Tçnâ koe Karen
 
I am responding to your enquiry of 6 November 2025, in which you requested
“the numbers of complaints you [the Ombudsman] are receiving regarding OIA
requests to Ministries or Ministers, what percentage are upheld, and what
your average time frames are for addressing a complaint.”
 
It may be helpful for me to clarify at the outset that the Ombudsman is
not subject to the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). However, the
Ombudsman endeavours to respond to information requests in the spirit of
the OIA where possible, subject to the Ombudsman’s strict secrecy and
confidentiality requirements.
 
Data relating to the complaints received and completed
 
The number of complaints the Ombudsman received about compliance with OIA
and how many were upheld is:
 

* published in the Ombudsman’s annual report. The most recent annual
report for the 2024/25 reporting year is available on the Ombudsman
website, here:
[1]https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/reso....

 
You can find previous annual reports, here:
[2]https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/reso...
 

* Published in the six-monthly complaints datasets, which includes:

* a detailed breakdown of complaints received under the OIA, during each
reporting period:
* a detailed breakdown of complaints completed under the OIA during each
reporting period, which includes information about complaints upheld
or otherwise resolved.

 
The datasets may be accessed here:
[3]https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/reso...
 
The time frames for the receipt of complaints to their closure in the
2024/25 are provided below.
 
Government departments/ministries
 
The percentage of OIA complaints closed during 2024/25 that were:

* aged 6 months or less from date of receipt when closed was 56.7%;
* aged between 7 and 12 months from date of receipt when closed was
15.2%; and
* aged more than 12 months from date of receipt when closed was 28.1%.

 
The average time to address OIA complaints that were closed in 2024/25 was
269 days.
 
Ministers
 
The percentage of OIA complaints closed during 2024/25 that were:

* aged 6 months or less from date of receipt when closed was 75.8%;
* aged between 7 and 12 months from date of receipt when closed was
21.4%; and
* aged more than 12 months from date of receipt when closed was 2.8%.

 
The average time to address OIA complaints that were closed in 2024/25 was
124 days.
 
Other state organisations
 
The percentage of OIA complaints closed during 2024/25 were:

* aged 6 months or less from date of receipt when closed was 54.7%;
* aged between 7 and 12 months from date of receipt when closed was
17.6%; and
* aged more than 12 months from date of receipt when closed was 27.6%.

 
The average time to address OIA complaints that were closed in 2024/25 was
266 days.
 
Nâku noa, nâ
 
Sean Smith
Senior Advisor| Office of the Ombudsman| Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata
PO Box 10152, Level 7, SolNet House, 70 The Terrace, Wellington
 
 

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