ANNEX 
 
 
 
OMBUDSMEN ACT 1975 
 
1. 
NZVIF is listed in Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975 and accordingly is required 
to comply with the OIA.  Information held by NZVIF is "official information" for the purposes of the 
OIA.  Section 5 of the OIA sets out the principle that official information (as defined) will be made 
available by the relevant authority, unless there is a good reason for withholding it.   
 
2. 
Section 9(1) of the OIA provides that if section 9 applies, the official information does not need to 
be disclosed, unless the withholding of the information is outweighed by the public interest.  
Section 9(2)(b) of the OIA provides that section 9 will apply if, and only if, withholding the 
information is necessary to "protect information where the making available of the information … 
would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or 
who is the subject of the information". 
 
 

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