Responsibilities to Clients

• Undertake only research you are competent to perform
• Develop a realistic plan and carry out research with care and thoroughness
• Include from the outset in any agreement a provision for dispute arbitration by an appropriate independent person or body with historical expertise
• Set appropriate fees that reflect your professional status
• Inform your clients about project requirements
• Signal any major problems or challenges in a project
• Do your best to inform the client(s) of probable consequences of the project
• Keep your client(s) informed about progress and/or changes to the plan
• Gain all necessary permissions for the use of resource material
• Advise the client(s) to engage other expertise, where appropriate
• Use information gained in confidence according to agreements with the provider
• Report your findings accurately, promptly, and in a manner which serves the interests of your client, the profession and the public
• Maintain your professional obligation to interpret information independently in accordance with the principles outlined in this code

Responsibilities to those who Provide Information and Materials

• Familiarise yourself with the appropriate copyright and privacy laws so that you can make sure that your informants know their status under the law
• Record and respect all agreements made with informants
• Respect the rights and wishes and property of informants
• Familiarise yourself with the NOHANZ (National Oral History Association of New Zealand) code of ethics before conducting a recorded interview
• Conduct interviews with sensitivity, integrity and common sense
• Represent the views of interviewees and correspondents accurately
• Acknowledge informants appropriately

Responsibilities to the Historical Profession

• Keep up to date with developments in your field(s)
• Assist the professional development of other historians
• Give credit to others where appropriate
• Seek assistance (either paid or unpaid) from others solely on the basis of their ability to provide it
• Make your material publicly available as soon as practicable
• Be generous in discussing work in progress with other historians and students
• Acknowledge the diversity of historical scholarship and the right of others to take different approaches
• Provide an accurate and up to date account of your qualifications, experience and capabilities when representing them to others

Responsibilities to Other Professionals

• Plan research so as to make the best use of your and others' time
• Behave courteously
• Observe the rules and procedures of institutions
• Respect the integrity of collections, research materials and other resources
• Acknowledge the professionalism of others and become familiar with their codes of practice and requirements

Responsibilities to the Public

• Advocate the protection and conservation of historical resources
• Advocate open and free access to historical records
• Work for greater awareness and appreciation of history in the community
• Represent research responsibly, in a way that is a reasonable interpretation of the available evidence
• Report your findings accurately, intelligibly and to as wide a public as practicable
• Give your professional opinions and make public comments on historical matters when you are competent to do so
• Encourage the depositing of significant historical material in an appropriate repository
• Engage in conduct which is legal, ethical, reflects cultural sensitivities and enhances the status of historians in the public eye

Adopted at 1998 AGM