Health NZ treats transparency as a buzzword on a whiteboard – Editorial

Peter Boshier says he has seen some bad behaviour in the public sector during his time as Chief Ombudsman. Photo / NZME

Editorial

THREE KEY FACTS

• Outgoing Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier released a report reflecting on his nine years in the job.
• Good record keeping by government agencies is a legal requirement under the Public Records Act 2005.
• The Official Information Act 1982 grants a public right to access certain information held by government agencies.

“Contrary to law”, a “proxy approval process”, and staff being pressured to avoid creating records. This is how outgoing Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has described the culture at Health NZ and other government agencies when handling official information and record-keeping.

This behaviour in our public sector organisations should concern us all.

Boshier’s remarks, which were made in a report released yesterday morning where Boshier reflected on his nine years as ombudsman, specifically singled out Health NZ as a “particular concern”.

The report included deep dives into particular departments’ compliance and said Health NZ was “not always following the letter and spirit of the law”.

The attitude typified by Health NZ towards the Official Information Act (OIA) and Public Records Act is that these laws are merely guidelines to ignore.

But openness and transparency are not just nice-to-haves or a vibe. They are essential elements of a functioning democratic government and perhaps more importantly, a trusted one.

Yet Health NZ is treating them as a couple of buzzwords on a meeting room whiteboard, slowly being wiped away.

Boshier also highlighted Health NZ’s practice of delaying information being released by sending it to the Beehive first.

This “proxy approval process” was likely to be “contrary to law”, Boshier said.

What Boshier is describing here is not just a delay tactic but seemingly a deliberate attempt to restrict and if necessary deny the release of information which might be seen as damaging to a particular minister or agency.

This is wrong and needs to be urgently addressed.

For a relatively new agency, Health NZ is already generating an increasing number of complaints from the public, mostly about the time it takes to make a decision, or its refusal to release information.

Boshier’s other primary concern with several agencies was record-keeping.

He said there is a practice among agencies of keeping poor records to avoid them being released under the OIA.

Not only is this keeping Kiwis in the dark, it is a breach of the legal requirement under the Public Records Act. Official information must be not only retained but be able to be retrieved.

Boshier also described public officials being “pressured to avoid creating records for ‘fear of them being OIA-d’”.

It is unclear how widespread this particular bullying tactic is, but undeniably needs to be snuffed out.

Boshier recommended that laws need to be strengthened but also stiffer penalties may be needed for government agencies.

He is right, but as he explains the main issue is not the legislation but the culture in our bureaucracy.

The bad behaviour and attitude needs to change.

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