Statistics New Zealand has appointed a respondent advocate, who will work on behalf of respondents, to review our survey demands on individuals, households, or businesses.
This role is separate from the operational processes associated with collection activities of Statistics NZ and enables objective advice to be provided to the Government Statistician.
Specific activities associated with the role of respondent advocate include:
- reviewing respondent requests for relief and providing advice to the Government Statistician
- reviewing proposals for new survey collections and providing advice to the Government Statistician
- reviewing respondent load measures to identify ‘unreasonable demands’
When to contact the respondent advocate
You should contact the advocate if you:
- feel unhappy with the department's response to your complaint or your issue
- are concerned about the confidentiality or security of your information.
What you can expect
In dealing with Statistics NZ, you can expect that the respondent advocate will:
- review your issue or complaint if you have been unsuccessful in having your issue or complaint satisfactorily resolved by Statistics NZ
- support cases for survey relief where the demands on a respondent are outside acceptable ‘load thresholds’
- engage with respondents to understand their concerns or issues with Statistics NZ collections
- be professional, courteous, and respond promptly to any request
- explain clearly what information we need and how the collected information is used.