Last updated:
Saturday, 24 June 2017
8.1 This chapter provides guidance about the protection, availability, use, and disclosure of information held by government. The chapter covers:
- the status of information held by government and when it may be disclosed;
- the key aspects of the Official Information Act 1982, the Ombudsmen Act 1975, the Privacy Act 1993, and the Public Records Act 2005, particularly as they relate to Ministers and Cabinet;
- the provision of information to select committees, the production or discovery of official documents in legal proceedings, and requests for parliamentary information;
- the creation, good management, preservation, and archiving of ministerial public records;
- the convention on access to documents of a previous administration, and guidelines for former Ministers on the disclosure and use of official information.