This page is about a bill. That means that it's not the law yet, but some people want it to be the law. It could change quickly, and some of the information is just a draft.

Regulatory Standards Bill

Introduction

You could also call this:

"What each part of the bill does"

This bill wants to make sure new laws are good and that the government explains them well. It has different parts that will start at different times. Some parts will start on 1 January 2026, and others will start later, but no later than 1 July 2026.

The bill has three main goals:

To make sure the government explains new laws to Parliament
To help Parliament check new laws carefully
To help Parliament watch over how new rules are made

The bill talks about something called a "consistency accountability statement" or CAS. This is a report that says if a law follows good rules for making laws. If it doesn't, the report has to say why.

The bill also says that after checking a law, the government has to tell Parliament about it. They have to explain any problems they found and what they plan to do about them.

For some new rules, called secondary legislation, the government has to put this information on a website for everyone to see.

The bill also lets the government ask for information from different groups to help check if laws are working well. They can ask government departments, people who make rules, and even companies that help with government work.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on 21 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1016439-clause-by-clause-analysis.

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Regulatory impact statement, or

"A report that explains how a new law might affect people"

1: Title, or

"What this law is called and when it starts"

Clause by clause analysis

Clause 1 is the Title clause.

Clause 2 provides for—

subparts 2 to 6 of Part 2 to come into force on a date or dates set by Order in Council (on or before 1 July 2026):
the rest of the Bill to come into force on 1 January 2026.

The deferred commencement of subparts 2 to 6 of Part 2 allows time to issue—

notices that specify Bills and secondary legislation that are not required to be reviewed under this Bill (see clauses 10 and 14); and
guidance under clause 27.

1Preliminary provisions

Clause 3 sets out the purposes of the Bill. The purposes are to—

promote the accountability of the Executive to Parliament for developing high-quality legislation and exercising stewardship over regulatory systems; and
support Parliament’s ability to scrutinise Bills; and
support Parliament in overseeing and controlling the use of delegated powers to make legislation.

The clause provides that the purposes are given effect to only in certain specified ways.

Clause 4 sets out an overview of the Bill.

Clause 5 defines various terms used in the Bill. It includes a definition of consistency accountability statement (a CAS). This is a statement from the chief executive of a responsible agency for legislation. The statement must—

confirm that the agency has reviewed the legislation for consistency with the principles of responsible legislation; and
summarise any inconsistency with the principles that is identified in the review.

The definition of principles of responsible legislation is set out in clause 8.

Clause 6 provides for transitional, savings, and related provisions set out in Schedule 1.

Clause 7 provides that the Bill binds the Crown.

2Principles of responsible regulation and regulatory stewardship

Clause 21 requires a responsible agency to prepare a CAS after a review of an Act.

The responsible Minister must present to the House of Representatives—

the CAS; and
a statement from the Minister that briefly explains the Government’s reasons for any inconsistency with the principles that is identified in the CAS and that sets out any proposed actions to remedy the inconsistency.

Clause 22 requires a responsible agency to publish on an internet site after a review of secondary legislation—

a CAS; and
a statement from the maker that briefly explains the maker’s reasons for any inconsistency with the principles that is identified in the CAS and that sets out any proposed actions to remedy the inconsistency.

3Regulatory reviews and information-gathering powers

Clause 41 requires reports on regulatory reviews carried out by the regulatory standards Ministry to be presented to the House of Representatives together with a Government response.

Clause 42 gives the chief executive of the regulatory standards Ministry a power to require a public service agency to supply any information that is necessary or desirable to enable the preparation of a briefing on the state of the regulatory management system under clause 16.

Clauses 43 to 47 give the chief executive of the regulatory standards Ministry a power to require various agencies or persons to supply any information that is necessary or desirable to enable the Ministry to carry out a regulatory review.

The agencies or persons that may be required to supply information include public service agencies, administering agencies or makers of secondary legislation, an agency or a person that performs a statutory function, and a contractor that supports or facilitates the performance of a statutory function.