This act regulates freedom camping on land controlled by local authorities, the Department of Conservation, and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). It doesn’t apply to private land or allow local authorities to ban freedom camping everywhere they control.
The act is divided into three parts. Part 1 explains important terms. Part 2 has three sections: one for local authority land, one for Department of Conservation land, and one for LINZ land. On local authority and Department of Conservation land, you can freedom camp unless it’s restricted or prohibited. On LINZ land, you can only freedom camp where it’s specifically allowed.
Part 3 covers rules and penalties, how to start legal proceedings, the powers of enforcement officers, and other important details. It also includes temporary rules about existing local camping bylaws.
This act is meant to help you understand where and how you can freedom camp, and what happens if you don’t follow the rules.
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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3742803.
1: Title, or
“This law is called the Freedom Camping Act 2011”
The Parliamentary Counsel Office has made editorial and format changes to this version using the powers under subpart 2 of Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.
Note 4 at the end of this version provides a list of the amendments included in it.
This Act is administered by the Department of Conservation.
