133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T+64 4 496 2000
16 November 2021
Andrew F
By email: [FYI request #17302 email]
Ref:
H202114841
Tēnā koe Andrew
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) on 22 October 2021
for OIA statistics relating to Ministry of Health (the Ministry) under the Act. You specifically
requested:
“1. How many frivolous misinformation-laden or vexatious OIA requests have been made
pertaining to the issues of vaccination and COVID-19?
2. How many staff hours have been expended to answer these OIA requests?
3. How does the MoH efficiently address such OIA requests?”
On 29 October 2021 the Ministry advised you in accordance with section 18B of the Act, your
request, as it was worded, would require a search through a substantial amount of information
to respond to your request and may be refused under section 18(f) of the Act. The Ministry
asked you to narrow the scope of your request by selecting a specific time frame to enable to
Ministry to better manage your request.
On 1 November 2021 you provided the following reply:
“Thank you very much for your reply. Apologies for being too vague in timeframe. I would
like to know from the period of March 2020 until 1 November with monthly breakdown.
Though, if the Ministry holds the data for the number of OIA requests received, the
number successfully processed, and the number rejected for each main rejection clause
under the act, would requesting that by the monthly period specified above be an
acceptable amended OIA request as this shows a larger dataset?”
On 29 October 2021 the Ministry also explained that a ‘frivolous or vexatious’ request is one
refused under section 18(h) of the Act. The Ministry asked you to confirm if this is the
information that you are requesting. We did not receive a response to this part of your request.
However, I can advise that under section 13 of the Act, since July 2021 there have been two
requests that the Ministry has refused under section 18(h). One of these related to the COVID-
19 vaccine. The Ministry does not record the number of hours spent by staff to respond to
requests that are refused under section 18(h) of the Act.
There are very specific grounds for a request to be considered vexatious as outlined in
guidance from the Ombudsman. On several occasions the Ministry has warned requesters that
subsequent repeated requests for the same or similar information might be refused under
section 18(h).
In response to your rescoped request on 1 November 2021, the Ministry is providing the
following OIA statistics below.
• The Ministry received 4344 OIA requests in the period 1 March 2020—1 November 2021
• The Ministry completed 3931 requests in the same period
• The Ministry introduced the ability to record the refusal and/or withholding grounds for
individual requests in July 2021. Since this date, 192 requests have been recorded as
refused in full under section 18 refusal grounds of the Act.
• Of the 192 requests recorded as refused in full under section 18:
o 1 request was recorded as refused under section 18(b)
o 44 requests were recorded as refused under section 18(d)
o 49 requests were recorded as refused under section 18(e)
o 43 requests were recorded as refused under section 18(f)
o 47 requests were recorded as refused under section 18(g)(i)
o 6 requests were recorded as refused under section 18(g)(i )
o 2 requests were recorded as refused under section 18(h).
The Ministry recognises there is considerable public interest in its work, including the response
to the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the Government’s plans to reform the health sector. This
has seen a sustained increase in the number of requests for official information as reported to
the Public Service Commission (PSC). From 1 January to 30 June 2021, the Ministry completed
1042 responses under the Act, an increase of 51% on the 690 completed in the same period in
2019. In both periods, the Ministry responded to 96% of responses within statutory timeframes.
Further information is also available through the statistics held by the PSC at:
www.publicservice.govt.nz/resources/official-information-statistics/.
The Ministry is also committed to proactively releasing and publishing a large amount of
information on its website, so that the public can have easier access to information about all
areas of its work.
I trust this fulfils your request. Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the
Ombudsman to review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at:
www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases.
Nāku noa, nā
Elisabeth Brunt
Group Manager, Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Page 2 of 2
