Introducing the Official Information Bill to Parliament in 1981, the Minister of Justice called it 'one of the most significant constitutional innovations to be made since the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsmen in the early 1960s" Its goals were lofty: to 'increase progressively the availability of official information' in order to promote democratic participation, political accountability and good government. Yet to hear some of the criticisms of the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) now, one could be forgiven for wondering whether it has been much of an improvement over the Official Secrets Act 1951, which made releasing official information an offence. 'Ministers and officials developed ways of routinely subverting the provisions of the Official Information Act', researcher Nicky Hager has written. 'Journalists complain processing of requests takes to long, and accuse bureaucrats of abusing the system, especially if the material sought is remotely embarrassing or controversial', wrote investigative journalist Amanda Cropp. 'It is ridiculously easy to circumvent the act and to hide information from requesters and Ombudsmen alike', wrote former MP Michael Laws recently: 'Of course, all potentially embarrassing information is routinely refused and time delays are simply de rigueur.

The New Zealand Official Information Act 1982 is frequently hailed as one of this countrys most significant constitutional reforms. It is praised as world-leading in its refusal to contemplate that any category of government information might be completely immune from the prospect of public disclosure. But for those who work with the Act, either as seekers of information or as officials responding to requests, it is not an unqualified good - the working reality of the Act can be frustrating and time-consuming, just as often as it is enlightening. This book follows a two-year research project into the day-to-day operation of the Act. It examines the history of the Acts passage and subsequent development and reports the candid views of (anonymised) officials, politicians, academics, political advisers and regular seekers of Official Information. The result is a free and frank picture of the operation of administrative and political processes around Official Information. It carries a sobering message about how those process, if not well-managed, can erode trust in government across time. But the picture is not all bleak. The book concludes with proposals for change designed to build on the very real strengths of the system, to help it cope with the challenges of modern politics and the information age.