Making an OIA Request

On this page

In New Zealand, you can request government information (official information) and can expect it to be made available unless there is a good reason to withhold it.

Many aspects of the work we do are subject to the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). You are entitled to request information from us under the OIA.

Information relating to the BSA’s functions as a tribunal, namely the process of making decisions on complaints, is not ‘official information’ under the OIA, so we do not release this type of information.

Before you make a request


Check if the information is already available on this site. To promote openness and transparency and foster public trust, we proactively publish official information including:

Making a request

If the information you’re looking for isn’t available on our site, you can make an OIA request.

Please email your request to info@bsa.govt.nz or post it to: Broadcasting Standards Authority, PO Box 9213, Wellington 6141.

Make sure you include:

  • your name
  • your email address or postal address
  • specific details of the information you’re seeking.

Further assistance

Making an official information request 

Guide to making OIA requests produced by the Ombudsman.

See the Directory of Official Information to make sure you’re looking for your information in the right place.

Our response


We’ll respond as soon as practical, and no later than 20 working days after we receive your request. The OIA allows for extensions in certain circumstances. We’ll let you know if we need an extension.

The Act allows us to withhold information for specific reasons. If we do this, we’ll explain why.

What if I’m not satisfied?

Contact us first to see if we can resolve the issue. You can also make a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Publishing responses


The BSA may proactively release information in line with the Government’s commitment to the Open Government Partnership National Action Plan. This includes publishing our responses to OIA requests.

Our responses may be published below around one working week after the requester has received their response.

The requester's name and address will be removed where the requester is an individual.

Generally we will not publish certain information, including:

  • anyone’s personal information
  • private or confidential information
  • information that may impact third parties
  • information requests that are not in the public interest
  • information we’ve decided to withhold on OIA grounds.

We reserve the right to decide which responses we’ll publish, and why.

OIA Statistics

 See our statistics for OIA responses here. 

Directory of Official Information

The Directory of Official Information, published by the Ministry of Justice, is a resource to assist people in making official information requests by:

  • giving a detailed picture of the structure of central Government departments and organisations
  • enabling people to find out exactly where their requests for information should be made.

 The Directory of Official Information can be found here, and the BSA’s entry can be found here.

Proactive releases since 1 February 2019