Conservation Act 1987

Administration

58: Delegation of powers by Director-General

You could also call this:

"The boss of a department can share some of their jobs with other staff members."

The Director-General can give some of their powers to other officers or employees in the Department. They do this by writing it down and signing it. You can go to the Director-General's office to see a copy of what powers they have given to someone else.

The Director-General cannot give away the power to delegate powers to someone else. They also cannot give away powers that the Minister or the Public Service Commission have given to them without getting their written consent first. This is because the Minister and the Public Service Commission have given the Director-General these powers under the Public Service Act 2020.

When the Director-General gives powers to someone else, that person can use those powers as if they were the Director-General. The Director-General can give powers to a specific person, a group of people, or someone with a specific job title. The person who gets the powers must follow any conditions or directions given by the Director-General.

The Director-General can take back the powers they have given to someone else at any time. If the Director-General leaves their job, the powers they have given to someone else will still be in effect. If someone uses powers that were given to them by the Director-General, they must tell you that they are using delegated powers and give you their name and job title. They must also tell you that you can see the document that shows what powers they have at the Director-General's office.

The Director-General can still use their own powers even if they have given some of them to someone else. Some officers are considered to be part of the Department, even if they are not employees, and the Director-General can give them powers too.

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This page was last updated on 24 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM106938.

Topics:

Government and voting > Government departments

57: Delegation of powers by Minister, or

"The Minister can share some of their decision-making powers with others, like the Director-General, and set rules for how they use them."

59: Warranted officers, or

"People the Director-General chooses to help with conservation jobs are called warranted officers."

Part 7Administration

58Delegation of powers by Director-General

Subject to subsection (2), the Director-General may from time to time, by writing under the Director-General's hand, either generally or particularly, and either unconditionally or subject to any conditions the Director-General thinks fit, delegate to such officer or officers or employee or employees of the Department as the Director-General thinks fit all or any of the powers exercisable by the Director-General under this Act or any other enactment, including any power delegated to the Director-General under this Act.
The Director-General shall keep at the Director-General's office a copy of every instrument by which a delegation under subsection (1) is effected, and shall permit any person to inspect any such copy.
The Director-General shall not—
delegate the power of delegation conferred on the Director-General by subsection (1); or
without the written consent of the Minister delegate any power delegated to the Director-General by the Minister; or
without the written consent of the Public Service Commission, delegate any power delegated to the Director-General under the Public Service Act 2020.

Subject to—
the conditions (if any) subject to which any power was delegated under subsection (1); and
any general or special directions given by the Director-General,—

A delegation under this section may be made to—
a specified officer or employee of the Department:
the holder for the time being of a specified office in the Department:
officers or employees of the Department of any specified class or classes:
the holders for the time being of any specified offices, or class or classes of office, in the Department.

Every delegation under subsection (1) shall be revocable at will but its revocation shall not take effect until it has been communicated to the delegate, and until revoked it shall continue in force according to its tenor; and if the Director-General by whom it was made ceases to hold office, it shall continue to have effect as if made—
by the Director-General for the time being; or
if there is no Director-General for the time being, by the person for the time being directed under the Public Service Act 2020 to act in place of the Director-General, or by a Deputy Director-General (as the case requires).

Where the Director-General or a delegate of the Director-General uses a written document to inform any other person of an action taken by a delegate of the Director-General, the document—
shall state that the action was taken by a delegate of the Director-General; and
shall give the delegate's name and office; and
shall inform the other person that a copy of the instrument of delegation may be inspected at the Director-General's office.

No delegation under subsection (1) shall affect or prevent the exercise of any power by the Director-General.
For the purposes only of subsection (1), every warranted officer shall be deemed to be an officer of the Department.

Notes

Section 58(3)(c): replaced, on 7 August 2020, by section 135 of the Public Service Act 2020 (2020 No 40).
Section 58(6)(b): amended, on 7 August 2020, by section 135 of the Public Service Act 2020 (2020 No 40).