Antonia Di Maio

Formerly an Investigator and then Principal Advisor at the Office of the Ombudsmen, Antonia has over 15 years’ experience advising the New Zealand Ombudsmen on the exercise of their functions, and standards of good public administration, decision making and dispute resolution. She has also worked for the Scottish Information Commissioner as a Freedom of Information Officer.

Antonia is a lawyer with particular expertise in the application of the Official Information Act (OIA) and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA), and how they interact with other legislation such as the Privacy Act and the Public Records Act. She also has significant expertise in the application of information law tools in resolving complaints and disputes turning on the right to natural justice and procedural fairness, such as often arise in the Education and Health sectors. She has advised agencies dealing with tricky OIA issues, and developing OIA policies and procedures. She has also provided training to agencies on the application of the OIA and how to implement effective OIA systems to promote the accountability of Ministers and public sector officials and the ability of citizens to participate in the making and administration of laws and policies that affect them.

In recent years, she’s been instrumental in the Chief Ombudsman’s programme to develop authoritative and accessible guidance for agencies on the application of the OIA and complaint resolution. In particular, she was integral in the development of online guidance for Government departments on New Zealand Sign Language Act (NZSL Act) for the Office of Disability Issues. This work covered the purpose and principles of the NZSL Act, the obligations on Government departments, what they mean in practice and how those departments can measure their compliance with the purpose, principles and obligations under the NZSL Act. Prior to joining the chambers, Antonia was a Principal Advisor at Chen Palmer.

Antonia completed her Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours and Bachelor of Social Sciences at the University of Waikato.