44 Bowen Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
23 October 2025
Lewis T
[FYI request #32419 email]
REF: OIA-19770
Dear Lewis
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email
of 29 September 2025 requesting the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act). I will respond to parts of your request in turn as fol ows:
A copy of the official data quality assurance framework, service level agreement, or
memorandum of understanding currently in place between NZTA and the NZ Police. This
document should outline the agreed-upon standards for the accuracy, completeness,
timeliness, and reliability of the Traffic Crash Report (TCR) data that is supplied by NZ
Police for inclusion in the CAS database.
There is no current Memorandum of Understanding between NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi
(NZTA) and New Zealand Police specifical y regarding Traffic Crash Reports (TCRs) and the Crash
Analysis System (CAS).
I am therefore required to refuse this part of your request under section 18(e) of the Act as the
documents al eged to contain the information requested do not exist.
A copy of the official training materials, manuals, or curriculum documents that are
provided to NZ Police officers regarding the correct and consistent completion of TCRs to
ensure the integrity of the data being fed into CAS.
NZTA does not hold training material for New Zealand Police. As New Zealand Police would hold this
information, we have transferred this part of your request to it and you would expect a response from
New Zealand Police in due course.
A copy of the final-version internal risk assessment report or briefing note that details the
discovery of these systemic errors, their root cause, and their impact on the overall
reliability of the CAS database.
A copy of the official project plan, timeline, and budget that has been approved by Waka
Kotahi senior leadership to correct these historical data errors and to prevent their
recurrence.
We do not hold any final reports, briefing notes or a formal project plan on this matter. I am also
required to refuse this part of your request under section 18(e) of the Act as the documents alleged to
contain the information requested do not exist.
We can, however, advise that we are working on fixing miscoded data and changes to coding
practices, as well as identifying issues relating to codes and other system analysis-related matters. We
are also regularly communicating with New Zealand Police to ensure that crash data is more
accurately recorded in CAS, including on specific factors such as alcohol impairment while driving.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision to refuse
parts of this request. The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
In line with NZTA policy, this response will soon be published on our website, with personal
information removed.
In closing, I would like to assure you that NZTA takes data management and accurate recording of
information very seriously, especial y in relation to road safety matters.
If you would like to discuss this reply with NZTA, please contact Ministerial Services by email to
[NZTA request email].
Yours sincerely
Sam Russell
Manager, Ministerial Services
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