Question 1

An agency or a business holds information about you

Accepted Answer

In New Zealand, ask them for it under the Privacy Act 2020. A response is due within 20 working days. If they refuse, complain to the Privacy Commissioner. The full steps are in Know what they hold .

Question 2

Fill in a Privacy Act request

Accepted Answer

The first form on that guide is a request to a bank for a closed account, including the account history, the closure details, and any unclaimed money transferred to Inland Revenue. The next form asks Inland Revenue for the record of that transfer. A general access request and a correction request are on the same page.

Question 3

You want papers from government or a council

Accepted Answer

Ask under the Official Information Act 1982, or under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 if it is a council. A decision is due within 20 working days. A refusal, a delay, or a charge can go to the Ombudsman. The steps are in Ask for official information .

Question 4

Fill in an official information request

Accepted Answer

There is one form for a government agency and one for a council. Send it to that body, not to the Ombudsman.

Question 5

A provider wants to give you a treatment you do not want

Accepted Answer

You can refuse medical treatment, and you can withdraw consent. Put it in writing and ask for it to be filed. If a provider ignores a refusal, complain to the Health and Disability Commissioner. The steps, including the limit around emergency care, are in Your body, your choice .

Question 6

Fill in a health-treatment refusal

Accepted Answer

The refusal note is on that guide, and so is an advance-directive wording. A serious directive is worth checking with a clinician or a lawyer.

Question 7

Other situations

Accepted Answer

The New Zealand letters are the fill-in forms on the guides: access and correction, official information, the Ombudsman, the Privacy Commissioner, Te Kāhui Tika Tangata, the Health and Disability Commissioner, a treatment refusal, an advance directive, and a council submission. Lifetime membership, when it opens, is planned to add letters for the European Union and the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and the United Nations routes. Those letters are not published here yet, and they are not for sale. See Membership .