2. > Responsibilities

This Standard is issued by the Chief Archivist to support the implementation of requirements in the Public Records Act relating to access to archives. Archives New Zealand, public offices, local authorities and accountability offices, such as the Privacy Commissioner, all have different responsibilities regarding access to archives.

This Standard does not in any way derogate from obligations and entitlements under other statutes and Government policies.

Public offices' responsibilities regarding access are outlined in:

• Policy Framework for Government-held Information (1997), http://www.ssc.govt.nz/display/document.asp?navid=222
• New Zealand Government Data Management Policies and Standards (2001), http://www.e.govt.nz/standards/e-gif/data-management-policies

Both enjoin state sector agencies to make information available easily, widely and equitably to the people of New Zealand (except where legal reasons preclude this availability).

2.1. > Legislative Framework for Access to Public Records

Statutes that provide frameworks and mechanisms for access to central government records include the Official Information Act 1982, Privacy Act 1993 and Public Records Act 2005, as well as numerous statutes applying access provisions to specific categories of records (for example, the Land Transfer Act 1952, Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995, Tax Administration Act 1994 and Public Finance Act 1989).

Statutes that provide frameworks and mechanisms for access to local government records include the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, Privacy Act 1993 and Public Records Act 2005, as well as numerous statutes applying access provisions to specific categories of records (for example, the Building Act 2004 and the Resource Management Act 1991).

The charts provided in section seven illustrate, for users seeking access to records, the relationships between these frameworks.

2.2. > Access under the Public Records Act

This standard applies to all public archives and local authority archives, regardless of location (refer to section 1.2 Scope).

When public or local authority archives are classified for access the administrative head of the controlling public office or local authority must consider whether there are good reasons to restrict public access to the record and whether another enactment requires the record to be withheld from public access. Guidance on implementing provisions in the Public Records Act for setting access conditions is provided in the Archives New Zealand Continuum publication Making Access Decisions under the Public Records Act.

The Public Records Act also contains the following sections relating to access, copying, publication and copyright.¹

S43	Requirement to classify access status
S44	Basis for determining access status
S45	Requirement to classify access status of local authority records
S46	Basis for determining access status of local authority records
S47	Public inspection of open access records
S48	Publication or copying of public archives
S49	Prohibition on public access or copying
S50	Period for which restricted access may apply
S57	Application of Copyright Act 1994
S58	Application of Official Information Act 1982
S59	Charges for services.

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1. The full text of these sections can be found in the appendix.