Part 3: About inquiry agencies

3.1
In this Part, we:

• identify the many organisations, including inquiry agencies, that are responsible for aspects of New Zealand's public sector accountability; and
• discuss common activities of inquiry agencies, what they can do to help, and what they can look into.

Our "map" of inquiry agencies

3.2
When we started this work, we expected to be able to create a clear "map" of the many organisations that administer public sector accountability arrangements. Doing so proved more difficult than we had anticipated.

3.3
We searched legislation for the word "review". Our search returned 783 pieces of legislation. We worked through each piece of legislation and identified 399 different ways (or functions) to challenge or complain about an action or decision of private and public entities.

3.4
Some functions were in more than one piece of legislation, and we found more than 90 inquiry agencies and other organisations responsible for administering those functions. We did not find an explanation or guide that helped us to make sense of the various functions, officials, agencies, and organisations that deliver them.

3.5
Figure 2 is our summary of New Zealand's accountability arrangements. It shows the many organisations responsible for public sector accountability arrangements. It also includes private sector and personal activities.

3.6
For the purposes of our work, we focused on organisations with public sector accountability roles or functions. These inquiry agencies are external to the original decision-making entity.

3.7
The other parts of our summary are:

• public entities – in the first instance, people should go directly to the public entity they have a grievance with and use its complaint and review processes;
• Parliament − people can raise concerns with elected representatives and Parliamentary select committees, and contribute to processes that could improve the matters they are dissatisfied with;
• courts and tribunals − people can use the justice system to try to get certain decisions amended or to hold people to account for their actions; and
• public or private activities − people can share their concerns by talking to journalists, placing advertisements, organising petitions, sharing their stories on social media platforms, hiring lobbyists, or taking other action.

Activities, powers, and functions of inquiry agencies

Activities

3.8
The inquiry agencies' usual activities when they are carrying out their accountability roles include:

• considering complaints about the conduct of public entities and their employees;
• reviewing decisions of a public entity (especially whether a proper process was followed);
• investigating, or carrying out an inquiry into, the activities of a public entity; or
• mediating in disputes between people and public entities.

3.9
Many inquiry agencies carry out more than one of these activities, and some carry out other activities, such as providing advocacy support for complainants or making recommendations about the conditions of detention facilities.

Powers

3.10
If an inquiry agency finds that a public entity has done something wrong, then, depending on the inquiry agency's powers, it could:

• change or reverse the decisions of the public entity;
• order the public entity to act (such as require the original decision-making entity to reconsider its decision); or
• publish a report with its findings and any recommendations for change.

3.11
For example, the Gambling Commission can overturn the decisions of the public entities that it oversees (and order changes to be made). The Customs Appeal Authority can order the return to owners of items that the New Zealand Customs Service has seized.

3.12
We have the power to report on what we find when we agree to carry out an inquiry. Our inquiry reports often include recommendations that are intended to help public entities improve their systems or processes.

Figure 2
Organisations that administer New Zealand's public sector accountability arrangements

Larger version of Figure 2 as an image | PDF of Figure 2 | Text version of Figure 2

Note: We have compiled this chart and the grouping of organisations within it. The information is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such.

Functions

3.13
The governing legislation of an inquiry agency defines its public sector accountability functions and which public entities it can look into. Figure 3 lists the inquiry agencies (within our mandate) that we identified and the government functions that they focus on.

Figure 3
Government functions for inquiry agencies