Combating Bribery and Corruption

The Office of the Ombudsmen in New Zealand

There are currently three Ombudsmen in New Zealand, all of whom are appointed by the Governor-General and accountable to Parliament, not the Government.

The Ombudsmen’s role, amongst other things, is to investigate complaints raised against New Zealand central, regional and local Government, including complaints about corrupt behaviour.

The Ombudsmen Act 1975

The Ombudsmen Act 1975 sets out the functions of the Ombudsmen:

to investigate any decision, recommendation or act relating to a matter of administration made by a public organisation (specified in Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act)

each Ombudsman may make an investigation either on a complaint or of his own motion

to investigate and report on any petition referred to the Ombudsmen by a Committee of the House of Representatives

to investigate and report on any matter which the Prime Minister considers should be investigated by an Ombudsman.

The Ombudsmen’s powers of investigation apply even where the law says that the matter being investigated was the final decision and cannot be appealed.

The Official Information Act 1982

The Official Information Act requires the Government, when asked, to release official information which is not exempt from the provisions of the Act, whether or not that information is damaging to the Government.

This means that information relating to corrupt behaviour cannot be hidden by the Government as a refusal to release information can lead to an investigation by the Ombudsmen.

Under the official information legislation the Ombudsmen are able to investigate and review any decision made on a request for official information held by those Ministers of the Crown, central and local Government departments and organisations that are subject to the legislation.

If the request has been unreasonably refused, the Ombudsmen can order that the information be released.