Public service departments are those listed in the first Schedule of the State Sector Act 1988.

"The government holds data on behalf of the New Zealand public," states the "Declaration on Open and Transparent Government", approved by Cabinet.

"We release it to enable the private and community sectors to use it to grow the economy, strengthen our social and cultural fabric and sustain our environment. We release it to encourage business and community involvement in government decision-making.

"Through this commitment New Zealand citizens and businesses can expect a more efficient and accountable public sector, more services tailored to their needs, along with a greater level of participation in shaping government decisions."

Data will be released under Creative Commons licences, and the policy expresses a preference for using the NZ Government Open Access and Licensing framework (NZGOAL). This provides a set of principles summarising government policy on data release, with a seven-step "review and release" process to ensure all the necessary preparation has been made for releasing the data and effects of the release considered. NZGOAL, however, is not mandatory.