27 January 2023
45 Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wel ington 6011
fyi-request-21112-
PO Box 805, Wel ington 6140
[email address]
Phone +64 4 495 7200
Fax +64 4 382 3589
Email
[email address]
Websit
e www.dia.govt.nz
Tēnā koe Justin,
Request under the Official Information Act: Ref. Number OIA2223-0383
Thank you for your request, which was received by The Department of Internal Affairs (the
Department) on 12 November 2022.
Background context on The Film and Literature Board of Review (The Board) and The
Department’s relationship for your information.
The Film and Literature Board of Review is an independent statutory body, carrying out
quasi-judicial functions. It was established under the Films, Videos, and Publications
Classification Act 1993 (the Act) which falls under the Minister of Internal Affairs.
The Department is responsible for three aspects of supporting the Board which is split
between three separate teams:
• Recruitment / appointment of Board members (Monitoring and Appointments team)
• Responsibilities delegated to the Secretary of Internal Affairs (Digital Safety team)
• Secretariat / administrative responsibilities (The Office of the DCE, Te Haumi)
The scope of information you have requested, sits within secretariat / admin responsibilities.
Therefore, the fol owing responses have been constructed solely in our capacity as
secretariat support to the Board.
Some information is being withheld under the Act. Personal and contact information of
some Departmental staff and staff from other agencies, and of members of the public are
withheld under section 9(2)(a), to protect the privacy of natural persons. Some information
is subject to professional legal privilege and has therefore been withheld under section
9(2)(h) of the Act.
Response to your request
For ease of reference, we have first set out your question, fol owed by our answer.
You requested the following information:
1. All applications to The Film and Literature Board of Review of the Past 12 Months up to
the 30th November 2022
In the past 12 months, the Board has received a total of six applications. Under Section 6(c)
of the act to prejudice the maintenance of the law and the right to a fair trial, we are unable
to release one application. Please see attached for the remaining five applications.
2. A Copy of al decisions to Grant and Refuse Leave to apply to the Film and Literature
Board of Review.
As no time period was provided for this part of the request, we took that to mean the past
12 months. Please see attached four confirmation emails from the Board Secretariat
informing the applicants of the Secretary’s decision to grant or refuse their application to
seek leave. As mentioned above, a total of six requests were made in the past 12 months,
however one decision is being withheld under Section 6(c) of the Act. One applicant was
informed of their decision over the phone. We have instead provided a copy of the internal
email from the Secretary, confirming that the reduced fee was granted.
3. A copy of al Final decisions from the Film and Literature Board of Review from the Past
12 months up to and including to 30th November 2022
All final decisions made by the Board are released and publicly available on the
Department’s website. They can be found at this link
: Forms to download -
dia.govt.nzhttps://www.dia.govt.nz/pubforms.nsf/wpg_Publications_FLBRD?Openview
4. A Copy of Al Written Submissions to Film and Literature Board of Review for
Publications being reviewed.
This specific material is subject to the tribunal exception of an organisation acting judicially.
We therefore refuse this part of your request.
5. Examination transcripts
We are refusing this part of your request under Section 18(e) of the Act as the document
alleged to contain the information requested, does not exist.
6. Supplementary materials (could be video footage, content declaration questionnaire,)
This specific material is subject to the tribunal exception of an organisation acting judicially.
We therefore refuse this part of your request.
7. Emails and its attachment to and/or from FVLB, OFLC, distributor, publisher, developer
and Internal Affairs staff and Board Members.
As no time period was provided for this part of the request, we took that to mean the past
12 months. We have themed all correspondence into four separate areas: Application
communications, Invoices/accounts communications, meeting communications and
miscellaneous. Further correspondence and attachments are being withheld under section
(9)(2)(h) to maintain professional legal privilege.
8. Any other email / Mail / letter correspondence relating to the Film and Literature
Board of Review for the Past 12 months including to the 30th November 2022.
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We have themed all correspondence into four separate areas: Application communications,
Invoices/accounts communications, meeting communications and miscellaneous. For
completeness, we have merged all correspondence requested for points seven and eight for
the past 12 months. Further correspondence and attachments are being withheld under
sections (9)(2)(h) to maintain professional legal privilege.
We intend to publish this OIA response on www.dia.govt.nz (with your personal details
having been removed). Publishing responses to OIA requests increases the availability of
information to the public and is consistent with the purpose of the Act to enable effective
participation in the making and administration of laws and policies, and to promote the
accountability of Ministers and officials.
Nāku noa, nā
Morag Ingram
Director, Office of the DCE
Te Haumi | Enterprise Partnerships Branch
Te Tari Taiwhenua | The Department of Internal Affairs
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