The Otago Regional Council is committed to open processes where you can see how we make decisions and access information easily. 

You can find much of our information in print or on our website, in reports, consultation documents and material for the media. 

You can request Council information using the procedures and timeframes set out in the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA). 

You can make a LGOIMA request for any information we hold, such as: 

• council projects 
• information you need to participate in a consultation 
• the reason for a decision or our decision-making process 
• our policies and procedures

If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the  Office of the Ombudsman. 

You can make a privacy requests for information we hold about you, such as: 

• payments you have made to us 
• your interactions with our staff

If you’re not happy with the outcome, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. 

Please be specific when making your request so we can find the information quickly for you. 

Include your email or postal address so we can send you the information or get in touch to clarify your request. 

• Phone our office on 0800 474 082 
• Email your request to official.information@orc.govt.nz
• Post your request to:
  • Information request,
  • Otago Regional Council
  • 70 Stafford Street
  • Private Bag 1954
  • Dunedin 9054
• Use our online form below:

Under the Act, we must provide a final response within 20 working days, unless we need to extend the timeframe. 

We will let you know as soon as possible if: 

• we cannot meet the initial deadline 
• we need more information
• the information is held by another government organisation and we need to transfer your request. 

You can ask us to treat your request as urgent. 

You will need to provide a reason for this. 

We may publish information released under LGOIMA on our website if it’s of interest to the public. We don’t publish the names of individual requestors. 

We may withhold specific information or refuse to give information for reasons set out in sections 6, 7 and 17 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. 

If we withhold or refuse to give information, we will explain why. 

For information about withholding personal information, see sections 49 to 53 of the Privacy Act 2020. 

Usually LGOIMA requests are free. However, if you ask for a significant amount of information or the request requires substantial collation and research, we may charge you for providing the information. 

Under the LGOIMA policy: 

• The first hour of collation time is free 
• We can recover any actual costs (e.g. photocopying, printing, reproducing a photograph etc) 
• After the first hour, time is charged at $38.00 per half hour (includes GST). 

If we need to charge you to fulfil your information request, we will let you know the cost before we begin working on it. You can decide if you want to continue, withdraw or refine your request. We may ask you to pay some or all of this cost in advance. 

There is no charge for privacy requests. 

Email the official information team if you: 

• have questions about our process for requests 
• need clarification 
• want more information 
• want to request new or additional information

official.information@orc.govt.nz