19 September 2025
45 Pipitea Street, Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
R B
fyi-request-32087-
[email address]
Tēnā koe
OIA request 25/26 0218 Request for Briefings Titles, Life Identity Services Monthly Updates
and Citizenship by Grant Service Level Agreements
Thank you for your Official Information Act (Act) request received by the Department of Internal
Affairs (Department) on 22 August 2025.
You requested –
1. Titles of all documents provided to the Minister of Internal Affairs in the month of June,
July and August by DIA.
2. Life and Identity Services monthly update Briefing sent to the Minister for the months of
July, August and September.
3. Processing targets or Service Level Agreements or Service standards defined specifically
for Citizenship by Grant committed by DIA.
4. It would be great if these Internal Affairs briefing updates are proactively publicly
released monthly and available to see the efficiencies being realized.
In response to your request, I can provide you with the fol owing information.
Question one
I can advise that the titles of briefings provided to all six Ministers, including the Minister of
Internal Affairs are regularly published on the Department’s website here:
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releases under the title
On this page and clicking on the link:
Proactive Release of Briefing titles.
I must therefore refuse this part of your request pursuant to section 18(d) of the Act in that the
information requested is or will soon be publicly available.
Question two
Copies of the
Life and Identity Services Monthly Update for the months of July, August and
September are attached as Appendices A, B and C.
Some information within these reports has been withheld under the fol owing sections of the
Act:
Section 9(2)(a)
The withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of
natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons
Section 9(2)(f)(iv)
The withholding of the information is necessary to maintain the
constitutional conventions for the time being which protect the
confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and
officials.
Section 9(2)(g)(i)
The withholding of the information is necessary to maintain the effective
conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of
opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an
organisation or officers and employees of any department or
organisation in the course of their duty.
Under section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered if the reasons for withholding the information
are outweighed by other considerations, which render it desirable, in the public interest, to
make that information available. I have not identified any public interest that outweighs the
need to withhold the information.
Question three
The Department’s funding and service delivery commitments are formalised through Vote
Internal Affairs, which is authorised under the Public Finance Act 1989. This vote outlines the
outputs the Department delivers including identity services such as Citizenship by Grant and
ensures accountability through reporting tools like annual reports and public performance
dashboards.
These improvements reflect the Department’s commitment to delivering high-quality services
under Vote Internal Affairs, while remaining responsive to ministerial priorities and public
expectations.
The Department does have non-financial performance measures, which we report against in the
Annual Report each year. The performance measure for citizenship by grant was changed for
the financial year beginning 1 July 2025.
I have set out the previous measure and the new measure below:
Year
Measure
Standard
Up to 2025/26
Births, deaths marriages and civil union certificates and print
At least 99%
outs; and citizenship applications processed within business
timeframe standards
2025/26 onwards Citizenship by grant and citizenship by descent applications
At least 90%
processed within business timeframe standards
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Each month the Department publishes dashboards setting out how the Department performs
against a number of key metrics across our identity and life events products and services,
including citizenship by grant. The dashboard includes information for the last 12 months and is
updated on a monthly basis. You can find the dashboards at
www.dia.govt.nz/Life-and-Identity-
Services-Performance-Measures-Dashboard.
Question four
The Minister takes into account the public interest in making information public. You can view
published Ministers’ papers on the Department’s website here:
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releases under the title
On this page and clicking on the link:
Internal Affairs.
The
Life and Identity Services Monthly Update Briefings outline the Departments’ business-as-
usual operations, on a monthly basis, and provide an ongoing record of key achievements.
Published briefing titles allows the public to review and identify key documents of interest to
them. Requests for information and copies of documents can be made via an Official
Information Act 1982 (OIA) request. Information about how to make a request is available on
the Department’s website:
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-requests
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, the Department has
decided to proactively release a copy of this response on the DIA website. Al requestor data,
including your name and contact details, will be removed prior to release. The released
response will be made available here
: https://www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-
Requests-2
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.
Ngā mihi
Julia Taylor
Manager Operational Policy and Official Correspondence
Regulatory and Identity Services
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