This privacy impact assessment (PIA) assesses the consultation on implementing an infringement scheme to support our mandatory data requests.
Download the document below, or read the summary online.
Summary
Stats NZ is developing an infringement regime for failing to respond to mandatory data requests. Mandatory data requests are made under section 23 of the Data and Statistics Act 2022 to individuals, households, businesses, not-for-profit organisations, and public sector agencies to provide information for official statistics. An infringement regime would give Stats NZ the ability to issue an infringement notice (requiring payment of a fee) to those who do not respond to a mandatory data request.
The Data and Statistics Act 2022 enables the use of infringement offences, but before we can use infringement offences, we need to develop regulations. We need to undertake public consultation before we seek Cabinet agreement to the regulations.
To support the public consultation, we have developed an initial design of how we intend to use infringement offences, including proposed fee and fine amounts.
Public consultation on when and how we intend to use infringement offences will help identify any unforeseen issues or impacts. Transparency on our proposed approach is also important for maintaining trust and confidence in Stats NZ as we look to introduce a new regulatory function.
We intend to publicly consult on the proposed approach from 23 February to 6 April 2026 for a period of six weeks. Individuals and organisations will be able to make a submission through the online submission form, or by emailing Stats NZ if help is needed to fill in the form. The online submission form will be made using MS Forms, and a link to the form will be on the Stats NZ website. MS Forms is an application within Microsoft's M365 suite that is used frequently within Stats NZ and other government agencies for consultations.
Email addresses provided with submissions will be used to notify submitters about the publication of the summary of submissions, if further information about the submission is required and if the submission falls within the scope of the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). Submitters can opt out by not providing their email address in the MS Form. In the case of email responses, we will assume they are comfortable with us contacting them unless expressly stated otherwise.
AI will not be used in the analysis of submissions on this consultation. A small team will read and analyse submissions and develop a summary of submissions.
ISBN 978-1-991431-26-4
