Government agencies are committed to openness and transparency in the provision of public services to New Zealanders. The OIA gives New Zealanders the right to access information and is important for ensuring government is open and transparent.

This is why Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission publishes Official Information Act (OIA) statistics covering Crown entities and government departments subject to the OIA every six months. The Commission is working with the Office of the Ombudsman and government agencies to make more information publicly available and improve compliance with the OIA. The Commission expects to see performance levels maintained or improved, and encourages agencies to also progressively increase the amount of information proactively released.

The Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman have published information on different aspects of compliance with the OIA.

OIA statistics for the Public Service

Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission publishes OIA statistics covering government agencies that are subject to the Act every six months. Statistics for New Zealand Police and New Zealand Defence Force are shown separately, and are not included in the overall statistics summary.

The statistics cover:

  • the number of requests completed by agencies in the six month reporting period
  • compliance with legislative timeframes
  • the publication of OIA responses
  • OIA complaints referred by the Ombudsman to agencies, and those where a deficiency was identified
  • how many requests are extended, transferred or refused in full
  • the average time to respond.

By centralising the collection and publication of OIA statistics, the Commission aims to improve the consistency and accessibility of information on agencies’ compliance with the letter and spirit of the Act. 

More detail of what is requested from agencies for the six-monthly collection of OIA statistics can be found in the guidance sent to agencies. 

OIA Statistics - Planning for Jul-Dec 2022(PDF, 163 KB)

OIA Statistics FAQs Jul-Dec 2022(PDF, 105 KB)

Complaints data published by the Chief Ombudsman

The Office of the Ombudsman publishes information on complaints about agencies’ OIA responses.

The OIA statistics released by the Commission provide important context for the complaints data, as the number of complaints received does not on its own provide an accurate picture of compliance with the OIA.

Agencies with high levels of engagement with New Zealanders also tend to receive the largest numbers of OIA requests. While larger numbers of OIA requests may be associated with higher numbers of complaints to the Ombudsman, the number of complaints as a proportion of requests received may be in line with, or even lower than agencies with smaller numbers of requests.

The Chief Ombudsman’s report is available on the Office on the Ombudsman’s website.

Latest release

13 March 2024 OIA statistics to 31 December 2023

OIA Statistics Summary Jul - Dec(PDF, 505 KB)
OIA Statistics 1 July to 31 December 2023(XLSX, 191 KB)

Data going back to the initial 2015/16 collection period can be downloaded as a CSV file below. Please note the first two OIA collections covered an annual period (July 2015 to June 2016 and July 2016 to June 2017). The data below shows a six month cut of the annual information for comparability purposes.

OIA Statistics All Data(XLSX, 157 KB)

Media releases

OIA Statistics to 30 June 2023 (published 13 September 2023)

(15 March 2023) OIA Statistics to 31 Dec 2022

(7 September 2022) OIA statistics to 30 June 2022 released

OIA statistics to 31 December 2021 released - 10 March 2022

OIA statistics to 30 June 2021 released - 08 September 2021

OIA statistics to 31 December 2020 released - 4 March 2021

OIA statistics to 30 June 2020 released- 8 September 2020

OIA statistics to 31 December 2019 released - 4 March 2020

OIA Statistics to 30 June 2019 released - 4 September 2019

Related files

OIA Statistics Summary Jan - Jun 2023(PDF, 503 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 January to 30 June 2023(XLSX, 171 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary Jul - Dec 2022(PDF, 500 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 July to 31 December 2022(XLSX, 192 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary Jan – Jun 2022(PDF, 424 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 January to 30 June 2022(XLSX, 175 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary 1 July - 31 December 2021(PDF, 499 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 July to 31 December 2021(XLSX, 164 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary 1 January - 30 June 2021(PDF, 497 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 January - 30 June 2021(XLSX, 149 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary 1 July - 31 December 2020(PDF, 503 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020(XLSX, 164 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary 1 January - 30 June 2020(PDF, 308 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020(XLSX, 143 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary 1 July - 31 December 2019(PDF, 484 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 July 2019 to 31 December 2019(XLSX, 72 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary 1 January - 30 June 2019(PDF, 481 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2019(XLSX, 70 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary 1 July - 31 December 2018(PDF, 474 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 July 2018 to 31 December 2018(XLSX, 63 KB)

OIA Statistics Summary 1 January - 30 June 2018(PDF, 404 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 January 2018 to 30 June 2018 (XLSX, 45 KB)

OIA Statistics 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017 (updated)(XLSX, 44 KB)

OIA Statistics 2016/17(XLSX, 37 KB)

OIA Statistics 2015/16(XLSX, 40 KB)