2 July 2025
Erika Whittome
[FYI request #31318 email]
Tēnā koe Erika
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00091129
Thank you for your email on 17 June 2025, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for the
following under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
1 How many infringement notices were issued by authorized enforcement persons
under s 18 (1) (f) of the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act by Health New
Zealand and by HealthSource?
The infringements I'm referring to were for businesses and for individuals.
2 Who exactly issued these infringements? What were the officers' names and
badge numbers please?
3 What was the authority and jurisdiction to issue these infringement notices?
4 Where is the official delegation of powers and functions to issue infringement
notices? I do not see any delegations gazette on the New Zealand Gazette, but I
may be missing something.
Response
For clarity I wil respond to each question in turn:
1. How many infringement notices were issued by authorized enforcement persons
under s 18 (1) (f) of the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act by Health New
Zealand and by HealthSource?
The infringements I'm referring to were for businesses and for individuals.
To the best of our knowledge, Health New Zealand did not issue any infringement notices under
the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 therefore your request for this information is
refused under section 18(e) of the OIA as this information does not exist or, despite reasonable
efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
2.
Who exactly issued these infringements? What were the officers' names and badge
numbers please?
I refer you to our response to item one above. While the Act provided for enforcement officers to be
designated from entities such as Health New Zealand, we are not aware of any Health New
Zealand staff having been formally authorised (under section 18(2) of the Covid-19 Public Health
Response Act) for the purposes of issuing infringement notices.
We do not hold any records of such notices having been issued by Health New Zealand.
Therefore, your request for this information is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA as this
information does not exist.
3. What was the authority and jurisdiction to issue these infringement notices?
The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020, and the subsequent orders made under it
including the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Infringement Offences) Regulations 2021 were
passed by Parliament and received Royal Assent to become law.
Your request is more closely aligned with the functions of the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of
Health would like to refer you to the response: OIA H2025060831.
4. Where is the official delegation of powers and functions to issue infringement
notices? I do not see any delegations gazette on the New Zealand Gazette, but I
may be missing something.
Your request is more closely aligned with the functions of the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of
Health would like to refer you to the response: OIA H2024040530.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Danielle Coe
Manager (OIAs) Government Services
Health New Zealand I Te Whatu Ora
