Consult the detailed scoring methodology.
| Question | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies develop forward regulatory plans – that is, a public list of anticipated regulatory changes or proposals intended to be adopted/implemented within a specified time frame? | Yes, in some ministries/regulatory agencies only |
Most departments are responsible for developing individual forward regulatory plans, and every department contributes to the development of the government's annual legislative program (for primary laws), but these plans and programs are generally not made public by the Ministers responsible. However, the major regulatory departments do publish regulatory stewardship strategies that include regulatory plans for the regulatory systems within which they have stewardship responsibilities. (http://www.treasury.govt.nz/regulation/fitforpurpose/stewardship-strategies)
|
| Are these plans available to general public? | No | |
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies publish the text or summary of proposed (not yet adopted) regulations before their enactment? | Yes, throughout government |
All proposed primary laws are published and are generally open for public submissions before adoption. On secondary regulation, Ministers generally decide on a case-by-case basis whether to give notice or publish proposed regulations, but external consultation ahead of adoption is explicitly encouraged.
|
| Where is the draft text or summary published? |
On a unified website where all proposed regulations are published; on the website of the relevant ministry or regulator; printed in a federal journal ...
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On a unified website where all proposed regulations are published; on the website of the relevant ministry or regulator; printed in a federal journal or similar publication; directly distributed to interested stakeholders. |
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/
http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services Published 28 days before regulations are enacted—unless provided an exemption (https://gazette.govt.nz/). The proposed regulation is distributed via emails. |
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies have the legal obligation to publish the text of proposed regulations before their enactment? | No | |
| Is the entire text of the proposed draft published? | Yes, in some ministries/regulatory agencies only | |
| Is there a period of time set by law for the text of the proposed regulations to be publicly available? | No |
| Question | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies solicit comments on proposed (not yet adopted) regulations from the general public? | Yes, throughout government | |
| How are the comments received? |
On a unified website for all proposed regulations; on the website of the relevant ministry or regulator; through public meetings; through targeted out...
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On a unified website for all proposed regulations; on the website of the relevant ministry or regulator; through public meetings; through targeted outreach to stakeholders, such as business associations or other groups; through email; through social media. |
|
| Are received comments publicly accessible? | Yes, throughout government |
The comments are made available on the "summary of submission" page on the respective department's website.
|
| Is the rulemaking body required by law to solicit these comments on proposed regulations? | No | |
| Is there a specialized government body or department tasked with soliciting and receiving these comments? | No | |
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies report on the results of the consultation on proposed regulations? | Yes, throughout government | |
| How does the government report on the results of the consultation? | Prepares one consolidated response. | |
| Where does the government report on the results of the consultation? | On the website of the relevant ministry or regulator. | |
| Is reporting on the results of the consultation required by law? | No |
| Question | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Do ministries or regulatory agencies conduct an impact assessment of proposed (not yet adopted) regulations? | Yes, throughout government |
Regulatory Impact Assessment is mostly required to be conducted for proposals that are considered by the Cabinet.
|
| Are there criteria used for determining which proposed regulations are subjected to an impact assessment? | Yes |
Impact Analysis is required for any government policy initiative that includes consideration of regulatory options (that is, options that will ultimately create, amend, or repeal primary or secondary legislation). Cabinet papers that include a regulatory proposal must be accompanied by a Regulatory Impact Assessment, unless an exemption applies (Section 7 Exemptions from providing a Regulatory Impact Assessment).
This includes papers submitted to Cabinet seeking: 1. decisions to introduce legislative changes that are merely enabling (the substantive decisions as to whether and what sort of intervention will be made later), including creating or amending a power to make secondary legislation; 2. decisions to create, or amend, a statutory authority to charge third parties to cover the costs of a government activity (i.e., cost recovery proposals); 3. the release of discussion documents that include options that may lead to regulatory change; 4. “in principle” policy decisions and intermediate policy decisions, particularly those where regulatory options are narrowed down (e.g., limiting options for further work/consideration); 5. a negotiating mandate for, concluding, or seeking approval to sign, an international treaty with regulatory impacts; and 6. to inform Cabinet of a Minister’s decision to make secondary legislation under an enabling power in an Act. (Guide to Cabinet's Impact Analysis Requirements - http://www.treasury.govt.nz/regulation/impact-analysis/cabinet-requirements-guide/ia-cabinet-requirements-guide.pdf) |
| Are there any specific regulatory impact assessment guidelines? | Yes | |
| Are impact assessments required by law? | No | |
| Are impact assessment made publicly available? | Yes | |
| How is this assessment distributed? | Through a unified website for all proposed regulations; through the website of the relevant ministry or regulator. | |
| When is this assessment distributed? | Together with the draft proposed legislation and after the consultation period for the proposed legislation. |
The Government has set an expectation that the publication is no later than when a Bill (proposed primary law) is presented in the Parliament, or when a secondary regulation is publicly notified.
|
| Is there an obligation for regulators to consider alternatives to proposed regulation? | Yes, throughout government |
Assessing alternative legislative and non-legislative policy options" is a formal government expectation rather than a legal obligation for the conduct of RIA.
|
| Is there a specialized government body tasked with reviewing and monitoring regulatory impact assessments conducted by other individual agencies or government bodies? | Yes | |
| Please provide the name of this government body, and explain its functions. |
The Regulatory Quality team at The Treasury, though the Treasury generally delegates the review of less significant RIA to dedicated RIA panels in dif...
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The Regulatory Quality team at The Treasury, though the Treasury generally delegates the review of less significant RIA to dedicated RIA panels in different regulatory departments. |
| Question | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Are the laws that are currently in effect available in a single place? | Yes | |
| How are the laws that are in force accessed? |
On a unified website managed by the government Printed in an official gazette / journal or other publication |
http://www.legislation.govt.nz
The New Zealand Gazette It can be ordered in print or accessed online. (https://gazette.govt.nz/) |
| Are the secondary regulations that are currently in effect codified and available in a single place? | Yes | |
| Are these websites or registries updated regularly? | Yes | |
| Can these websites or registries be accessed by the public free of charge? | Yes |