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Will the Minister undertake a review of current and former staff members’ private email accounts to identify any official information that should be on the public record; if not, why not? and 1 other question

Answered 25099, 25102 (2026)
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Asked by

Camilla Belich

List MP · Labour Party

Questions

  • 25099

    Will the Minister undertake a review of current and former staff members’ private email accounts to identify any official information that should be on the public record; if not, why not?

  • 25102

    What official information, if any, is held on a private email account of a current or former staff member in the Minister’s office and has not been placed on the official record since 27 November 2023; and what steps are being taken to recover them?

Answered by

Hon Louise Upston

Member for Taupō · National Party · Minister for Child Poverty Reduction

Answer

No. The deliberate use of a personal email account to conduct work activities as an alternate to using the work email provided to staff is not permitted. However, from time to time there are justifiable reasons for a private email to be used – for example an inability to print from their parliamentary email address while travelling or sending a copy of a press release to their private email to copy and paste to media via messaging because they are unable to copy and paste from Outlook. All ministerial staff have been reminded that they If they have used a personal email account to complete work related activities, the material created or received may constitute a public record. The material must be reviewed and securely saved.