Office of the Ombudsman (New Zealand)


The Ombudsman is an officer of the New Zealand Parliament who independently looks into complaints. The core jurisdiction of the office covers cases of maladministration. Over the years, it has been progressively expanded to include complaints under the Official Information Act 1982 and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, as well as whistleblower complaints under the Protected Disclosures Act 2000. Additionally, the Ombudsman serves as one of New Zealand's national preventive mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
Ombudsmen are appointed by the Governor-General of New Zealand on recommendation of the New Zealand House of Representatives for a term of five years.
Since 31 March 2025, the Chief Ombudsman is John Allen.
WWW ombudsman.parliament.nz

History

The idea of establishing an ombudsman in New Zealand dates back to early 1961 when the Second National Government circulated a paper proposing its creation, based on the Scandinavian model. The public service initially viewed the idea with skepticism. In 1962, Parliament passed the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1962, creating an ombudsmen system based on that of Denmark, with powers to investigate administrative decisions. Initially the Ombudsman served for a term of three years and had jurisdiction only over central government agencies. In 1968 its jurisdiction was extended to include education boards and hospital boards. In 1975 the Act was replaced by the Ombudsmen Act 1975, which allowed for multiple Ombudsmen, each serving a term of five years. In 1982 the jurisdiction of the Ombudsmen was expanded again to cover complaints under the Official Information Act 1982.

List of Chief Ombudsmen

The following is a list of New Zealand's Chief Ombudsmen:
No.NamePortraitTerm startTerm end
1Guy Powles13 October 19755 April 1977
2George Laking6 April 197715 October 1984
3Lester Castle16 October 198426 November 1986
4John Robertson21 December 198614 December 1994
5Brian Elwood14 December 199430 June 2003
6John Belgrave1 July 20033 December 2007
7Beverley Wakem23 April 20089 December 2015
8Peter Boshier9 December 201528 March 2025
9John Allen31 March 2025present