A submission to the
Government Administration Committee
New Zealand Parliament
on the
Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships
Registration Amendment Bill
From the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand Inc 4 May 2007
Archives and Records Association of New Zealand Inc. (ARANZ)
Who are we:
ARANZ is an incorporated society, established in 1976.
Our membership includes those responsible for maintaining and managing records and archives and those involved in the use of such records and archives including professional and academic historians, genealogists and other researchers.
Our objectives include:
i. To foster the care, preservation and use of archives and records, in both public and private control, and their effective administration.
ii. To provide an authoritative voice on matters of concern relating to archives and records.
iii. To maintain and increase public awareness of the importance of archives and records in all matters affecting their preservation and use.
Contact Details:
Mrs Tiena Jordan - President , Whakatane, threejordans@xtra.co.nz Ph 04 463 5776
Dr Philip Colquhoun - Vice President, Wellington, philip.colquhoun@vuw.ac.nz
Oral Submission:
We do not seek to appear before the Committee, but would be willing to if so desired.
Executive Summary
We have serious concerns regarding the provisions in the Bill relating to access to the birth, death, and marriage registers (clauses 25 to 30).
1. General Comments
1.1 Access to Registers – Genuine Users and Privacy
We submit that the Bill applies an overly restrictive view of privacy that is out of step with the view of the community and common sense and will severely hinder the production of historical research.
1.2 Identity Fraud
We submit that requiring individuals to attest to their legal right to the information is unlikely to deter any individual intent on committing the (more) serious crime of identity fraud.
1.3 Failure to Consult with Historical and Cultural Sector
We note with concern that the consultation undertaken in relation to the preparation of the Bill did not include the government departments and agencies with responsibilities for New Zealand’s historical and cultural identity.
2. Specific Comments
2.1. Clause 6 – Inserting new section 1A Purpose
We submit that new section 1A should state that one of the purposes of the registers is to assist research into New Zealand’s history, culture and identity.
2.2 Clause 26 – New sections 73 to 75 substituted
We submit that new sections 73 to 75 are flawed.
2.3 Clause 30 – New section 78B to 78G inserted
We submit that new section 78G is unnecessary and should be deleted, leaving privacy concerns to be covered by the Privacy Act 1993 and Crown copyright concerns to be covered by Copyright Act 1994.
1. General Comments
1.1 Access to Registers – Genuine Users and Privacy
The Statement of net benefit of proposal, including total regulatory costs and benefits of proposal in the Explanatory Note to the Bill inter alia states:
The key benefit of the proposals to restrict public access to the registers is that personal information held on the registers will, as a general rule, only be available to people who have a genuine reason for requiring the information. (emphasis added)
We contend that the need of historians and other researchers to consult the indexes (s. 74 of original Act) and/or be provided with print-outs of information in the registers (s. 73) constitutes a genuine reason for requiring the information.
The statutory requirements for the collection of the information in the registers and access to that information by “any person” are provided by the same Act. Accordingly this fulfils principles 10 and 11 of the Privacy Act 1993. We submit that the Bill applies an overly restrictive view of privacy that is out of step with the view of the community and common sense and will severely hinder the production of historical research. We acknowledge the importance of protecting the privacy of individuals, including the provisions in the current Act for specific circumstances (s.75 to s.78). However access to the information contained in the registers, other than in specific circumstances, should not be subject to further constraints on privacy grounds.
This Bill introduces an excessive application of the principles of privacy protection. A significant and unwarranted cost of this excess would be preventing researchers with genuine reasons from accessing the registers and thus hindering their undertaking of research into New Zealand’s culture, heritage and history.
1.4 Identity Fraud
The Statement of net benefit of proposal, including total regulatory costs and benefits of proposal in the Explanatory Note to the Bill also states:
… restricting public access to the registers is likely to make it more difficult for certain types of identity fraud to be committed.
We seriously doubt the ability of the Bill to fulfil this objective. While the Explanatory Note does not explain how this would be achieved, we presume that this objective is meet by limiting access to indexes (new section 78F) and requiring a “written or oral statement” (clause 38) from individuals confirming their right to access information contained in the registers (new section 73(1)(c)). We submit that requiring individuals to attest to their legal right to the information is unlikely to deter any individual intent on committing the (more) serious crime of identity fraud. It seems this Bill is of the category of “appearing to do something” rather than providing a substantive protection against identity fraud.
1.5 Failure to Consult with Historical and Cultural Sector
We note with concern that the consultation undertaken in relation to the drafting of the Bill did not include the government departments and agencies concerned with historical and cultural identity and records. Also no community organisations representing historical, research and/or records and archives interests were consulted. Given the acknowledgement in the Explanatory Note on the negative impact of the Bill on historical and other research we find the lack of prior consultation disappointing. This omission may explain the lack of attention of those drafting the Bill to the requirements and rights of the historical and other research communities in New Zealand.
2. Specific Comments
2.1. Clause 6 – Inserting new section 1A Purpose
We submit that new section 1A should state that one of the purposes of the registers is to assist research into New Zealand’s history, culture and identity. Such an additional section would be consistent with the existing legislative arrangement under the Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act 1995.
We suggest (that the registers are):
(a) (iii) a source of information for research into New Zealand’s history, culture and identity including but not restricted to social history, family history, population demographics and statistics and whakapapa, and
This additional sub clause will state the rights of New Zealanders to access the information for genuine and legitimate research as currently provided for in the Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act 1995.
2.2 Clause 26 – New sections 73 to 75 substituted
We submit that new sections 73 to 75 are flawed. This is due to:
(i) Treating access to and print-outs from the registers the same as obtaining certificates. The certificates are the only document that can be used for official purposes and therefore could be argued to require greater safeguards against inappropriate use. Access to and print-outs from the registers are of importance for the research community.
(ii) The limitations on access to the records are unnecessary, and if considered necessary those in the Bill are clearly excessive.
(iii) Section 75 provides for access by researchers; however this is limited to research where information identifying individuals is not collected (as opposed to details being kept confidential). This provision will exclude use by the growing and important field of New Zealand social history, as well as other historical studies.
2.3 Clause 30 – New section 78B to 78G inserted
New section 78F authorises the Registrar-General to provide access to an index of the historical information contained in the registers on a website. Section 78G prohibits making ‘index information’ available on internet websites by any other parties. This section is poorly drafted. It is unclear what is covered and how such provisions can be enforced. An index includes “part of an index” (new section 78G(5)). A wide interpretation of this provision could result in material sourced elsewhere (churches, newspapers, oral tradition) but containing the same information as found in (part of) an index being prohibited. Similarly research that includes information gained from the index could be prohibited. Such a wide interpretation would prohibit a huge variety of historical material being published (on the internet) including biographies, social histories, family histories, genealogies and whakapapa. We submit that new section 78G is unnecessary and should be deleted, leaving privacy concerns to be covered by the Privacy Act 1993 and Crown copyright concerns to be covered by Copyright Act 1994. Such an approach may reduce the ability of the Registrar-General to generate fee income from provision of such information, but we do not consider this a sufficient policy reason for this new section.
The Archives and Records Association of New Zealand thanks the Government Administration Committee for this opportunity to put forward our views on Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Bill.
