2025-09-22-Henricus-OIA
21 October 2025
Henricus
[FYI request #32099 email].
Tēnā koe Henricus
Official Information Act request
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of to the Government
Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and New Zealand Security Intelligence Service
(NZSIS) seeking information about OIA processing manuals and approach. You asked for the
fol owing information (numbers added for clarity):
On 8 August 2014 the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service responded to a request for
information by Joshua Grainger made through the FYI.org.nz website. The NZSIS provided
a copy of its Policy on the Release of Information, along with excerpts of its intranet pages
detailing its approaches to the Official Information Act (the Act) requests.
1. I would like to request the current edition(s) of these documents or their successors or
equivalents.
2. I am also interested in your approach to assessing material for release when
information that is identified as being within the scope of a request for information is
classified, given that the criteria for information classification and the statutory
withholding criteria under the Act differ. For example, if a file that is determined to be
“in scope” has a classification of Top Secret, do you undertake a fresh review of the
contents of the file against the withholding criteria in the Act, or do you rely on the
document’s classification as grounds to apply (for example) s 6(a) of the Act without
further inquiry?
3. If there are any documents such as process diagrams or process documents that show
how requests are dealt with, could you please provide them.
We accepted your request on 22 September 2025 when we received evidence of your
eligibility to make a request under the OIA.
The GCSB and NZSIS share some joint functions, including a Ministerial Services team which
is responsible for processing OIA and Privacy Act requests on behalf of both agencies. As
such, we have prepared a joint response to your request.
Response
In response to question one, please find a copy of
Joint Policy Statement 0028 – Responding to
Information Requests, attached. Some information has been withheld from the document
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under section 6(a) of the OIA, as the making available of the information would be likely to
prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand.
In response to question two, I can confirm we assess all in-scope information for release,
regardless of the classification of the information. As noted in paragraph 55 of the Joint
Policy Statement, the fact information is classified is not a sufficient reason for withholding
information under the grounds of national security. Decisions are made on a case-by-case
basis and take a variety of factors into account, including the age of the information, the
source of the information, whether it is relevant to current operations and priorities, and the
assessed harm to New Zealand’s national security if it is released.
In response to question three, I can confirm there are no process diagrams or process
documents that show how the NZSIS and GCSB deal with OIA requests. As such, I am
refusing your request under section 18(e) as the document requested does not exist. Staff
are trained to fol ow the best practice process as detailed in Ombudsman guidance:
The OIA
for Ministers and agencies: A guide to processing official information requests, which is available
on the Ombudsman website.
Review
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[email address] or [NZSIS request email].
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
Anna Foley
Whakataka Kaupapahere me Ngā Hononga
Director Policy and Partnerships
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