Regulation
Page updated 1 Jul 2013
Regulation is one of the key tools used by government to pursue economic, social and environmental outcomes from which the community will derive benefit. High quality regulation is important for productivity and higher living standards for New Zealanders, which encompasses economic growth, reducing risk, sustainability, equity and effective social institutions.
A regulatory regime can therefore be viewed as a type of institutional asset that is intended to provide a stream of net benefits to New Zealand society over time. The challenge is to ensure that those regimes remain assets and not liabilities, and that we maximise their net benefit to society.
The Treasury's Role
In 2008, the Treasury was given responsibility for strategic co-ordination of the government's regulatory quality management system, expanding its role into three areas. These are:
- Advising on the redesign and strengthening of the regulatory quality management system to support the government's desire for robust, high quality regulation.
- Independent assessment of significant regulatory proposals against the government expected standards for regulatory impact analysis and statements. This work sits with the Treasury's Regulatory Impact Analysis Team (RIAT).
- Responsibility for advising on and monitoring a prioritised regulatory review work programme.
These functions complement the Treasury’s role as the government’s primary economic and fiscal advisor. In this role the Treasury reports to both the Minister of Finance (Hon Bill English) and the Minister for Regulatory Reform (Hon John Banks).
Information and Resources on the Treasury Website
- Government Expectations for Regulatory Stewardship - A set of expectations for departments in exercising their stewardship role over government regulation.
- Regulatory Management - Guidance for departments on current regulatory management system requirements.
- Regulatory Impact Analysis - Information and guidance material on RIAT's role, regulatory impact analysis and preparing a Regulatory Impact Statement.
- Regulatory Impact Statements - Completed statements prepared by government departments and published by the Treasury.
- Disclosure Statements for Government Legislation
- Best Practice Regulation - A model developed by Treasury to assess regulatory regimes against Best Practice regulation principles.
- Regulatory Review Work Programme
- Regulatory Information Releases
Contact for Enquiries
Tel: +64 4 917 6969
hayden.fenwick@treasury.govt.nz
