19 July 2024
Sue
[FYI request #27017 email]
Kia ora
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-032639
Thank you for your email of 27 May 2024, asking for the fol owing information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
I request a list of ACC's policies, procedures, guidelines, rules, processes and other documents for:
(A) contracting external legal counsel to represent ACC in disputes with claimants, and
(B) notification to claimant of ACC having contracted external legal counsel and the limits of the
external legal counsel's representation, and
(C) ACC employees cc'ing external legal counsel into communications to the claimant about matters
that are not under review or before the Court.
The Code says you will provide honest and accurate answers to claimant's questions. I am a
claimant.
Please explain specify which of ACC's policies, processes, rules, guidelines or other documents,
advise employees to cc external legal counsel in email correspondence with claimants, when that
correspondence is not related to decision that was referred to review or a matter before the Court,
and how that document is consistent with ACC's obligations under the Code (right 1, 2, 5, 6, 7) and
the Privacy Act (IPP 3, IPP 5, IPP 11).
Our response
I refer to your message via fyi.org.nz of 15 July 2024 declining to provide the further information that ACC
sought to be able to deal with your request.
I note that ACC has received seven other messages in identical terms on 15 July 2025 from someone using
the same name as you in relation to requests that ACC is still considering and one in relation to a request
that ACC has recently declined, however none of those messages acknowledge that they are all sent by the
same person, despite ACC’s request that you should do so if that is the case.
ACC sent a message to you on 5 July 2024 explaining in detail why ACC needed information about you and
the reasons for this official information request.
ACC notes that you do not accept ACC’s explanation justifies it asking for the information it has sought and
you claim that ACC is treating you inconsistently with the way it treats others.
As ACC has previously explained to you, the Ombudsman accepts that where an agency receives an official
information request like yours it may need to ask the requestor about themselves and the reasons for their
request.
GOV-032639 Page 1 of 3
ACC is treating you no differently than it would anyone else whom it might reasonably ask if their request
was one of many related requests that could potentially be responded to together or refined in the ways
al owed by the Official Information Act.
For the reasons that fol ow, ACC now declines your request.
• Over the past two months ACC has received more than 40 apparently closely related official
information requests that also appear to be made by or on behalf of the same person.
• These include a significant number of requests apparently made by you under the same name,
including the eight other separate requests where ACC received identical messages from the
requestor on 15 July, and other requests that are either anonymous or made under other names.
• All of these 40 or more information requests require considerable expense and effort for ACC to
respond to. ACC estimates that it is currently allocating more than the equivalent on one full time
employee to respond to each of these requests separately, despite the fact that they seem closely
related. It would likely require even more expense and effort to produce al of the information
sought in each of these requests.
• In one of the requests apparently made under your name, the requestor has acknowledged having
made more than one request, but neither they nor you have provided any details of any other
requests so to assist ACC to consider them together.
• ACC has decided that you, or people closely related to you, have probably made all of the large
number of recent requests mentioned above whether made under your name or not.
• The way that you, or people acting for you, appear to have asked for a wide range of information in
many separate requests rather than include all questions in one request interferes with ACC’s
ability to determine whether and how it might be able to apply various provisions of the Official
information Act to deal with your request. Those provisions relate to whether the requests taken as
a whole require substantial col ation or research so as to:
o allow ACC to decline some or all of the requests under s18(f) of the Act;
o consider combining your request with any other requests made by you under s18A(2) of
the Act;
o ful y to consider fixing a charge for providing the documents concerned under s15 and
s18A(1) of the Act.
• ACC considers that your request is frivolous or vexatious in terms of s18(h) of the Act. Your request
appears to be part of a wider course of conduct making numerous official information requests in a
way that prevents ACC from applying the parts of the Official Information Act that protect agencies
from being put to unreasonable effort and expense in responding to official information requests.
You have declined to assist ACC by providing information that might permit ACC to deal with your
request along with many other related requests. ACC has received similar refusals to assist in the
eight other requests referred to above. Your request and your refusal to answer questions about it
appear to be part of a course of conduct designed to prevent ACC from taking legitimate steps to
minimise the costs and inconvenience of responding to a series of related requests.
GOV-032639 Page 2 of 3
If ACC is wrong and your request is not one among many related requests then please let me know
urgently, or if you prefer, take the issue to the Ombudsman in the way set out at the end of this message.
ACC sought the same information from each of the requestors in as many of the related requests as it has
been able to identify and has not received that information from any of them.
If you have any questions about this response, please get in touch
You can email me a
t [email address]. If you are not happy with this response, you can also
contact the Ombudsman vi
a [email address] or by phoning 0800 802 602. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Ngā mihi
Christopher Johnston
Manager Official Information Act Services
Government Engagement
GOV-032639 Page 3 of 3
Document Outline
