Public Comment: Urgent Call To Fix OIA

19/03/2021

Urgent call to improve access to official information: Māori researchers
Stuff, 19 March 2021, by Nikki Macdonald

I commented on research by Paula King, Gabrielle Baker, Bernadette Jones and Tristram Ingham, published in Policy Quarterly, on the Official Information Act and Māori with lived experience of disability. Fewer than a third of the 33 Crown organisations they asked responded fully within the 20 working days the Act allows. I said the Act does not feel fit for purpose: information is difficult to access, its quality is poor when it finally arrives, and the grounds for refusal do not make sense. I also said that access to official information is critical to trust, good governance, countering misinformation and the Crown’s role as a Tiriti o Waitangi partner, and that the research appeared to show agencies gaming the Act. As I put it, “You can’t have informed consent, you can’t have our trust and confidence, if you don’t let us see the information.”

Read the article: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124591324/urgent-call-to-improve-access-to-official-information–mori-researchers

Reference
Macdonald, N. (2021, March 19). Urgent call to improve access to official information: Māori researchers. Stuff. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124591324/urgent-call-to-improve-access-to-official-information–mori-researchers

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