Request information
People in New Zealand can request government information (official information) and can expect it to be made available unless there is a good reason to withhold it.
The Official Information Act 1982 (OIA)(external link) enables citizens, permanent residents, visitors to New Zealand, and body corporates registered or with a place of business in New Zealand, to make a request for official information held by government agencies, including the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).
Before making a request
Before making a request please check our other sources of information. You may find the information you require is already available:
You may also wish to consider whether the information you are requesting is likely to be covered by our secrecy provisions (see below for further information on our secrecy provisions).
Make A Request
Please submit your request, which should be as clear and specific as you can possibly make it, using our online request form.
Please ensure you provide your name, a contact address (email or postal) and the details of the information you want. We may ask you for more details if required.
If you make your request by phone, we will either confirm it in writing ourselves or, if we’re not sure what you are seeking, we may ask you to confirm it in writing.
Ombudsman Guidance
Click the link below to access the Ombudsman's guide to making official information requests.
Maintaining Secrecy Under The Serious Fraud Office Act 1990
Under section 36 of the Serious Fraud Office Act 1990(external link) (the SFO Act), all members of the SFO are required to maintain secrecy in relation to information supplied to or obtained by the SFO through the exercise of its investigation powers. Secrecy will also extend to material that is based on such information including SFO investigation reports or summaries.
The secrecy provisions are important as they provide an assurance that, subject to certain limited exceptions, the information the SFO obtains through the use of its powers will only be used in the detection, investigation and prosecution of serious or complex fraud. Accordingly, when we consider requests made under the OIA that relate to information covered by secrecy, we can only disclose this information if one or more of the criteria set out in s36 (2) of the SFO Act are met.
It is unlikely that we will be able to provide you detail on an SFO case (active or closed), outside of the information provided in our Cases or Media Releases sections.