Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wellington
T 04 918 8800 |
F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
23 July 2024
Paul Shelton
[FYI request #27362 email]
Ref: OIA 113557
Tēnā koe Paul
Official Information Act request: Change proposal
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) on 24 June
2024 to the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry). Specifically, you requested:
Could you please give me a full accounting of roles/positions that have been
removed or won't be filled that would be considered "front line". This includes
anyone that works directly with the public, no matter how small a part of their role.
We have interpreted your request as relating directly to the Ministry’s change process which
is currently underway.
The Public Service Commission has issued guidelines on defining front line and back office
roles, however, the Ministry does not systematically apply such categorisation in its human
resource information system. The full and accurate accounting that you seek does not exist
without manual collation and there is no requirement under the Act to create new information
or compile information. Therefore, your request is refused under section 18(g) of the Act, as
the information is not held by the Ministry, or any other agency subject to the Act.
The Ministry’s change process is being completed in two phases. Phase one has been
implemented. This focused on the consolidation of the Ministry’s senior leadership team by
aligning our strategy and corporate functions into two groups, rather than three. These did
not affect any roles considered to be front line. Phase two is currently in progress and
focuses on reducing role duplication and finding efficiencies in the National office and back
office functions.
The Ministry provided the phase two change proposal to its employees on 6 June 2024,
followed by four weeks of consultation. Information about this proposal, including information
about the number of roles proposed to be disestablished, is publicly available at:
justice.govt.nz/about/news-and-media/news/ministry-of-justice-outlines-change-proposal/
The consultation process closed on 5 July and all feedback is being carefully considered and
reviewed. Final decisions regarding structure and roles are expected to be announced in
August. This will be followed by further internal employment processes to implement the
decisions. The Ministry cannot confirm the final impact on its employees until after that
process has concluded. Therefore, information on phase two of the change process is
withheld under section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act, to protect the confidentiality of advice. In
withholding information under section 9 of the Act I have considered the public interest and
do not consider it outweighs withholding the information at this time.
Additionally, the Ministry has been actively managing vacancies, including frontline.
Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and take into consideration if the role is critical
to delivering core services, affordable within our resourcing, or if the work can be managed
another way.
If you require any further information, please contact Media & Social Media Manager Joe
Locke at [email address]
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at: justice.govt.nz/about/official-information-act-requests/oia-responses/
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be
contacted by email to [email address] or by phone on 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Kelvin Watson
Deputy Secretary Corporate Services
