.

You can request personal information held about you. The Privacy Act 2020 tells Council how to deal with requests for personal information.

Looking for property information?
These can be found on our rates search page or our LIM page.

Council has some information on this website in Council reports or consultation documents.  You can use the search function to find this information.

Please contact us if you have questions regarding requests for information or about the process in general.

 

Proactive Release

Proactive release is where Official information is released by Council once the reason for keeping it excluded from the public has passed and is the place to find information from other LGOIMA requests, visit the Proactive Release page here.

 

Requesting information from us

If the information you are after is not on this website, there are two types of information requests you can make.

 

LGOIMA requests

The process for request for any information that we hold, such as:

  • Policies and procedures
  • Decisions, our rationale for decisions, or our decision-making process
  • Drawings, images or maps
  • Files / records.

are covered by LGOIMA.

 

Time-frame for responding to requests

We will acknowledge your request as soon as possible, and let you know when you can expect to receive our decision.  LGOIMA requires Council to respond within 20 working days.

If your request is approved the information will be provided to you as soon as possible.

We will let you know as soon as we can if:

  • We cannot respond within 20 working days
  • We need more information, or need you to clarify, your request
  • The information is held by another government organisation and we need to transfer your request to them.

 

Withholding or declining to give information

Information will be provided unless there is a good reason for not releasing it.  Council is entitled to consider not releasing information if it would:

  • prejudice the maintenance of the law
  • endanger the safety of any person
  • breach the privacy of any person
  • disclose confidential or commercially sensitive information
  • cause serious offence to Tikanga Maori
  • disclose the location of Waahi Tapu
  • breach an obligation of confidence
  • prejudice: public health or safety; the Council’s right to legal professional privilege; the commercial activities of the Council; or negotiations being carried out by the Council.

If you are not satisfied with our response you can contact the Office of the Ombudsman.

 

When an information request may cost

Sometimes we may need to charge you for an official information request. If we decide to charge, we will tell you the cost of your request before processing it. You can then decide to proceed, withdraw or refine your request.

We tend to charge when:

  • Answering your request requires substantial collation or research, or
  • Costs are incurred pursuant to a request response being needed urgently.
  • We might ask for some or all of the cost to be paid in advance. Our charging guidelines are detailed below.

 

LGOIMA request costs

The Government has issued reasonable Charging Guidelines. The current standard charges are:

  • $38 per half hour of staff time in excess of one hour; and
  • $0.20 per page for photocopying in excess of 20 pages.
  • Ministry of Justice guidance can be accessed here.
  • Office of the Ombudsman guidance can be accessed here.

 

Make an official information request

Ideally, a request for information should be made in writing. However, if you are unable to do so, you can make your request over the phone or in-person at an ICC office. Please ensure your request includes your name, preferred contact details and specific details of the information you want.

We encourage you to use the online form (below) when making a request. However, we do accept requests via the following:

Executive Officer
Invercargill City Council
Private Bag 90104
Invercargill 9840

 

Completing your official information request online

Enter your personal details and the details of your request below.

 

Privacy requests

You can make a privacy request for access to, or correction of, information that we hold about you.

If you are not happy with the outcome of your request, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

 

Privacy request costs

We do not charge for privacy requests.