27 September 2024
45 Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wel ington 6011
PO Box 805, Wel ington 6140
Phone +64 4 495 7200
Robert Wilde
Email [email address]
[FYI request #28269 email]
Website www.dia.govt.nz
Tēnā koe Robert
Your Official Information Act request, reference OIA2425-0205
I am responding to your email of 1 September 2024 to the Department of Internal Affairs |
Te Tari Taiwhenua (the Department) requesting the fol owing information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1. Please provide any emails, internal memos or funding requests that refer to the
ACAMS training as being the DIAs preferred training provider for its AML branch
and any communications between the DIA and ACAMS in respect of the cost of
providing that training to staff.
2. Further, please provide any communications between other third parties and DIA
staff in respect of ACAMS training.
On 9 and 13 September 2024, the Department contacted you to advise that it was our
preliminary view that we did not hold any information within scope of part one of your
request, and that we were proposing to refuse your request under section 18(e) of the Act,
as the information requested does not exist. We also sought to clarify what information you
were seeking in part two of your request, to help determine whether any information was
held by the Department.
Section 18B of the Act specifies that if a request is likely to be refused under section 18(e) or
18(f) of the Act, that the Department must consider, before that request is refused, whether
consulting with the person who made the request would assist that person to make the
request in a form that would remove the reason for the refusal. Due to our obligation under
the Act, the Department wanted to give you the opportunity to respond to this preliminary
view and rescope your request, prior to releasing our final decision.
However, we have not received a response to this invitation to rescope and must provide
our final response accordingly.
Part one
I can advise that the Department does not hold information within scope of part one of your
request. Therefore, this part of your request is refused under 18(e) of the Act, as the
documents al eged to contain the information requested do not exist or, despite reasonable
efforts to locate them, cannot be found.
Part two
The Department does not discuss our Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering
Specialists (ACAMS) training with any third parties, including providing or receiving
recommendations about ACAMS. Therefore, this part of your request is also refused under
18(e) of the Act.
Access to the Ombudsman
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
or freephone 0800 802 602.
Proactive release
We intend to publish our response to your request on www.dia.govt.nz. This letter, with
your personal details removed, will be published in its entirety. Publishing responses
increases the availability of information to the public and is consistent with the Act’s
purpose of enabling more effective participation in the making and administration of laws
and policies and promoting the accountability of Ministers and officials.
Nāku noa, nā
Jeremy Cauchi
Director Ministerial and Monitoring
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