Contents
1 When to use .............................................................................................................................................. 3
2 Key points to note ..................................................................................................................................... 3
3 Considering Publishing an OIA Responses ................................................................................................. 3
External Consultation .................................................................................................................................... 4
Advise internal stakeholders ......................................................................................................................... 4
Remove Identifying Information ................................................................................................................... 4
Requestor Information .............................................................................................................................. 4
Staff Information ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Third Party information ............................................................................................................................. 4
Section 48 Considerations ............................................................................................................................. 4
4 Informing the Requester ........................................................................................................................... 5
5 Approval (Internal) .................................................................................................................................... 5
6 Complete / Update Nexus ......................................................................................................................... 5
7 Publishing on the MBIE website ................................................................................................................ 6
8 MBIE checklist and guidance material ....................................................................................................... 6
9 Step by step process guide incorporating roles and responsibilities ........................................................ 7
Title
Publishing OIA Responses –
Date of issue
February 2025
Security Classification
Unclassified
Procedures
Version
2.0
Next Review
February 2025
Approved
General Manager Communications,
Owner
Manager Strategy,
by
Design & Ministerial Services
Performance & Operations
Page
2
3.3
You may identify that an OIA is suitable for publishing, either during writing and management of
the OIA response, or after the OIA response has been sent. In either case there are key tasks
which need to be undertaken or considered before the OIA response can be published. These are
listed below:
External Consultation
3.4
If the OIA response proposed for publishing includes information relating to another party
(including government or private agencies/persons), MBIE should consult third parties to allow
them to conduct their own assessment and agreement.
3.5
This would ideally be completed at the same time as consultations for the OIA response.
However, this can occur after the response has been sent.
Advise internal stakeholders
3.6
As you work with stakeholders (including, but not limited to, SMEs, Communications Teams, the
CE Office, Minister’s Offices and managers) to process the OIA request you should also consider if
you need to advise them of the proposal to publish an OIA.
3.7
This action can also be taken after the OIA has been sent, especial y in the case of OIAs which
were more sensitive or a higher profile.
Remove Identifying Information
3.8
In addition to the standard redactions there are specific types of information which will need to
be redacted for any OIAs which are published online (listed below).
3.9
Where additional information is redacted for publishing, the reasons should be clearly noted at
the site of the redaction, stating: “Information has been withheld for [insert provision, e.g.
privacy] reasons”.
Requestor Information
3.10
Information which identifies individuals should be redacted under ‘privacy of natural persons’.
Identifiable information, as noted by the Privacy Commissioner, extends beyond names, and
contact details to include any identifiable information and is not limited to information about
their family life, hobbies, interests, and political or religious beliefs; financial information;
employment information; health information; and photographs or audio/video recordings of a
person.
Staff Information
3.11
Details of Tier 3 employees and above should be considered for publishing, except where an
individual within another tier has signed out a briefing or OIA response. However, due diligence
should still occur for details eligible for publishing and that each Business Group may wish to
withhold these details.
Third Party information
3.12
Information which may identify any external individual, which is being released as part of an OIA
may need to be reviewed to see if it is suitable for publishing.
Section 48 Considerations
3.13
Please note that under Section 48 of the Official Information Act (OIA), MBIE is protected from
liability when we are making information available in good faith in response to a request for that
information under the Act. However, these protections do not apply when information is
proactively released, including when information has previously been released to an individual
requester under the OIA.
Title
Publishing OIA Responses –
Date of issue
February 2025
Security Classification
Unclassified
Procedures
Version
2.0
Next Review
February 2025
Approved
General Manager Communications,
Owner
Manager Strategy,
by
Design & Ministerial Services
Performance & Operations
Page
4
3.14
It is therefore necessary to ensure that possible legal liability that might arise from releasing
information is identified prior to release. Documents need to be reviewed to establish their
appropriateness for release to ensure information will not expose Ministers or the Ministry to civil
and criminal liability.
3.15
All OIAs proposed for publishing, must be assessed using the document Proactive release - legal
risk considerations.
4 Informing the Requester
4.1
All OIA responses should include the standard line informing the requester of the intention to
publish the OIA response. This standard line is contained in each of the OIA response templates
available in Nexus.
4.2
If the standard line has not been included in the OIA response, you must inform the requester
that you intend to publish the OIA at least 5 days prior to the publication date.
5 Approval (Internal)
5.1
Once al due diligence has been completed and documents for publication have been correctly
redacted, the decision to publish needs to be made by the relevant Manager. This should be
recorded in Nexus.
6 Complete / Update Nexus
6.1
All information relating to the publishing of OIAs, including the list of documents below, should be
saved in the Nexus. This should be done in accordance with the requirements listed in the
submitting documents for loading to the MBIE website.
6.2
All OIA to be published must be accompanied by relevant document information, including key
words and a short description. Response owners/writers will complete the relevant
documentation, including the CSV file and ensure this document is contained within Nexus. It is
the responsibility of the paper owner/writer to provide SPOT with full and complete information
to ensure the document is filed and tagged correctly within the MBIE.govt.nz document library.
This will also ensure al documents published are accessible and searchable.
6.3
Titles of documents saved in Nexus should fol ow these naming conventions:
•
OIA xxxx-xxxx Response Letter_Publishing_MARKED UP
•
OIA xxxx-xxxx Response Letter_Publishing_Final
•
OIA xxxx-xxxx Coversheet for OIA Publishing – Business Group
•
OIA xxxx-xxxx CSV File
•
OIA xxxx-xxxx_Publishing_xxxx Approval
6.4
In Nexus you must also update the ‘Publish Request’ field (found on the Response Details tab) and
complete the fields regarding the approval date.
Title
Publishing OIA Responses –
Date of issue
February 2025
Security Classification
Unclassified
Procedures
Version
2.0
Next Review
February 2025
Approved
General Manager Communications,
Owner
Manager Strategy,
by
Design & Ministerial Services
Performance & Operations
Page
5
6.5
If the record in Nexus is closed, please contact [email address] to request the
record is reopened.
7 Publishing on the MBIE website
7.1
Periodically, SPOT will run a report from Nexus to create a list of OIAs which are ready for
publishing. SPOT wil undertake a Publishing QA check on these OIAs to ensure they are ready to
be published.
7.2
Once the Publishing QA check has been completed and the OIA has been found ready to be
published, SPOT wil submit the relevant documents to the Digital Engagement Team using the
web request form.
7.3
The Digital Engagement Team are responsible for uploading the submitted OIA responses onto
the MBIE website.
8 MBIE checklist and guidance material
8.1
A one-page checklist and legal risk guidance material has been created for response
owners/writers to refer to when considering OIA Publishing.
8.2
This information is intended to be a quick reference when deciding to publish OIAs, and is
supplementary to, but not intended to replace this procedures document. The Te Taura page
which contains all information relating to Proactive release of information can be found here:
Te kaha whakaputa I ngā mōhiohio - Proactive release of information
8.3
Please find further documentation which may be useful below:
•
Proactive Release Legal Risk Guidance
•
How to create accessible documents
Title
Publishing OIA Responses –
Date of issue
February 2025
Security Classification
Unclassified
Procedures
Version
2.0
Next Review
February 2025
Approved
General Manager Communications,
Owner
Manager Strategy,
by
Design & Ministerial Services
Performance & Operations
Page
6
