{
  "id": "nz-oia-1982",
  "name": "Official Information Act 1982",
  "short_name": "OIA",
  "citation": "1982 No 156",
  "jurisdiction": "foreign",
  "state": null,
  "state_name": null,
  "country": "New Zealand",
  "country_code": "NZ",
  "url": "https://aletheca.com/laws/nz-oia-1982",
  "description": "New Zealand's access law, built on a 'principle of availability': information must be released unless a listed reason to withhold outweighs the public interest.",
  "statutory_days": 20,
  "business_days": true,
  "statutory_text": "As soon as reasonably practicable, and no later than 20 working days after receipt; extensions must be notified with reasons.",
  "appeal_deadline_days": null,
  "appeal_basis": null,
  "appeal_process": "Complaint to the Ombudsman, whose final opinions agencies almost always follow; no internal-review tier is required first.",
  "litigation": "Judicial review exists; in practice the Ombudsman resolves nearly everything.",
  "fee_waiver_standard": "Requests are normally free; charges are rare and must be reasonable.",
  "expedited_criteria": [],
  "exemptions": [
    "s.6(a) Security and defence",
    "s.9(2)(a) Privacy",
    "s.9(2)(g) Free and frank opinion"
  ],
  "portal": null,
  "turnaround_notes": "The NZDF answered the standing UFO question wholesale in December 2010 by declassifying its files, 1952–2009.",
  "quirks": "A request needs no form and no magic words — the Act itself says a phone call is enough.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "New Zealand Legislation — Official Information Act 1982",
      "url": "https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1982/0156/latest/DLM64784.html",
      "status": "blocked",
      "checked_at": "2026-08-31"
    }
  ],
  "text": null,
  "text_note": null,
  "agencies": [
    {
      "slug": "nz-nzdf",
      "name": "New Zealand Defence Force",
      "local_name": "Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa",
      "abbr": "NZDF",
      "jurisdiction": "foreign",
      "state": null,
      "state_name": null,
      "country": "New Zealand",
      "country_code": "NZ",
      "category": "defense",
      "agency_type": "armed_forces",
      "parent": null,
      "parent_name": null,
      "url": "https://aletheca.com/agencies/nz-nzdf",
      "website": "https://www.nzdf.mil.nz",
      "reading_room": null,
      "subject_to_foia": true,
      "law": {
        "id": "nz-oia-1982",
        "citation": "1982 No 156",
        "statutory_days": 20,
        "business_days": true,
        "appeal_deadline_days": null
      },
      "intake": [
        {
          "channel": "email",
          "detail": "ministerialservices@nzdf.mil.nz",
          "label": "Ministerial Services (OIA)",
          "verified": true,
          "verification": "verified",
          "verification_source": null,
          "last_checked": null,
          "automatable": false,
          "preferred": false,
          "reliability": null,
          "instructions": null
        },
        {
          "channel": "portal",
          "detail": "https://www.nzdf.mil.nz/media-centre/official-information-requests/",
          "label": "OIA request page and form",
          "verified": true,
          "verification": "verified",
          "verification_source": null,
          "last_checked": null,
          "automatable": false,
          "preferred": false,
          "reliability": null,
          "instructions": null
        }
      ],
      "submission_readiness": null,
      "holdings": [
        "The declassified UFO files, 1952–2009 — about 2,000 pages released in December 2010",
        "Kaikoura lights (December 1978) reports and analysis",
        "Sighting correspondence from the public, RNZAF bases and pilots"
      ],
      "tips": [
        "The December 2010 release answered the standing question wholesale — ask for records created after it, or for the release itself.",
        "Ombudsman opinions are near-binding; cite one on comparable records if refused."
      ],
      "tracking": "OIA reference issued by Ministerial Services.",
      "confidence": "high",
      "source": "Hand-compiled international layer. Bodies and statutes are real; contact routes are inferred unless marked verified, and none has yet been proven by a delivered letter."
    }
  ]
}