Treasury Releases Report on the Investigation into the Handling of Official Information Act request 3136

John Whitehead, Secretary to the Treasury, has today released a report on the investigation into the inadvertent release of commercially sensitive information relating to the Reserve Bank’s currency intervention strategy.

“The investigation report confirmed what I said early last week – that this situation was due to human error. However, I accept that it also found that our quality assurance was not sufficient to fully safeguard against that human error”, Mr Whitehead said.

“I welcome the report, and thank the investigation team for their thorough work. I accept all of the recommendations and will ensure steps are taken immediately to implement them.

“I am pleased that the investigation found that most parts of Treasury’s systems and processes with respect to the handling of OIA requests are robust. Importantly, it also found that there is a clear expectation at the Treasury that documents going to the Minister’s office for release are ready to be forwarded to the requestor – which is why I take full responsibility for this error.

I regret that this situation occurred, and intend that as an organisation we learn from this situation – so that we can be confident in the ongoing delivery of quality services rightfully expected from the Treasury.”

[The report is available in the Information Releases section of this web site - see Investigation into the Handling of Official Information Act Request 3136.]