Official Information Act (OIA)

Important information to consider before submitting an OIA request

Hawke’s Bay District Health has diverted significant resources from across the organisation to support its response to COVID-19. 

When considering OIA requests under the Official Information Act 1982, and in this unprecedented time, HBDHB may not be able to be respond within the usual timeframes. The DHB may also decline your request if it requires a significant amount of collation and research by people tasked with responding to COVID-19 and it is not reasonable to extend the timeframe at this time.

We encourage to review information already publicly available on this website and on the Ministry of Health’s website www.health.govt.nz before submitting any information request.

What is official information?

The Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) is designed to make government activities more open and transparent to the public.  It has two very important roles:

  • to make official information more freely available to the public; and
  • it protects official information to the extent consistent with the public interest.

More information about how the OIA operates can be found on the Office of the Ombudsman website.

Information held by Hawke's Bay DHB

Before making an OIA request it may be useful to view information already publicly available.

The following documents may provide you with what you need:

Making an OIA request

If you cannot find what you require and wish to make a request for information held by Hawke's Bay District Health Board please:

We will make and communicate a decision on your request as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 20 working days after it was received (unless an extension is agreed).

In order to assist us, and ensure you receive the correct information, please be as specific as you can in identifying the information you want. The information you request must be specified with 'due particularity' - meaning that the DHB must be able to identify the information you have asked for. Any request that lacks due particularity will not be valid. If this is the case, we may contact you to clarify your request. If you decide to amend or clarify your request, the amended or clarified version will be considered to be a new request and the 20 working days will start from the day this new request is received.

More information about the Official Information Act and OIA requests

For more information please see: