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.

English Language Bill

3: Purpose

You could also call this:

"Making English an Official Language of New Zealand"

This proposed law aims to officially recognise English as a language of New Zealand. You will see this change if the law is passed. The law wants to make English an official language of New Zealand.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1493980.

This page was last updated on 17 February 2026 — View changes

Topics:

Rights and equality > Anti-discriminationGovernment and voting > Government departmentsMāori affairs > Treaty of Waitangi

2: Commencement, or

"When the new law starts"

4: Act binds the Crown, or

"The law applies to the government and its departments"

3Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to provide legislative recognition of the status of English as an official language of New Zealand.