Social media archiving for New Zealand government

New Zealand social media records, ready for OIA and LGOIMA requests.

Brolly automatically captures supported posts, comments, edits and deletions from connected official accounts, helping your team find and export records with their metadata and an audit trail intact.

See a response-ready export Start a 30-day free trial
Supported posts, comments, edits & deletions · Search & export · Metadata & audit trail
Central government (OIA)Local authorities (LGOIMA)

Central government answers under the OIA; councils and other local authorities answer under the separate LGOIMA — the two Acts do not share a working-day calendar.

New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington
Wellington · Photo: Tom Ackroyd, CC BY-SA 4.0

NZ organisations that use Brolly

  • Central Otago District Council
  • Clutha District Council
  • Environment Canterbury Regional Council
  • Gisborne District Council
  • Gore District Council
  • Taranaki Regional Council
Know your legislation

Four things shape the record in New Zealand.

The records Act, the access regime, retention and disposal, and the authority that oversees them — each named from the legislation and linked to its source.

Records act

Public Records Act 2005 (NZ)

Public offices and local authorities must create and maintain full and accurate records of their affairs in accordance with normal, prudent business practice, and may only dispose of them with the authority of the Chief Archivist. Archives New Zealand sets the Information and Records Management Standard they must follow. Public Records Act 2005 No 40

Access to information

OIA / LGOIMA

Central government decides requests under the OIA; councils and other local authorities answer under the separate LGOIMA. Under both Acts, the agency must decide the request and give notice of that decision as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 20 working days after the day the request is received, with a reasonable extension available for large or consultation-heavy requests. Information the agency decides to release must then be made available without undue delay — undue delay is treated as a refusal. The two Acts count working days differently: LGOIMA excludes the relevant provincial anniversary day and runs its summer exclusion from 20 December to 10 January, while the OIA's runs from 25 December to 15 January. The Office of the Ombudsman investigates complaints under both Acts. Request term: official information request · Official Information Act 1982 (NZ) · LGOIMA 1987 (local authorities)

Retention & disposal

General disposal authorities issued by Archives New Zealand

GDA6 for common corporate information, GDA7 for facilitative, transitory and short-term information. Public offices must use the general disposal authorities for common, non-core information. Local authorities may use them as best-practice guidance, subject to the statutory disposal process for protected local authority records. Core business records may require a specific or sector-based authority. Retention and disposal authorities

Records authority & oversight

Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga)

Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga) · Text messages and other communications guidanceOversight: Office of the Ombudsman (Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata)

Your organisation determines what must be captured and how long it is kept by applying the relevant authority, record class, business context and legal holds. Sources last reviewed 30 August 2026.This page provides general information only and is not legal advice. Your organisation is responsible for determining its legal, regulatory, retention and disposal obligations.

Free download
BrollyFree guide · PDF
Public Records Act 2005 (NZ)
Archiving Social Media: A Guide For NZ Government
NZ lawAccess lawRetention & disposalChecklist
Captured. Searchable. Defensible.PDF
Free guide

Download the free NZ
Social Media Legislation Guide.

The NZ edition, written for records and communications teams in New Zealand government.

New Zealand legislation for public offices and local authorities Records obligations explained in plain English Bonus compliance checklist inside
Get the guide

PDF · free · delivered on the guide page

From current guidance
Archives New Zealand’s guidance states that electronic communications used to conduct public business, including social media, are records under the Public Records Act 2005 and must be managed accordingly.

Paraphrase of current guidance — Archives New Zealand — read the guidance

How Brolly helps

Meeting the obligation in New Zealand, with an automatic archive.

Automatic capture from connected official accounts

Brolly connects to Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok and captures supported posts, comments, replies, edits and deletions with available metadata, and every export carries a digital checksum. Coverage varies by platform and depends on the content and metadata made available through platform APIs. That helps you meet the recordkeeping expectations set by Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga).

  • Searchable exports in PDF, CSV, HTML or JSON to support OIA / LGOIMA response workflows
  • Records keep their metadata and audit history; exports carry digital checksums for audit and evidentiary workflows
See the archive

Harmful comments hidden, the record kept

Comments on official accounts can be subject to the Public Records Act 2005 (NZ) just like the posts above them, and the harmful ones arrive at any hour. Brolly Protect hides scams, abuse and personal attacks on connected accounts around the clock, while the archive keeps the original comment, the action taken and the time. Moderation never has to mean deletion.

  • AI moderation 24/7 across cyberbullying, scams, personal information and custom keywords
  • The original comment, the action and the time are retained in the archive
Explore Brolly Protect
A road closure, preserved

One closure notice. Every version, every reply.

This interface reconstruction uses a fictional council, Willowdale Council, and a flood road closure on 7 March 2026. It shows how the original notice, each edited version and the community replies around it can be reviewed together.

01
The council publishes

An official account posts a road closure notice with an estimated reopening time.

02
The post is edited

The reopening time and the cause are updated as contractors confirm them.

03
Your team reviews

Records, comms and the LGOIMA officer can see the whole chronology, and export it.

Brolly Archive

Archive feed

Captured posts and conversations from connected accounts

All networksAll accountsAll dates12 captured posts
A New Zealand waterfront civic quarter
♡ 42　 8
A flooded road closed at a bridge crossing
♡ 86　 24
Edited
Staff at a district council service centre
♡ 61　 12
A New Zealand waterfront civic quarter
A flooded road closed at a bridge crossing
Staff at a district council service centre
Post Inspector
3 versions
A flooded road closed at a bridge crossing
Willowdale Valley Road is closed by flooding. Slip damage at the bridge approach has been confirmed; contractors are repairing it. Estimated reopening 11:30 am 2:30 pm.
♡ 86　 24
Export prepared
A New Zealand council on record
If the Chief Archivist asks me are we compliant, I can say with certainty, ‘Yes, we are compliant.’
Taranaki Regional CouncilBrolly customer since 2018Read the Taranaki story →
On official channels

Councillors, mayors and the moments that matter.

Elected members, archived as business as usual

Councillors and mayors using Facebook pages or Instagram in their official role are creating content that can be subject to the Public Records Act 2005. Onboarding after members are sworn in is the natural moment to connect their accounts — and with Brolly groups, each member administers their own sub-account while the council keeps oversight and can export across all of them.

  • Moderate the public version — hide or remove problem comments — while the captured record is retained
  • Brolly groups: per-member sub-accounts, council-wide oversight and exports

Social media archiving for elected members

A councillor working at a desk with social media open

In an emergency, the record keeps itself

During storms, floods and other emergencies, official channels carry road closures, safety advice and service updates that change by the hour. Brolly captures each version and the public conversation around it as it happens, so your team can focus on keeping the community informed — and the chronology is there for the debrief or the inquiry that follows.

  • Every edit and correction kept with its timestamps
  • The community’s questions and your replies, in one searchable archive
A road closed sign on a New Zealand rural highway
Straight answers

Questions NZ records teams ask

Can a New Zealand council's social media content be a public record?
Yes, it can. Archives New Zealand's guidance says communications made through social media to conduct business are considered records under the Public Records Act 2005. Councils and public offices decide what to keep under their disposal authority and the Information and Records Management Standard.

Source: Public Records Act 2005 (NZ) · Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga): Text messages and other communications guidance

How long does an agency have to decide and notify an OIA or LGOIMA request?
Under both Acts the agency must decide the request and give notice of the decision as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 20 working days after the day it is received, with reasonable extensions for large requests or necessary consultation. Information approved for release must then be made available without undue delay — undue delay counts as a refusal. Central government answers under the OIA; councils answer under the separate LGOIMA, which counts working days on its own calendar (it excludes the provincial anniversary day and starts its summer exclusion on 20 December, five days earlier than the OIA). The Ombudsman handles complaints about both.

Source: Official Information Act 1982 (NZ) · Office of the Ombudsman (Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata)

What happens at an Archives New Zealand audit?
Archives New Zealand monitors public offices and local authorities against the Information and Records Management Standard. Being able to show that social media records are captured, managed and retrievable helps you answer the Chief Archivist's questions with evidence rather than assurances.

Source: Public Records Act 2005 (NZ) · Archives New Zealand (Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga): Text messages and other communications guidance

How does Brolly help a New Zealand council or agency?
Brolly captures official accounts continuously, keeps posts, comments, edits and deletions searchable with their metadata, and exports them in formats your records team can file or produce for an OIA or LGOIMA request. It helps you meet the Public Records Act; it does not replace your disposal authority or legal advice.
How long must social media records be retained?
No single period applies. The protected-record list for local authorities expressly includes official publicity such as social-media posts and external website content in Class 4 (corporate management) — which brings protection and preservation duties and the Chief Archivist's disposal process, not one retention period. GDA6 and GDA7 are mandatory for public offices but only best-practice tools for local authorities, and they do not override the protected-record process. Confirm the class with Archives New Zealand or your records team.

Source: Official Information Act 1982 (NZ) · Office of the Ombudsman (Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata)

See your channels as records.

See capture, search and export on your own NZ channels in a 20-minute walkthrough. Records teams welcome.

Get a demo Start free trial