Asking for copies of your child’s records
How New Zealand parents can ask a GP, hospital, therapist or school for copies of their child’s notes and letters, what the law says about timing and cost, and what to do if the answer is no.
Sooner or later most parents need a copy of something. A paediatrician’s letter for a funding application. The notes from a hospital stay, for a new specialist. The reports a school holds, before a move. Sometimes you simply want to read what has been written about your child.
It can feel awkward to ask, as if you are questioning someone’s work. You aren’t. In New Zealand, asking for your child’s information is an ordinary right, and most services are used to being asked. This is what we have learned, alongside what the Privacy Commissioner says. It is not legal advice; the rules have details and exceptions, so if something is unclear, ask the service or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
What the law says, in plain terms
Privacy Act 2020 Gives people the right to ask an organisation for the personal information it holds about them. It covers schools and early learning services as well as health services.
Health Information Privacy Code 2020 Sets the rules for health information held by GPs, hospitals, therapists and other health services. Under it, the parent or guardian of a child under 16 can usually ask for their child’s health information on the child’s behalf.
Timing The organisation has to respond as soon as it reasonably can, and within 20 working days of getting your request, saying whether it will give you the information. In some situations it can extend that time, but it has to tell you why. If it thinks another organisation holds the information, it may pass the request on, and should tell you within 10 working days.
Cost In most situations there should be no charge. Public services, such as public hospitals, generally cannot charge at all. A private health provider, such as a GP practice, may be able to charge in a few limited situations, for example if it gave you the same information in the last 12 months, or for copies of some X-rays and scans. If you are quoted a fee, it is fine to ask what it is for.
Who to ask
Each organisation holds its own notes, so ask each one you need. Your GP practice holds its own notes and the letters it has been sent. Notes from hospital stays and clinic visits sit with the hospital, and many Health New Zealand regions have a request form and a records or privacy team. A private therapist holds their own notes and reports. A school or early learning service holds its own file.
Letters from specialists are often copied to the GP, so the GP practice may be a good place to start. Some GP practices also offer an online portal, where parents can usually see a younger child’s notes and results without asking at all. If you are not sure who holds something, ask the person who wrote it.
How to ask
A short email or letter is usually the easiest, though the Privacy Commissioner says a phone call or asking in person is fine too. You don’t need legal words, and you don’t have to say why you want it. It helps to include your child’s full name and date of birth, that you are their parent or guardian, what you would like (for example “all letters and reports since January 2025” or “the notes from the clinic on 3 March”), and how you would like to receive it.
Expect to be asked to show who you are; that is the service protecting your child’s information. If the request is urgent, say so and say why, and the service can decide whether it is able to speed it up. Keep a note of the date you asked, so you know when the 20 working days are up. Being specific about what you want usually gets you a faster answer.
When the answer is not a simple yes
A parent’s right to ask is real, but it has limits. A service may hold back some information, for example where releasing it could cause harm, would reveal someone else’s private information, or where it believes releasing it would not be in your child’s interests. As children grow, their own wishes count for more, and once a young person is 16, parents generally no longer have a special right to their health information.
If something is held back, the service should tell you, and you can ask for the reason. If you can’t sort it out with the service, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. The same applies if 20 working days pass and you have heard nothing. It is usually worth asking the service’s privacy officer first.
If something in the notes is wrong
You can also ask for information to be corrected. If the organisation does not agree to change it, you can usually ask for a note of the correction you wanted to be kept with the information, so anyone who reads it later sees both.
Once you have the copies, keep them together, in date order. Some of them may be needed again, for a new specialist, a funding application or a new school, and having them to hand saves asking twice. Keeping your child’s paperwork straight is a quiet kind of work that makes a real difference later.
If you want to read further
This guide is our experience, with some help from the pages below. None of it is required reading; they are the ones we kept coming back to, mostly official pages, and they will always be more current than we are.
- Ask for your information The Office of the Privacy Commissioner on how to ask, the 20 working days, charges, and what to do if you don’t get an answer.
- Health Information Privacy Code fact sheet: dealing with access requests The Privacy Commissioner’s guidance for health services on requests, including what they may charge. Written for providers, readable by parents.
- Online portals for your GP practice Healthify on the online services many GP practices offer, including what parents can usually see for younger children.
Written and looked after by the Champ team. If something here is out of date, or you know a better way, hello@champ.kiwi.