In what circumstances would it be appropriate to charge for replying to Official Information Act requests made to their office, or agencies for which the Minister is responsible?

Answer

If there is a substantial cost to the New Zealand Defence Force for providing information, a requestor may be asked to meet some or all of the costs. A charge for information may result from the cost of labour and materials involved in making the information available, including responding to requests under urgency or a need to engage additional staff. With regard to the Ministry of Defence, the member is referred to the response to WPQ 3630(2026)