The Office of the Privacy Commissioner's Leadership Team is made up of:
John was appointed to the independent statutory position of Privacy Commissioner in February 2014 for a term of five years. He provides independent comment on significant personal information policies and issues. He intends to take every opportunity to promote privacy and good personal information handling practices to various audiences around New Zealand. Prior to his appointment, John practiced law in Wellington for over 20 years specialising in information law while representing a wide range of public and private sector clients. He has acted in legal roles for the Ministry of Health, State Services Commission, Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet and Inland Revenue Department. For 15 years, he held a warrant as a district inspector for mental health and has also been a district inspector for intellectual disability services.
Blair has been with the Office since its inception in 1993 after employment in private legal practice. He is responsible for the areas of law reform, codes of practice, international issues and special projects such as Commissioner Initiated Inquiries.
Katrine joined the Office in August 2004, after a ten-year career as a law lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington. She is legal counsel to the Privacy Commissioner, leads and manages litigation and gives advice in the area of investigations. She also manages the Office's policy, technology and data matching work.
Mike joined the Office in April 2006 and manages the Investigations Team based in Auckland and Wellington. His previous roles were in the NZ Police as an investigator, private legal practice in Hamilton and in-house counsel for a regional council. Mike manages the day to day complaints investigation processes of the Office. He is also in charge of the enquiries answering service, the Office's education function, and production of case notes.
Gary Bulog, General Manager
Gary has been with the Office as General Manager since 1997, and is based in Auckland. He manages all the Office's corporate service functions, such as HR, IT, finance, strategic and business planning and reporting and records management. He also oversees the administrative support for the Office's activities.
Annabel Fordham, Public Affairs Manager
Annabel joined in September 1999 with a background in social science and law. She manages the public affairs, communications, publications and media work of the Office.
