We also convened a series of informal meetings with ‘integrity agencies’ to discuss human rights issues arising in the pandemic and oversight of the Government response. The group included the Office of the Ombudsman, Office of the Children’s Commissioner, Independent Police Complaints Authority, Health and Disability Commissioner, Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Chief Censor, Office of the Auditor General and Inspector of Service Penal Establishments. The Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, attended one of the meetings and answered questions from the group. In an effort to review the Government’s performance on human rights and Te Tiriti in the response to COVID-19, and to help the Government as it moved forward, we published a Human Rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi: COVID-19 and Alert Level 4 report in April 2020, as the country went from Alert Level 4 to 3. In it, we reviewed issues of access to justice, contact tracing, surveillance and data use, deprivations of liberty, racism, accessible information, family violence, older people, women, housing and more. The report found that one of the striking features of the Government’s response to COVID-19 was an inadequate explicit consideration of human rights and Te Tiriti.10 As the government pushed forward under urgency with a new COVID-19 Public Health Response Bill, we expressed deep concerns about the lack of scrutiny and the rushed process.11 Our criticism of the Bill cautioned that when sweeping powers are granted through inadequate processes in times of national emergency there is a risk of overreach. Mistakes can be made and later regretted. 10 11 18 Levin testing centre during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of RNZ. The Commission’s response was guided by three essential roles articulated in a letter to New Zealanders at the beginning of the pandemic: advising government, connecting community and holding decision makers accountable. We are proud of the work we did and the impact we achieved as a Commission during this time. https://www.hrc.co.nz/news/human-rights-and-te-tiriti-need-be-part-covid-19-response/ https://www.hrc.co.nz/news/human-rights-commission-deeply-concerned-about-covid-19-public-health-response-bill/ Human Rights Commission Annual Report 2019/20