Kia ora Phoebe,

 

On behalf of the Ministry of Transport, I acknowledge your Official
Information Act request of 25 September 2025 seeking:

 

“Pursuant to the Official Information Act 1982, I request the following
information relating to internal staff complaints made to Human Resources
between 30 June 2021 and 31 August 2025.

 

1. Total Complaints & Monthly Breakdown

 

Please provide:

• The total number of internal staff complaints raised with HR (including,
but not limited to, complaints relating to bullying, harassment,
discrimination, cultural safety, or psychologically unsafe environments) •
A monthly breakdown of these complaints over the requested period, to
allow identification of trends

 

2. Resolution Pathways

 

For the complaints identified above, please advise:

a. How many were formally investigated

b. How many were informally closed, redirected, or deemed “resolved
without investigation”

c. How many were withdrawn by the complainant

    • If recorded, please include any noted reasons for withdrawal (e.g.
staff exit, concern about reprisal, mediation) d. The outcome of each
complaint, recorded in aggregated form, e.g.:

    • No action taken

    • Informal resolution

    • Escalated to formal action or investigation

    • Referred to external mediator

    • Staff resignation or exit

    • Disciplinary action

e. How many complaints remained open or unresolved for longer than 6
months, and how many remained unresolved after 12 months f. Of the
complaints that were closed informally or not investigated, how many were
closed with no documented follow-up action or engagement with the
complainant?

 

3. Time to Resolution

• The average and median time taken to resolve or close complaints,
measured from the date of receipt to final resolution or closure • If
feasible, a comparison between complaints that were formally investigated
and those informally closed or redirected

 

4. Complaint Characteristics

 

If recorded, please provide an aggregated breakdown of complaints by:

• Business group / Directorate

• Ethnicity of the complainant (e.g. Mâori, Pâkehâ, Pacific, Asian) •
Nature or category of complaint (e.g. bullying, harassment,
discrimination, cultural safety concerns, unsafe workplace) • Whether the
complaint involved the conduct of a manager or team leader • Whether the
complainant exited the Ministry within 12 months of the complaint being
made

 

5. Multiple Complaints & Repeat Concerns

 

If recorded, please advise:

• Whether any individuals (particularly those in managerial or leadership
positions) were the subject of more than one complaint during the period •
An anonymised count of such repeat instances (e.g., “3 managers were
subject to 2 or more complaints each between 2021–2025”)

 

6. Reporting to Senior Leadership

 

Please provide any internal guidance, policy, or documented practice that
sets out:

• When and how complaints about managers or team leaders are required to
be reported to:

• the relevant General Manager

• the Chief Executive

• the People & Culture Governance Group, Audit & Risk Committee, or other
internal forums • Whether the Ministry has a threshold or risk rating
system to determine which complaints are escalated to senior leadership •
Whether complaints involving repeat allegations or staff exits are flagged
or tracked at a leadership or governance level

 

7. Manager–Manager Complaint Dynamics

 

Please advise:

• How complaints made about managers by other managers (e.g. inter-leader
bullying, conflict, or misuse of process) are managed • Whether there are
internal rules or protections in place to ensure such complaints are
independently investigated, and not handled by close peers or reporting
lines (e.g. a GM and their direct reports)

 

8. Transparency of Investigations & Risk Tracking • Whether the Ministry
maintains any risk register, dashboard, or tracking tool that monitors:

• The volume and category of internal HR complaints • The number of
unresolved or repeat complaints involving the same individuals •
Complaints with themes of psychological harm, cultural safety, or
retaliation • If such a register or tool exists, please provide:

• A high-level description of its structure and oversight • Which teams or
leadership roles have access to it

 

9. Escalation Frameworks

 

Please provide:

• Any internal HR policies, guidance documents, or decision-making
frameworks that outline how complaints are assessed and escalated to:

• Senior leadership

• The Chief Executive

• Internal governance or assurance forums • Any specific criteria or
thresholds used to determine when a complaint should be:

• Formally investigated

• Escalated to an external mediator

• Reported to internal audit or external bodies

 

Format and Privacy

• Please provide the information in spreadsheet format (CSV or Excel)
where possible • I understand that some individual-level details may be
withheld under section 9 of the Act. I request that anonymised or
aggregated versions be provided to allow for pattern analysis.

• Where information is withheld, please state the specific grounds relied
upon under the Act.”

 

We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible, and in
any event no later than 23 October 2025, being 20 working days after the
day your request was received. If we are unable to respond to your request
by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.

 

Ngâ mihi nui,

 

Breanne

OIA Adviser – Ministerial & Executive Services

Ministry of Transport Te Manatû Waka

 

 

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