Hinekōrako is the online regulatory and intelligence system for the Water Services Authority - Taumata Arowai (the Authority). If you are a drinking water supplier (including a drinking water supply owner, operator or their agent), event organiser or accredited laboratory, you can use Hinekōrako to comply with registration and notification duties under the Water Services Act 2021. If you are a member of the public, you can also use Hinekōrako to:

• view certain information held by the Authority, including information maintained on the register of drinking water supplies
• let the Authority know about drinking water-related concerns or complaints.

1. Acceptance of Terms of Access and definitions

By selecting the ‘I accept’ option at the end of the Hinekōrako user registration process, or by using Hinekōrako, you agree that, when using Hinekōrako, you are bound by, and will comply with, these Terms of Access, as amended from time to time.

In these Terms of Access:

we means the Water Services Authority - Taumata Arowai, its successors and assigns, and "our" and "us" have a corresponding meaning.

you means the user of Hinekōrako and/or the person to whom a username and password have been issued, and “your” has a corresponding meaning.

Hinekōrako means the Hinekōrako self-service portal developed and maintained by us that enables drinking water suppliers, event organisers, accredited laboratories, and members of the public to carry out the activities described at the start of these Terms of Access, and any other functionality that may be developed from time to time.

2. Authority to provide information relating to drinking water supplier

By logging in to your Hinekōrako account or submitting information to us on a webform, you are representing to us that you are authorised to provide information to us through Hinekōrako, whether that information concerns you or a drinking water supplier.

You agree that any information provided by you has been properly authorised by you, by the relevant drinking water supplier, or by the person or organisation you are providing the information on behalf of.

You agree that we may act on any instructions or information transmitted or electronically communicated to us using your Hinekōrako account, or submitted to us on a webform.

Until you notify us otherwise, we may, and will, assume that every transaction entered into, every authorisation provided, and every act or omission undertaken, using your Hinekōrako account are fully authorised by you, by the drinking water supplier to whom the information relates, or by the organisation you are providing the information on behalf of.

3. Privacy

Our privacy statement for Hinekōrako is available here and applies to any personal information provided by you about yourself, on behalf of another person, or about another person. By accepting these Terms of Access, you will be taken to have read and agreed to the terms of the privacy statement. Please ensure you have read and are comfortable with it before accepting these Terms of Access.

4. Scope

These Terms of Access operate in addition to:

(a) any other agreements relating to Hinekōrako entered into by you, any terms offered by us and accepted by you at the time of your application to use Hinekōrako, any other applicable terms on our website (www.taumataarowai.govt.nz), and any amendment of, or addition to, any of those terms; and

(b) any other disclaimers, provisions, acknowledgements or other statements which appear on Hinekōrako and which you acknowledge or agree to at any time.

5. Changes to Terms of Access

We may vary, delete or supplement any of the provisions of these Terms of Access at any time. Any modification will be binding on you as soon as notified to you or, if we specify an effective date, from that date.

We may give notice by publishing the changes on this site. If you use Hinekōrako after such notification or effective date you are deemed to have accepted the modified Terms of Access without reservation.

If you do not accept the modified Terms of Access, you must:

(a) not make any further use of the services provided on Hinekōrako; and

(b) notify us in writing, in which case we may suspend or terminate your right to use Hinekōrako.

6. Login ID and Password

You must take all reasonable steps to protect the security and confidentiality of your Hinekōrako account, including details you use to authenticate your identity and to log-in to Hinekōrako. You must not share your identity authentication details with any other person.

You must notify us immediately of:

(a) any unauthorised use of your Hinekōrako account; or

(b) any other breach of security of which you become aware.

You will be liable for all activities carried out on Hinekōrako using your Hinekōrako account, before we receive your notification of unauthorised use or breach of security.

We reserve the right to change, or to ask you to change, your Hinekōrako account or identity authentication details at any time. Passwords or access may be disabled by us without notice to you if we consider that to be necessary to maintain the integrity or security of Hinekōrako.

7. Activity Log

All activities carried out on Hinekōrako in connection with your use of Hinekōrako may be recorded in an activity log and a record retained of that activity log. You agree that such activity log constitutes evidence that Hinekōrako has been used to carry out the actions recorded in that activity log.

8. Your content

If you add content to Hinekōrako, you must have all rights necessary to add that content and ensure that our use of it will not:

(a) breach any laws or legally binding codes;

(b) infringe any person’s intellectual property rights or other legal rights; or

(c) give rise to any legal action against us, you, or any third party.

If we suspect a breach of these requirements, we may remove, suspend, amend or delete the relevant content.

You agree that any content you upload is accurate and acknowledge that you are required to update that content if it becomes out of date or inaccurate. You acknowledge the Water Services Act 2021 contains offences for the supply of false or misleading information or the omission of information that you ought reasonably have known should have been included.

We do not claim ownership of your content but you grant us a non-exclusive, perpetual and irrevocable licence to store, copy, reformat, publish and otherwise use that content for the purposes of operating Hinekōrako, exercising our rights under these terms, and carrying out our regulatory role under the Water Services Act 2021 and any other legislation.

You also authorise us to sub-licence your content for use by others on the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (or, if we prefer, any other Creative Commons licence). For attribution purposes, you accept that it is sufficient for our sub-licensing of your content to state that ‘copyright content on this site owned by Taumata Arowai and its licensors is licensed for re-use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence’ (or words to that effect).

9. Our content and your use of it

Except for your content, and unless otherwise indicated, we or our licensors are the owners of the intellectual property rights in Hinekōrako and its content. You may not use our intellectual property rights and content unless authorised to do so under these terms or by us in writing.

Unless indicated otherwise, for specific items or collections of content (either below or within specific items or collections), copyright content on this site is licensed for re-use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licenceIn essence, you are free to copy, distribute and adapt the material, as long as you attribute it to the Authority and abide by the other licence terms.

Please note that this Creative Commons Attribution licence does not apply to any logos, emblems and trade marks on Hinekōrako, its design elements, or to any photography and imagery. Those specific items may not be re-used without express permission.

10. Acceptable use

You must not upload or add any content (including comments and feedback) to Hinekōrako that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, invasive of privacy or that is otherwise harmful, objectionable or contrary to the rights of others. This includes viruses, worms or any code of a destructive nature.

Please note that we are likely to co-operate fully with any authority or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity or contact details of anyone who adds content to this site in breach of the clause above.

11. Accuracy of Information on Hinekōrako

You acknowledge that, although we try to ensure the information on Hinekōrako is accurate and complete, we do not guarantee its accuracy and do not accept any liability arising from any inaccuracy or omission in that information.

12. Transmission of Data

You acknowledge that:

(a) no internet transmission is completely secure and third parties may unlawfully intercept communications; and

(b) we do not warrant the security of information you transmit when using Hinekōrako.

13. Changes to, and operation of, Hinekōrako

We may change the format or content of Hinekōrako at any time, or suspend it for maintenance, updates, or other reasons.

14. Official Information

You acknowledge that we are subject to the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) and agree to assist us promptly with any request relating to information held in Hinekōrako.

If you are also subject to the OIA:

(a) where a request relates more closely to your functions, you are responsible for responding and we will assist if possible; and

(b) where a request relates more closely to our functions, we will respond and consult you where possible.

15. Public Records

We are subject to the Public Records Act 2005 (PRA). Information you share using Hinekōrako will be treated as an Authority record. You are responsible for retaining any copies you require for your own records.

16. Warranties

Any warranties required by law will apply. All other warranties are excluded, including that Hinekōrako will be available, timely, secure, error‑free, or virus‑free.

17. Limitation of liability

You acknowledge that hazards exist with internet use, including viruses and unauthorised access.

You release us from liability for damage from malicious code, cookies, or unauthorised access, or any other loss arising from your use of this site, except where not permitted by law.

18. Indemnity

You indemnify us for liabilities, losses, damages, and costs incurred:

(a) enforcing these Terms of Access; or

(b) due to fraud, negligence, misconduct, or breach by you or anyone acting under your authority.

19. Termination

You may withdraw consent by emailing info@taumataarowai.govt.nz. Notice is effective when received.

We may suspend or terminate access without notice. If your access ends, you must not use any login ID or password.

20. Applicable Law

These Terms are governed by New Zealand law, and you submit to the non‑exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.