Redaction is when information is removed, or details are hidden before you can access it.
When an organisation says they need to ‘assess’ your records, what they usually mean is they need to decide if any information needs to be redacted.
You now have the right to get more court records about you.
If you previously requested your records from an organisation (for example, Oranga Tamariki), what you received might have excluded any court records.
If you were to make a new records request to the same the organisation, they must give you any court records they have about you - unless there is a specific court order or rule preventing them from doing so.
Examples of court records an organisation might have about you include:
These new rules apply to all organisations in New Zealand that may hold court records, except for the Courts of New Zealand.
Under the Privacy Act, you are only allowed to see information that is about you. This is to protect other people’s privacy.
For example, some organisations keep records about whānau, not individual people. If a record has information about both you and your whānau, the organisation may redact information that involves your whānau. As a result, the records you receive may be very heavily redacted
But you may be able to access records about someone else, if you have their written permission to act on their behalf.
Organisations might have to redact information because it is ‘legally privileged.’
Information may be legally privileged if it:
Under section 49(1)(a)(iii) of the Privacy Act 2020, a record holder can refuse to give access to personal information if:
The Privacy Commissioner has more information about thisopen_in_new.
If you were adopted under a closed adoption, you need to request a copy of your pre-adoption birth certificate to access information about your birth parents. You need to be aged at least 20 years to do this. Learn how to request your pre-adoptive birth certificate.
If you were adopted under a closed adoption before 1 March 1986, your birth parents may have placed a ‘veto’ on their information. They can renew the veto every ten years.
If your birth parents placed a veto on their information, they will not be included in your original birth certificate.
If you had a child adopted out, once the child turns 19 years old, they have the right to place a veto on their own information – which means their birth parents would not be able to get information about them.
For example, for digital and paper documents different organisations might:
Below are some examples of redacted documents.
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