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Regulatory Impact Analysis Handbook

A quick guide to Cabinet's Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) requirements

A quick guide to Cabinet's Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) requirements

Determine whether the RIA requirements could apply

Are you embarking on policy work with potential regulatory implications that will lead to submission of a Cabinet paper? “Potential regulatory implications” means it includes options that involve creating, amending or repealing primary legislation or regulations.

  • If potential regulatory implications, complete Preliminary Impact and Risk Assessment.
  • If no potential regulatory implications, RIA requirements do not apply but RIA framework still provides a useful basis for analysis.

Prepare Preliminary Impact and Risk Assessment (PIRA)

Discuss PIRA with Treasury policy team as early as possible, to confirm whether the RIA requirements apply and whether any resulting regulatory proposal is likely to have a significant impact or risk.

  • If Treasury confirms that no significant impact or risk likely, then the agency will be responsible for quality assurance.
  • If Treasury confirms that there is likely to be significant impact or risk, Regulatory Impact Analysis Team (RIAT) involvement is required. Early engagement with RIAT is needed.

Undertake regulatory impact analysis

 Apply the RIA framework to your policy work right from the start of the policy development process.

Prepare the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS)

 The RIS is to be prepared before the Cabinet paper.  It provides a summary of the impact analysis for decision-makers and must include all the required information.

Complete disclosure statement

 The person with responsibility for producing the RIS is required to complete and sign a disclosure statement, to be attached to the front of the RIS.

Obtain independent quality assurance

 Independent quality assurance is to be provided either by RIAT or through a suitable internal review process. A quality assurance statement is to be provided in the Cabinet paper.

Prepare Cabinet paper

 The Cabinet paper focuses on the Minister's proposal.  It may refer to the RIS, which is appended to the Cabinet paper.

Obtain Ministerial certification

 The Minister is required to certify in the Cabinet paper whether the proposal is consistent with the expectations in the Government Statement on Regulation.

Publish the RIS

 All RISs must be published on the agency and Treasury websites.  The URLs to published RISs must be included in the Explanatory Note to Bills, but with hard copies also provided to the House if a Bill is introduced under urgency.

If RIA requirements not met

 All “significant” regulatory proposals that do not meet the RIA requirements will undergo a post-implementation review.
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