Purpose of the Protocol and Privacy Statement

Information on AppointNet is collected and held centrally by Public Service Departments, Cabinet Office and the Public Service Commission in order to support:

  • Advice to responsible Ministers and other appointing authorities making appointments to government bodies such as Crown entity and Crown Company boards, Ministerial advisory bodies (committees, panels and taskforces), inquiries (government, ministerial and public), Royal Commissions, Statutory Tribunals, and any other bodies covered by the Cabinet Fees Framework (see Section A).
  • Concise reporting on fees paid to all Public Sector bodies and representation.

The Privacy Statement should be used in the recruitment process for all future appointments to Public Sector bodies to ensure awareness how their information will be collected, stored and used. 

This Protocol and Privacy Statement covers privacy, security and access to this information. 

AppointNet Privacy Statement:

We Public Service Commission, 2 The Terrace, Wellington collect personal information from you, including information about your:

  • Name
  • Demographic (gender, age range and ethnicity)
  • Contact information
  • Location

Public Service Commission, 2 The Terrace, Wellington collect your personal information to:

  • inform an appointment to a government body
  • track and report representation on government bodies

Public Service Commission, 2 The Terrace, Wellington  store information on:

  • Name of body(s)
  • Portfolio for the relevant body(s)
  • Term of appointment and number of  term(s) 
  • Agreed fee for appointment including any fee exceptions in place 
  • Appointment method (eg elected or appointed)
  • Appointing authority for each appointment (who is responsible for the appointment) 
  • Appointment publishing requirements

Public Service Commission, 2 The Terrace, Wellington store information on appointments to:

  • Inform appointments to government bodies
  • Track and report appointment terms and conditions and representation

We share appointment (exclusive of fee information) and  your personal information with licenced users within Departments, Departmental Agencies, Non Public Service Departments (full list available here - Central government organisations - Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission ) that assist responsible Ministers and other appointing authorities with appointments to Public Sector boards and committees.

Public Service Commission, 2 The Terrace will have full access to all fee information for required reporting. 

The information stored in AppointNet is used for managing and monitoring  appointments on behalf of the relevant appointing authority. Providing some information is optional. If you choose not to enter demographic and contact information, we'll be unable to provide an accurate view of the board appointments system in our reporting.

We will not use your information without asking for your permission, for any other purpose than stated above.

You have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information AppointNet hold about you, and to ask for it to be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of your information, or to have it corrected, please contact us at cerc@publicservice.govt.nz.

Consultation and review

The Commission will review the Protocol and Privacy Statement at regular intervals to ensure it reflects appropriate standards for collecting and using personal information. We will consult, as appropriate, with the individuals and organisations that provide data when we review the Protocol and Privacy Statement.

If you have any queries about this Privacy statement or personal information collected for AppointNet, please contact cerc@publicservice.govt.nz

What information will be collected

Collection of personal information will be via the individual through the recruitment process. A privacy statement will be provided to all individuals that are participating in the recruitment process. This statement will make it clear why, when and what information will be shared amongst licensed users of the AppointNet system.

AppointNet contains personal information about individuals that have been appointed to public sector bodies by responsible Ministers, Governor-General, Chief Executives, Chairs or the Prime Minister. The personal information collected is used to inform the appointment process with demographic information used to show representation of the body and feed into system level reporting.

The guidance set by the Commission, the Board Appointment and Induction Guidelines (BAIG), describes the requirements for information collection when recruiting and appointing to Public Sector Boards and Committees.

Personal information collected includes:

Profile Information

  • Name
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Age range
  • Contact information

Appointment Information

  • Role on body appointed to
  • Term of office
  • Fee arrangement 

Where is the information sourced

The information covered by this Protocol and Privacy Statement will be collected at recruitment stage for body vacancies.

Accuracy of data

Accuracy of information held on individuals, and appointments is reliant on individuals and officials handling appointments on behalf of the appointing authority, recording current information. Licenced officials have the ability to access unit level data and to update or correct much of the information. If advised that information is inaccurate or incomplete, we will take all reasonable steps to correct the data before it is used. 

Individuals can request their information be corrected at any time. In addition, at regular intervals, licensed officials will check the information is accurate. Wherever possible individuals will also be provided the opportunity to validate their own data prior to its use.

Obligation to provide information

Individuals are not compelled to provide information and can withhold certain information if preferred however, this may limit other opportunities that may be available. For example - being considered for other public sector body roles.

With this information, the Public Service Commission, Cabinet Office and Ministry for Women are able to provide accurate and efficient reporting on the Public Sector Boards and Committees. This reporting will assist with monitoring important areas such as fee pressures,  and representation on bodies.

Who will have access

This Protocol covers Public Service officials that have been granted access to AppointNet through a licenced agreement. All licences agreements are processed by the Public Service Commission and issued via Liquid IT (service provider for Public Service Commission technical support). 

Individual information within AppointNet can only be viewed by licensed  owners within Public Service agencies at this stage. Future iterations of AppointNet may include expanding access to Crown entities within the wider Public Sector at which time a full review of privacy settings will be carried out.

Access to AppointNet is split in to four groups:

  • Public Service Commission licensed users will have ability to view all member information, including member fees and terms and conditions of individual appointments. This access will enable the Commission to continue to report to Cabinet on the application of the Cabinet Fees Framework to identify trends and fee pressures across bodies in the Public Sector.
  • Cabinet Office licensed users will have ability to view all member information and produce Schedule of Appointments reporting for the Appointments and Honours Cabinet Committee. This reporting ensures appointing authorities are fully informed on critical appointments coming up within their portfolios to better plan approach to recruitment.
  • Appointing Organisations licensed users will have full edit access for all appointments and bodies that sit within their given portfolios. These users will also be able to view membership information for all other bodies except member fee information.
  • Ministry for Women licensed users will be able to view membership records, with the exception of member fee information, to assist with the production of the annual Stocktake of Gender, Māori, Pacific and Ethnic diversity on Public Sector Boards and Committees. All information will be anonymised before any report is presented or published.

As part of the recruitment and appointment process personal information will be disclosed to:

  • Ministers or other appointing authority (eg Governor General) responsible for the appointment and their relevant officials, 
  • Ministers residing on the Appointment and Honours Committee (APH) or any other Cabinet committee that will be confirming the appointment.
  • Other relevant persons, for consideration by them for appointments to bodies eg Chairs, and Chief Executives for appointments to advisory bodies.

Records and disclosure

The Public Service Commission may also be required to disclose materials deemed Public Records under the Official Information Act 1982, or to a Parliamentary Select Committee or Parliament in response to a Parliamentary Question.

If you would like to see the personal information relating to you within AppointNet, or to change personal information, or you have concerns regarding your privacy please contact Public Service Commission at the email below. The Public Service Commission may require proof of your identity before being able to provide you with any personal information. If your personal information is corrected, we will provide you with an amended record of your personal information – contact Public Service Commission - cerc@publicservice.govt.nz. Where this information relates to specific appointments and board memberships held, your request will be passed to the Administering Organisation managing appointments to the relevant body on behalf of the responsible Minister.

How will the information be used

Individual information will be used for consideration for appointment to a specific body and will be shared across AppointNet licensed users once formally appointed to a body.

Sharing across the system will enable other users to view memberships and term information to inform other potential appointments to Public Sector bodies. Only demographic, role and term information will be shared with other licensed users, all fees and any national security screening information will be secured, available to approved users only. Approved users include licensed users at the Public Service Commission and Administering Organisations, who are responsible for managing the appointment on behalf of responsible Ministers.

Individual information will be used to address any queries raised by the individual but will not be used for promotional material that is not relevant to current Public Sector body memberships.

Personal information will be used to provide system reporting. All information will be anonymised before any report is presented or published.

How will the information be stored

Information will be stored electronically by a cloud-based service provider, based in Australia. This provider will hold the information as an agent for Public Service Commission and will be kept safe and secure using New Zealand established standards of security.

We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to achieve the purpose it was collected for. Where any information provided, (including personal information) constitutes a public record, it will be retained to the extent required by the Public Records Act 2005: minimum of 7 years.

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you have the right to access and request a correction of any of your personal information within AppointNet.

If you would like to see the personal information relating to you within AppointNet, or to change personal information, or you have concerns regarding your privacy please contact Public Service Commission at the email below. The Public Service Commission may require proof of your identity before being able to provide you with any personal information. If your personal information is corrected, we will provide you with an amended record of your personal information.

Public Service Commission - cerc@publicservice.govt.nz

All users will be provided a copy of this Protocol as part of the training package for AppointNet.