Aims

The aims of the Review of the New Zealand Press Council ("the Review") are:

• to review the purposes, activities, performance, governance and resourcing of the New Zealand Press Council ("the Council");
• to consider whether the Council's objectives are adequate in the light of changing circumstances and public perceptions and whether the Council is operating in a manner consistent with them; and
• to assess the range and scope of the Council's activities when compared with the operations of similar bodies in other countries.
  
  

Objectives of the Review

The Council has now been in operation for over 30 years.  The Review should determine whether the basic concept of self-regulation on which the Council was founded and has operated continues to be an appropriate basis for a Council of this kind, independent of Government.  The Review should make recommendations as to appropriate amendments to procedures and operational principles consistent with the circumstances of the 21^st Century.

Principles to be applied on the Review 

Six benchmarks, which should be included are widely recognised in the self-regulatory arena as essential requirements for external complaint resolution schemes, will be the benchmarks, namely:

• Accessibility: The scheme makes itself readily available to customers by promoting knowledge of its existence, being easy to use and having no cost barriers;
• Independence: The decision-making process and administration of the scheme are independent of scheme members;
• Fairness: The scheme produces decisions that are fair and seen to be fair by observing the principles of procedural fairness, by making decisions on the information before it and by having specific criteria upon which its decisions are based by giving cogent reasons for decisions;
• Accountability: The scheme publicly accounts for its operations by publishing its determinations and information about complaints and highlighting any systematic industry problems;
• Management: The scheme operates to efficiently by keeping track of complaints and the performance of the scheme as a whole, ensuring complaints are dealt with by the appropriate process or forum and regularly reviewing overall performance including the effective treatment of complaints in a timely fashion; and
• Effectiveness: The scheme is effective by having appropriate and comprehensive terms of reference and periodic independent reviews of its performance.