Summary Offences Act 1981

Offences against persons or property

11: Wilful damage

You could also call this:

"Deliberately damaging someone's property is against the law"

Illustration for Summary Offences Act 1981

You can get in trouble if you damage someone's property on purpose. You could go to prison for up to 3 months or have to pay a fine of up to $2,000. If you set fire to a tree or other plants on purpose, that is also against the law. You do something intentionally if you do it on purpose or if you do not care about the consequences. It is still against the law even if you have a good reason for doing it, unless you have a lawful excuse. If you own something, but you damage it to hurt someone else, you can still get in trouble. If someone has a mortgage on a property, they are considered to have an interest in that property. This means that if you damage the property to hurt the other person, you can get in trouble. You can read more about the laws that have changed this rule on the Summary Offences Amendment Act 1997 and the Crimes Amendment Act 2003 websites.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM53538.

This page was last updated on 11 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Police and safetyHousing and property > Home safety and repairsHousing and property > Land use

10B: Leaving child without reasonable supervision and care, or

"Leaving a child alone without proper care can lead to a big fine."

11A: Graffiti vandalism, tagging, defacing, etc, or

"Don't damage someone else's property by drawing or painting on it without permission."

11Wilful damage

Every person is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding $2,000 who intentionally—
damages any property; or
sets on fire any tree or other vegetation.

For the purposes of subsection (1), a person does an act intentionally if he does it intentionally or recklessly, and without lawful justification or excuse or claim of right.
The fact that the person charged had an interest in the property at the material time shall not prevent his act constituting an offence against this section if he did it with intent to defraud or to cause loss to any other person.
For the purposes of subsection (3), where any property is subject to any mortgage or charge, each of the parties to the mortgage or charge shall be deemed to have an interest in the property.

Compare

1927 No 35 s 6(1), (3)–(6)
1952 No 43 s 2
1960 No 7 s 5
1967 No 154 s 2(1)

Notes

Section 11(1): amended, on 1 January 1998, by section 7 of the Summary Offences Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 97).
Section 11(2): amended, on 1 October 2003, by section 34 of the Crimes Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 39).