News
Online tables of Statutory Regulations and the Acts under which they are made
16 April 2013
Statutory Regulations are made under the authority of empowering legislation. The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes tables that list alphabetically the Acts or other authorities under which all Statutory Regulations were made, and those Statutory Regulations, by year.
The table for Statutory Regulations made in 2012 is now available on the Parliamentary Counsel Office website. View the 2012 table and earlier tables …
New features added to the New Zealand Legislation website
4 March 2013
New features were released to the New Zealand Legislation website yesterday. They include:
Tagged sections/clauses
You can now download sections or clauses in PDF or Word format by tagging them—ideal when you need to print just a few sections, or when you want to incorporate legislation into a larger document. Just click the Tag section button when viewing legislation. More on tagging sections/clauses …
Amendment legislation easier to locate
Amendment legislation is found by using Advanced search. Amendment Acts in force (and Amendment Regulations in force) have been given their own category under Status, making them easier to identify. In addition, Acts not yet in force now includes not-yet-in-force amendment Acts (and the same applies for Regulations).
To find out what is included in each category under Advanced search, click its adjacent question mark symbol.
Quick search now searches amendment legislation not yet in force, as well as principal Acts and Regulations (both in force and not yet in force), current Bills, and the titles of Deemed Regulations. However, the drop-down list that appears as you type does not currently include in-force amendment legislation—to include them, click Search (or use Advanced search).
Web feeds more intuitive
Web feeds are a powerful way to keep up to date with changes to legislation. They are now easier to set up, plus you can regenerate and edit an existing feed. More about web feeds …
Stemming can be turned off
"Stemming" means that variants of a word are included in a search, as well as the word itself. For example, a search for govern will also find governs, governed, and governing. Advanced search now allows you to turn this feature off, which is otherwise applied by default. More about searching techniques …
A new format for Supplementary Order Papers
29 November 2012
Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs) can now be produced in a new format—the RT SOP. This new format can make the changes proposed to a Bill easier to understand, by presenting them in context.
An RT SOP is an SOP where the proposed changes that the SOP makes to the Bill are identified using revision tracking markup. Instead of the SOP describing the proposed changes to be made, the changes are shown applied to the Bill. In this an RT SOP is similar to a revision tracked Bill produced for a select committee.
Only Government SOPs will use the RT SOP style, and only in some instances—the new style is likely to be used when the amendments proposed are complex or extensive, although decisions on the format will be made on a case-by-case basis. RT SOPs have the same status as a "regular" SOP, and they are published online and in hard copy as usual.
The first SOP to be published in the new format was SOP No 151 to amend the Advanced Technology Institute Bill.
To find RT SOPs on this website, do the same as for other SOPs—first, navigate to the relevant Bill. Then find SOPs under the Versions and SOPs tab.
Survey indicates strong support for move to A4 pages
26 November 2012
Thank you to everyone who responded to our survey on preferences for legislation page size. The survey, which ran from 18 October to 8 November, asked users whether they preferred the page size that legislation is printed on to remain at its current size of B5 (a smaller size) or increase it to A4. Page size relates to both bought, printed legislation and PDFs downloaded from the New Zealand Legislation website.
We received 290 responses. A clear majority supported the change to A4:
- 73% for A4
- 18% for B5
- 9% didn't mind or weren't sure.
Some opinions were strongly held. Supporters of B5 find it easier to handle and to read. Those in favour of change want to save paper, expect it to reduce costs, and find A4 easier to read. Some people are only interested in on-screen legislation, but more than 90% use printed legislation and expect to do so in the future.
The survey provides strong support for our intention to move to A4. We will make the change during the 2013/14 financial year. The final timing will depend on factors such as when the New Zealand Legislation website becomes a source of official legislation and the production of bound annual volumes. The work will also be slotted into the website's work programme so as to make the most efficient use of development resources. We will give legislation users advance notice of the change closer to the time.
Deemed Regulations now available through this website
2 May 2012
Links to Deemed Regulations have been loaded on to this website, making the documents accessible using the search and browse functions. But please note that content searching is not available for Deemed Regulations.
Deemed Regulations are not published in the Statutory Regulations series and are not drafted or published by the Parliamentary Counsel Office (except in special cases), and so up till now have not been accessible through this website. Deemed Regulations are made primarily by Ministers, officials, or organisations, rather than the Executive Council on the recommendation of Cabinet. Examples include most land transport rules, civil aviation rules, and a wide variety of other rules, codes, and other legislative instruments.
They have been included on this website as a way of making it easier for the public to find them. The text of the documents is not located here, however—this website links to the document where it has been published, whether on an agency's website or in the New Zealand Gazette.
In providing the links to the Deemed Regulations, the Parliamentary Counsel Office relies on information received from the agencies responsible for administering them. Because of this, we do not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the links. For advice about particular Deemed Regulations, please contact the agency responsible for administering them.
Acts from 1841 to 2007 As-Enacted Collection and 1908 Consolidation now available
25 May 2011
The New Zealand Acts 1841–2007 As-Enacted Collection is a database of Acts as originally enacted, provided by the Parliamentary Counsel Office and hosted by NZLII, the New Zealand Legal Information Institute.
NZLII also hosts the 1908 Consolidation, a separate database that the University of Auckland kindly provided to the PCO. The 1908 Consolidation is a collection of 208 Acts enacted via the Consolidated Statutes Enactment Act 1908 to revise, re-enact, and replace 806 earlier Acts (which were repealed by that 1908 Act).
Both collections provide Acts in PDF format. Note that the Acts do not include any later amendments or show whether or not they have been repealed. Current Acts (including those from 1841 to 2007) are available on the New Zealand Legislation website.
More on the Parliamentary Counsel Office's programme to digitise historical legislation …
GST increase to 15% from 1 October 2010 is not automatically reflected in fees and charges in published legislation
14 September 2010
The prescribed fees and charges in Acts and Regulations set out on this website do not reflect the increase in GST that took effect on 1 October 2010 (except in the case of changes made specifically by amending legislation that came into effect on or after 1 October).
The effect of section 78(3) of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 is, in general terms, to increase the amount payable for a fee/charge. For more about tax changes, visit the Inland Revenue website.
However, you will need to consult with the Government agency that administers the relevant legislation to obtain details of the actual fee or charge payable. The name of the relevant agency appears on the contents page of an Act or Regulation, or under Legislative history or Administrative information on the contents page.