Impact Analysis Requirements for Regulatory Proposals

Cabinet's Impact Analysis Requirements support and inform the government's decisions on regulatory proposals.

What are Cabinet’s impact analysis requirements?

They are both a process and an analytical framework that encourages a systematic and evidence-informed approach to policy development. The requirements incorporate the Government Expectations for Good Regulatory Practice.

In particular, the requirements focus on the Government expectation that agencies provide robust analysis and advice to Ministers before decisions are taken on regulatory change.

The key product of the requirements is a Regulatory Impact Statement. This is a government agency document which summaries an agency's best advice on the Impact Analysis relating to a regulatory proposal. That Impact Analysis should be completed and summarised in a Regulatory Impact Statement before the Cabinet paper is drafted.

Cabinet's Impact Analysis Requirements and the guidance provided below are focused on ensuring high quality Regulatory Impact Statements are provided to Ministers to support and inform their decisions on regulatory proposals.

Regulatory Impact Analysis Online

Cabinet’s impact analysis requirements are now administered through the Treasury’s RIA Online site.

If you have registered with RIA Online previously, click here to access the site.

Registering in RIA Online for the first time

Click here to register an account in RIA Online. You should receive a notification within an hour that you have successfully been added.

Once added you will be able to use the link to RIA Online at the top of this page.

Note that we will only approve government email addresses ending with the suffix ‘.govt.nz’ through this process. If you encounter any issues when signing up, let the Treasury’s Regulatory Impact Analysis Team know at [email protected].

There are in-site instructions available on RIA Online for how to lodge a proposal, request an exemption, and publish Regulatory Impact Statements.

Are there some cases where RIA Online should not be used?

For any regulatory proposals involving material that is highly confidential, or should be protected because of national security, please contact the Treasury’s Regulatory Impact Analysis Team.

Contact us

For further advice or information on Regulatory Impact Statements and Cabinet's impact analysis requirements, please contact the Treasury's Regulatory Impact Analysis Team at [email protected].