Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wellington
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F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
13 December 2023
John Luke
[FYI request #24796 email]
Our ref: OIA 108228
Tēnā koe John
Official Information Act 1982 request: Disputes Tribunal Referee information
Thank you for your request to the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry), under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act) on 20 November 2023, regarding Disputes Tribunal Referees.
Specifically, you requested the following:
Please supply a template appointment letter for the referee and example warrant card.
Also, can you please supply how much each referee are paid from 1st Jan 2023 to 20
Nov 2023. Further the current list of all referees in New Zealand.
“Warrant cards” and “Template appointment letters for Referees” do not exist. Letters of
appointment for Disputes Tribunal Referees are issued by the relevant Minister and may be
customised at the Minister’s discretion. I am therefore refusing this part of your request under
section 18(e) of the Act, as the requested information does not exist.
Your request for how much each Referee was paid between 1 January 2023 and 20 November
2023, is refused under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy of individual Referees.
The Ministry has considered the public interest aspect to your request but does not consider
this outweighs providing individual information at this time.
However, I can advise a collective figure for how much was paid to all Disputes Tribunal
Referees from 1 January 2023 to 30 November 2023 (inclusive). The total paid in Disputes
Tribunal Referee sitting fees was $5,943,373.92.
For further context, Referees are allocated work based on demand and individual Referee
availability. Because of this, sitting fees paid to each Referee can vary widely. The role of the
Principal Disputes Tribunal Referee is quite different from that of a sitting Referee, and as
such receives a salary and has not been included in the amount reported. The remuneration
and allowances of the Principal Disputes Referee and sitting Referees are set by the
Remuneration Authority. There is more information at: remauthority.govt.nz/.
In response to your request for the current list of all Referees in New Zealand, Appendix 1
below provides current Disputes Tribunal Referees as of October 2023.
If you require any further information, please contact Media & Social Media Manager Joe
Locke at [email address].
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at: justice.govt.nz/about/official-information-act-requests/oia-responses/
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be contacted
by phone on 0800 802 602 or by email to [email address]
Nāku noa, nā
Jacquelyn Shannon
Group Manager, Courts and Tribunals Regional Service Delivery
Appendix 1
Disputes Tribunal Referees - October 2023
Last Name
First Name
MOSES
Peter
HANNAN
Bernardine
ARMSTRONG
Kate
HAYES
Andy
JADURAM
Gayatri
McKINSTRY
Phil
O’SHEA
Karen
PATON-SIMPSON
Elizabeth
Ter-HAAR
Christina
WHINERAY
Lucy
KAUR MORGAN
Parminder
ALOFIVAE
Dorothy
CONNELL
Sheryl
EDWARDS
Kaye
TAYLOR
Michelle
HOGAN
John
TAWHARA
Verdun
PERFECT
Johanna
RENDALL
Kate
UNASA
Rita
FULI
Lotu
PROWSE
Toni
KAHO
Helena
NORTHWOOD
Jane
JOHNSON
Kelly
BLAKE
Nick
TREVELYAN
Lucy
SMALLBONE
Brent
WILSON
Michael
BOYS
Christopher
MALAVIYA
Shaurya
CHAND
Arti
ROSSITER
Graham
GODDARD
Paulette
PRICE
Claire
GRAYSON
Sara
HOULT
Kay
LANG
Wendy
WOLLAND
Nigel
MEYER
Gordon
SAVAGE
Jane
MUELLER
Laura
MURPHY
Carolyn
SMITH
John
MACPHERSON
Ashley
BRENNAN
Dolly
TUNNICLIFFE
Jeanette
COSTIGAN
Jane
CURTIS
Beverley
HAWES
Cynthia
COWIE
Krysia
MERRETT
Robyn
ROSE
Stuart
THOMPSON
Leonie
SIMMONDS
Sarah
MALTHUS
Clare
SOUNESS
Rachel
MUNRO
Shelley
BYRNE
Phena
