Latest news with #DepartmentOfInternalAffairs
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Internal Affairs to have another go at modernising births, deaths and marriages registry
The department will hold a briefing to hear from companies what the options might be later this month. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson After spending $23m but failing to modernise the births, deaths and marriages registry, officials are having another go. The Department of Internal Affairs has written off $22.9m on the project abandoned last year, returned an unspent $58m to the Crown and remains locked in a dispute with the Australian company DWS over the contract it terminated in late 2023. "Although some of the work completed will be able to be used for a future civil registration system replacement project, from an accounting standards perspective, it [decided] should impair (write off) all capital costs incurred to date," DIA told RNZ. But it needs a replacement and is setting out again, tentatively, facing "uncertainty around funding and what a long-term replacement plan would look like". It also faced a "high risk" rating on the project, it said. "As part of the business case process the department would need to provide assurance of how risks could be sufficiently managed or mitigated," it said. The project to replace DIA's old unreliable tech with a new system to give people faster and more secure access to their identity data - among a total 80 million records - was central to a $150m phase of the department's $300m five-year Te Ara Manaaki project. This month the department will hold a briefing to hear from companies what the options might be, while working on a strategic assessment to go to Cabinet. Treasury last year imposed more checkgates that public sector projects must pass through, to try to prevent badly thought-out ones getting through. "We are in the early stages of a discovery phase," DIA said. This comes almost three years after it announced it was replacing its existing system and had chosen a vendor it was confident would deliver a robust system. "The new system will be more efficient, secure, and reliable," it said in August 2022. Some of the work done since 2022 would not be wasted, which should cut costs for a replacement, it said. This included work done on design, improving data quality, the data migration process and testing and delivery frameworks. The department offered reassurance that the existing system "while ageing, is stable and maintenance work continues to be undertaken to ensure secure, functional and legislative compliant systems remain in place while a new long-term replacement plan is progressed". It still had vendor support for the old system, DIA said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
01-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Government Chief Digital Officer Issues Standard To Protect Government-held Personal Information
Press Release – Department Of Internal Affairs Mr James, also Secretary for Internal Affairs, emphasises the importance of this new standard in maintaining public trust and confidence. The Government Chief Digital Officer Paul James today issued a new standard to enhance the protection of government-held personal information. 'To retain the trust and confidence of the public, government agencies must put privacy and transparency at the heart of their service delivery and management of personal information,' says Mr James. 'The new Standard for providing non-government third parties with access to, or collection of, government-held personal information places clear expectations on all parties and will support agencies to adopt stronger information security, management and assurance practices.' Agreements with third parties must confirm that any potential, perceived or real conflicts of interest have been disclosed, that these will be appropriately managed by the third party, and that the third party has processes for ongoing disclosure of new conflicts. The new standard, developed by the GCDO in collaboration with a cross-agency working group, sets minimum expectations for public service agencies when arranging access to or collecting personal information with non-government third parties. Many public services are delivered by third-party providers who are best placed to do so due to their location, relationships, knowledge and expertise. Sharing personal information is an essential component of this therefore we must get it right. The new standard requires public service agencies to conduct a risk assessment whenever personal information is to be shared and includes robust safeguards to protect individual privacy and directs agencies to apply best practices when granting access to personal information. Mr James, also Secretary for Internal Affairs, emphasises the importance of this new standard in maintaining public trust and confidence. 'Government agencies are custodians of New Zealanders' personal information. How they handle that information is essential to public trust and confidence,' says Mr James. 'This new standard aims to ensure personal information is accessed and used responsibly, with appropriate safeguards to protect privacy.' 'We are committed to working closely with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to ensure that the standard aligns with existing legal requirements and enhances the overall protection of personal information,' says Mr James. The standard will be mandatory for all public service agencies from 1 July 2025. Other State services agencies are encouraged to adopt it. It offers more options for assurance, audit, and addressing non-compliance, helping agencies establish clear legal responsibilities with third parties. Chief Executives must ensure their agencies implement the standard. The development of this standard follows an inquiry into the protection of personal information which found some agencies fell short on their responsibility to protect and manage the sharing of personal information.
