Summary Offences Act 1981

Offences resembling forgery or fraud

17: Publishing false notice of birth, marriage, civil union, or death

You could also call this:

"Don't publish fake news about births, marriages, or deaths"

Illustration for Summary Offences Act 1981

You can get a fine of up to $500 if you send a false notice of a birth, marriage, civil union, or death to a newspaper to be published, knowing it is untrue. You can also get a fine if you are a printer or publisher of a newspaper and you print or publish a notice knowing it is untrue. If you are interested in a notice that has been published, you can ask the newspaper for the name of the person who sent it, and they must tell you within 14 days, or they can get a fine of up to $100 if they refuse.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM53554.

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

Topics:

Family and relationships > Marriage and partnershipsFamily and relationships > Children and parentingCrime and justice > Police and safety

16: Acting as medium with intent to deceive, or

"Pretending to have special powers to get money or gifts is against the law."

18: Imitation of court documents, or

"Don't fake court documents or you could get a $500 fine"

17Publishing false notice of birth, marriage, civil union, or death

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding $500 who—
sends or delivers or causes to be sent or delivered to the proprietor, printer, or publisher of any newspaper, for the purpose of publication in that newspaper, a notice of the birth of a child, or of the marriage or civil union of any persons, or of the death of any person, knowing the notice to be untrue; or
being a printer or publisher of a newspaper, prints or publishes any such notice knowing it to be untrue.

Every printer or publisher of a newspaper is liable to a fine not exceeding $100 who, on application in writing made to him by a person interested within 14 days after the publication in the newspaper of the notice of a birth, a marriage, a civil union, or a death, refuses to furnish the person so applying with the name of the person who sent or delivered the notice for publication.

Compare

1927 No 35 s 19(1), (2)
1967 No 154 s 2(1)

Notes

Section 17 heading: amended, on 26 April 2005, by section 7 of the Relationships (Statutory References) Act 2005 (2005 No 3).
Section 17(1)(a): amended, on 26 April 2005, by section 7 of the Relationships (Statutory References) Act 2005 (2005 No 3).
Section 17(2): amended, on 26 April 2005, by section 7 of the Relationships (Statutory References) Act 2005 (2005 No 3).