Statutory approvals and public notifications

Ministerial approvals

Section 6 of the Statistics Act 1975 requires the Minister of Statistics to approve all statistical surveys commissioned by government departments (including Statistics New Zealand), and any substantial alterations to existing surveys.

On 1 July 1993, the then Minister of Statistics granted a general waiver as provided for in the Act, removing the requirement for government departments except Statistics New Zealand to seek ministerial approval, unless they were commissioning Statistics New Zealand to run the survey. The requirement for ministerial approval continued to apply to Statistics New Zealand.

This waiver remained in place until December 1998 when the Protocols for Official Statistics were promulgated. Other government departments that agree to abide by the protocols do not require ministerial approval for surveys that they commission. Those that do not agree are now required to seek ministerial approval for statistical surveys that they commission. Statistics New Zealand continues to require ministerial approval for all new surveys that it proposes to conduct, and for substantial alterations to existing surveys.

The approval process requires a series of reviews to be undertaken on specific areas of the survey (methodology, questionnaire, and output analysis) by a reviewer not directly involved or having no vested interest in the survey. The objective is that the reviews are undertaken by people independent of the survey development to ensure that the survey meets the standards expected of official statistics, and that the survey will achieve its planned objectives.

When the reviews are completed to the satisfaction of the Government Statistician, a report is sent to the Minister of Statistics recommending that the proposed survey or substantial alteration to an existing survey be approved. When approved, the survey can be undertaken.

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Access to unit record data

The Statistics Act 1975 requires that information provided by people, households and businesses is collected in confidence and that it is securely protected. Use of the information is limited to statistical purposes. The Government Statistician makes office rules to prevent the release of information which would identify individual respondents in aggregated statistics published by the department.

There are, however, some explicit situations where information on individual respondents might be released. These are tightly prescribed by the Act and include the release of information for bona fide research or statistical purposes to another government department. Proposals to access unit record data are assessed against the Microdata Access Protocol before a final decision is made by the Government Statistician.

The granting of access to unit record data is documented quarterly in the "Key Statistics" publication and in the tables below.

On-site access

Access to anonymised, unit record data on Statistics New Zealand premises and using Statistics New Zealand data processing facilities was granted, under various sections of the Statistics Act 1975, for bona fide research or statistical purposes, as summarised below.

The organisations have agreed to abide by the following rules to give effect to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act 1975:

  • no attempt is to be made to identify any individual, family, household or business from the data, or to match individual, family, household or business data with any other data at a unit record level without the written permission of Statistics New Zealand;
  • access to the data is to be restricted to those persons who have signed the statutory declaration of secrecy or an undertaking as required by the Government Statistician;
  • no statistical table or other information is to be released which would enable the identification of any individual, family, household or business from the data;
  • the published results of any research must not divulge any more information than Statistics New Zealand could publish under the Statistics Act 1975;
  • no part of the unit record data is to be removed from Statistics New Zealand's premises; and
  • all material leaving Statistics New Zealand's premises will be scrutinised by Statistics New Zealand to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
June - August 2003
  1. Access to the Disability Survey to the Ministry of Health in June. This will be used to produce an intersectoral analytical publication called "Disability in New Zealand.
  2. Access to the Disability Survey to the Ministry of Social Development. This research study aims to gain an understanding of the reasons that have driven the increase in Invalids Benefits and Sickness Benefits numbers and expenditure over the last 30 years and explore the potential for IB and SB clients to participate in the labour market, and gain an understanding the social and economic needs of IB and SB clients.
  3. Access to 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, Census of Population and Dwellings to the Christchurch School of Medicine for research for the Family and Whanau Wellbeing Project.
March - May 2003
  1. Access to the Student Loans database to the Ministry of Education. This will be used for policy work on student loans, some involving significant modelling exercises, and more sophisticated analysis of the student loan asset.
  2. Access to the Income Supplement Survey to the Household Labour Force Survey to Department of Labour. This will be used to research the technology and changes in the wage structure in New Zealand.
January - February 2003
  1. Access to the Time Use Survey to Dr Susan Singley This will be used to study the patterns of paid and unpaid work and their relationship with community envolvement, leisure and time spent with children.
September - December 2002
  1.  Access to the Household Savings Survey to the Treasury. This will be used to study the saving habits of New Zealanders.
June - September 2002

No on-site access to anonymised, unit record data was granted to researchers.

March - May 2002
  1. Selected variables from the 2001 Census of Population and Dwellings to the Wellington School of Medicine in May. The data is being used by Clare Salmond and Dr Peter Crampton to create NZDep2001, an index of deprivation for small areas based on 2001 Census data and to develop a non-occupational socio-economic classification.
January - February 2002
  1. Access to selected variables from the Business Demography database was provided to researchers from Treasury and The Department of Labour in January. The data is being used for research into job creation and job destruction.
  2. Selected variables from the 1981, 1991, 1996 Census of Population and Dwellings to the Wellington School of Medicine under section 21(3B) of the Statistics Act 1975. The data is being linked with mortality data by Statistics New Zealand and will be used by Dr Tony Blakely to investigate the association of socio-economic factors and mortality in New Zealand.
September - December 2001

No on-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

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June - August 2001
  1. Access to selected variables from the September 1996 Education and Training Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey was provided to researchers from Waikato University in June. The data is being used for research into the determinants of computer-related qualifications and training in New Zealand.
  2. Access to selected variables from the 1999 Biotechnology Survey was provided to the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology in June. The data is being used to investigate the factors that drive innovation in biotechnology in New Zealand.
  3. Access to selected variables from the 1998 Household Economic Survey was provided to the Ministry of Health in July. The data is being used to produce the fair financing measure for New Zealand for incorporation into the WHO World Health Report.
March - May 2001

No on-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

January - February 2001

No on-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

September - December 2000
  1. Access to selected variables from the 1984, 1992, 1996 and 1998 Household Economic Surveys was provided to researchers from the Department of Applied and International Economics, Massey University in September. The data is being used to investigate dimensions of poverty in New Zealand.
  2. Access to selected variables from the 1996 Census of Population and Dwellings and the 1998 Household Economic Survey was provided to researchers at the Christchurch School of Medicine, University of Otago in December. The project aims to extend and refine the New Zealand Socio-economic Index (NZSEI) and then apply it to the analysis of the socio-economic patterning of well-being.
June - August 2000

No on-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted to researchers.

March - May 2000
  1. Access to selected variables from the 1996/97 Household Health Survey was provided to researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, The University of Auckland in March. The data is being used to investigate how modern health worries impact on health.
January - February 2000
  1. Access to selected variables from the 1997-1999 June quarter Income Supplements to the Household Labour Force Survey was provided to researchers from the Department of Economics, University of Otago in February. The data is being used to investigate Maori disadvantage in the labour market.
September - December 1999
  1. Access to selected variables from the September 1996 Education and Training Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey was provided to the Department of Labour in October. The data is being used by John Gibson, from Waikato University, to investigate job security for Maori and Pacific Island workers in New Zealand.
June - August 1999
  1. Access to several completed unidentified Time Use Survey forms was provided to researchers David Robinson and John Cody in July. This will provide input into the research project on social capital being undertaken with Statistics New Zealand.
  2. Access to selected variables from the Health Supplements to the 1994/95, 1995/96 and 1996/97 Household Economic Surveys was provided to the Wellington School of Medicine in August. The data will be used by Brian Easton and Suzie Carson to investigate the relationship between health status and economic variables.
March - May 1999
  1. Access to 1996 Population Census data was provided to the Ministry of Health in May. The data will be used by Clare Salmond and Dr Peter Crampton to provide analysis for a report on socio-economic inequalities and health.
January - February 1999

No on-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted to researchers.

September - December 1998

No on-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted to researchers.

July - August 1998
  1. Selected variables from the 1991 Census of Population and Dwellings to the Wellington School of Medicine in July, under section 21(3B) of the Statistics Act 1975. The data is being linked with mortality data by Statistics New Zealand and will be used by Dr Tony Blakely to investigate the association of socio-economic factors and mortality in New Zealand.
  2. Selected variables from the 1996 Census of Population and Dwellings to the Wellington School of Medicine in July. The data is being used by Clare Salmond and Dr Peter Crampton to develop a non-occupational socio-economic classifications for individuals.
  3. Selected variables from the 1981, 1986, 1991 and 1996 Censuses of Population and Dwellings to the Wellington Regional Council in August. The data is being used by James Newell to undertake the Wellington Region local area population/land use behavioural modelling project.
February - June 1998
  1. 1995-1997 Household Economic Survey and Health Supplement data to Business and Economic Research Limited in February under section 21(3B) of the Statistics Act 1975. The data is being used by Dr Julian Williams for a research project to investigate the statistical relationship between household income and health status of household members, under contract with the Public Good Science Fund of the Foundation for Research Science and Technology.
  2. 1986, 1990, 1993-1995 Agriculture Census data, and selected variables from the 1986, 1991 and 1996 Census of Population and Dwellings to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in June. The data is being used by James Newell in a research project which is evaluating the impact of agricultural change on New Zealand's rural economies and societies.

Off-site access

Access to anonymised, unit record data was granted, under section 21(3B) or section 37C of the Statistics Act 1975, for bona fide research or statistical purposes, as summarised below.

The organisations have agreed to implement specific security measures and to abide by the following rules to give effect to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act 1975:

  • No attempt is to be made to identify any individual, family, household or business from the data, or to match individual, family, household or business data with any other data at a unit-record level without the written permission of Statistics New Zealand;
  • Access to the data is to be restricted to those persons who have signed the statutory declaration of secrecy specified in section 21 of the Statistics Act 1975;
  • No statistical table or other information is to be released which would enable the identification of any individual, family, household or business from the data;
  • The published results of any research must not divulge any more information than Statistics New Zealand could publish under the Statistics Act 1975.
June - August 2003
  1. Access to the June 2002 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Ministry of Social Development. This will be used for policy-related research in the areas of earnings and incomes, labour supply, minimum wage, productivity levels and employment.
  2. Access to the June 2002 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Treasury. This will be used to calibrate the Household Economic Survey data used in the TaxMod.
  3. Access to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Treasury and the Department of Labour. This will be used for detailed research into employment trends over time.
  4. Access to the Education and Training Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Department of Labour. This will be used to research and study patterns to do with education and training of people in and out of the work force.

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March - May 2003
  1. Access to the June 2002 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Department of Labour. This will be used for policy-related research inn the areas of earnings and incomes, labour supply, minimum wage, productivity levels and employment.
January - February 2003

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

September - December 2002

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

June - August 2002

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

March - May 2002

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

January - February 2002
  1. Access to the June 2001 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Department of Labour in January. This will be used for policy-related research in the areas of earnings and incomes, labour supply, minimum wage, productivity levels and employment.
  2. Access to the June 2001 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Treasury in January. This will be used to calibrate the Household Economic Survey data used in TaxMod.
  3. Access to the June 2001 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Ministry of Social Development in January. This will be used for monitoring changes in the distribution of employment and income.
  4. Access to the 2000/01 Household Economic Survey was provided to The Treasury in January. The data will be used for research work on HES data synchronisation, tax modelling, forecasting of revenues and expenditures and other relevant policy research and analysis.
  5. Access to the 2000/01 Household Economic Survey was provided to the Ministry of Social Development in January. The data will be used for policy, research and analysis purposes.
September - December 2001

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

June - August 2001

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

March - May 2001

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

January - February 2001

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted.

September - December 2000
  1. Access to the 2000 Business Practice Survey to the Ministry of Economic Development in September. The data will be used to investigate the relationship between the adoption of best practices and performance.
  2. Access to the 1999 Time Use Survey to the Department of Labour in October. This results of the research will be used to inform policy discussions on the prevalence and nature of non-standard work.
  3. Access to the June 2000 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Department of Labour in October. This will be used for policy-related research in the areas of earnings and incomes, labour supply, minimum wage, productivity levels and employment.
  4. Access to the June 2000 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Treasury in October. This will be used to calibrate the Household Economic Survey data used in TaxMod.
  5. Access to the June 2000 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Ministry of Social Policy in October. The data will be used for monitoring changes in the distribution of employment and income.
  6. Anonymised unit record data from the Household Savings Survey is being provided to the Government Actuary to draw on his expertise to estimate values for employer sponsored defined benefit superannuation schemes based on information collected in the survey.
June - August 2000
  1. Access to the Survey of Older People to the Ministry of Social Policy in June. The data will be used to derive a standard of living scale.
  2. Access to the June 1997 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to The Treasury in June. The data will be used to calibrate the Household Economic Survey data used in TaxMod.
March - May 2000
  1. Access to the 1999 Time Use Survey to the Ministry of Women's Affairs in March. This will be used for policy-related research on paid and unpaid work.
  2. Access to the June 1997, 1998 and 1999 Income Supplements to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Ministry of Social Policy in May. The data will be use for monitoring changes in the distribution of employment and income.
January - February 2000

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted to researchers.

September - December 1999
  1. Access to the June 1999 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Department of Labour in October. This will be used for policy-related research in the areas of earnings and incomes, labour supply, minimum wage, productivity levels and employment.
  2. Access to the June 1999 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to The Treasury in November. The data will be used to calibrate the Household Economic Survey data used in TaxMod.
  3. Access to the 1998 Childcare Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Ministry of Social Policy in November. Access was provided for the development of childcare policy.
June - August 1999
  1. Access to the June 1998 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey to the Treasury in June. The data will be used to calibrate the Household Economic Survey data used in TaxMod.
  2. Access to the 1996/97 Household Health Survey to the Department of Labour in July. The data will be used to examine the impact of labour market status on subjective well-being.
  3. Access to the 1999 Gaming Survey to the Department of Internal Affairs in August. Access was provided for the purposes of auditing the survey dataset.
March - May 1999

No off-site access to anonymised, unit-record data was granted to researchers.

January - February 1999
  1. Access to 1997/98 Household Economic Survey data was provided to the Social Policy Agency of the Department of Social Welfare in February. The data will be used for policy, research and analysis purposes.
September - December 1998
  1. Access to 1997/98 Household Economic Survey data was provided to The Treasury in September. The data will be used for research work on HES data synchronisation, tax modelling, forecasting of revenues and expenditures and other relevant policy research and analysis.
  2. Access to data from the 1998 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey, as well as selected variables from the survey, was provided to the Department of Labour in October. Access was also provided to data from the 1997/98 Household Economic Survey in November. The data will be used for policy-related research in the areas of earnings and incomes, labour supply, minimum wage, productivity levels and employment.
  3. Access to data from the 1996/97 and the 1997/98 Household Economic Survey was provided to the Ministry of Health in November. The data will be used for research work into income and asset testing and estimating costs of policies relating to long-term care of elderly residents.
June - August 1998
  1. Access to 1996/97 Household Economic Survey data was provided to the Social Policy Agency of the Department of Social Welfare in June. The data will be used for policy, research and analysis purposes.

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February - May 1998
  1. Selected derived variables from the 1994, 1995 and 1996 Quarterly Manufacturing Survey were provided to the Ministry of Commerce in February. The data will be used as part of their research into the manufacturing industry.
  2. Access to 1996/97 Household Economic Survey data was provided to the Treasury in April. The data will be used for research work on HES data synchronisation, tax modelling, forecasting of revenues and expenditures and other relevant policy research and analysis.
  3. Access to data from the 1997 Income Supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey as well as selected variables from the survey, was provided to the Department of Labour in April. The data will be used for research work on wage distribution, labour supply and minimum wages.
  4. Access to the 1998 Childcare supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey, as well as selected variables from the survey, was granted to the Department of Labour in April. The data will be used as part of their research into reducing the impact of childcare related barriers to those wishing to enter or re-enter the labour market and also developing policy to ensure that children are able to access childcare appropriate to their needs and those of their caregivers.

Access to Joint Surveys data

Access to unit record data from a joint survey was granted, under section 37B of the Statistics Act 1975, in October 2000 to unit record data from the 2000 Research and Development Survey for the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology. The survey is carried out every two years as a joint survey with the Ministry under section 9 of the Statistics Act. The survey measures the level, and changes to the level of research and development activity, employment and expenditure, by private sector enterprises, government departments and state-owned enterprises.

The organisation must abide by the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act:

  • access to the data is restricted to employees who have signed a statutory declaration of secrecy similar to that specified in section 21 of the Statistics Act 1975;
  • no statistical table or other information is to be released that could enable the identification of any individual, family, household or business from the data;
  • the published results of any research must not divulge any more information than Statistics New Zealand could publish under the Statistics Act 1975.

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Release of business frame data

Under the Statistics Act 1975 the Government Statistician has the discretion to release certain types of information including the names and addresses of businesses. The Business Frame Release policy is to only release names and addresses of businesses for the purpose of conducting major statistical surveys of national importance.

The release of lists of names and addresses from the department's Business Frame are also documented quarterly in the "Key Statistics" publication.

June - September 2002

There were no releases of Business Frame Lists.

March - May 2002

There were no releases of Business Frame Lists.

January - February 2002

There were no releases of Business Frame Lists.

September - December 2001

There were no releases of Business Frame Lists.

June - August 2001

There were no releases of Business Frame Lists.

March - May 2001

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

January - February 2001

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

September - December 2000

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

June - August 2000

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

March - May 2000

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

January - February 2000

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

September - December 1999

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

June - August 1999

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

March - May 1999

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

January - February 1999

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

September - December 1998

Statistics New Zealand agreed to the use of the Business Frame for a mail-out on behalf of the Year 2000 Readiness Commission of advice to all businesses on the Year 2000 problem. The Year 2000 Readiness Commission will not have access to names and addresses of firms.

This is the first non-statistical use of the Business Frame since the current policy was implemented. The department considers the use appropriate given the importance of the issue to the suppliers of much of its economic data.

July - August 1998

There were no releases of Business Frame lists.

February - June 1998

A Business Frame list was released in March to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, under section 37C of the Statistics Act 1975. The legal name in alphabetical order, and industrial classification of the top 2000 private sector companies, was provided to improve the quality of RBNZ's funding and borrowing statistics.

The Reserve Bank have agreed to implement specific security measures, and to abide by the standard conditions required to protect the confidentiality of the information.