Client file
Notifying Statutory Regulations
See the form: Notification of non-Executive Council Statutory Regulations: PDF format (236 KB), Word format (24 KB)
The making of Statutory Regulations must be notified in the New Zealand Gazette (under the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989). The PCO's Prepublication Unit (PPU) arranges for this notification.
Some Statutory Regulations are signed by the Governor-General, and are approved by the Executive Council and notified to the PPU on behalf of departments by the Cabinet Office.
Other Statutory Regulations are signed by a Minister or other person or body, and not approved by the Executive Council. These (non-Executive Council) types of Statutory Regulation must be notified to the PPU by the responsible department.
Publication times
An ordinary Gazette is the Gazette that is published every Thursday. All Statutory Regulations notified in this type of Gazette will be published by the PPU both in hard copy and to the New Zealand Legislation website. Hard copies are available after the Gazette notice has been published, and PDF and HTML versions will be published to the New Zealand Legislation website at 4pm on the date of notification, appearing on the website shortly thereafter.
A supplementary Gazette is a Gazette that is published on any day other than Thursday. Statutory Regulations that are notified in a supplementary Gazette will have the same publication times, both in hard copy and to the New Zealand Legislation website, as for an ordinary (Thursday) Gazette. If an earlier publication to the New Zealand Legislation website is required for a supplementary Gazette notice, the responsible department must alert the PPU to this requirement.
Process for communicating Statutory Regulations to the PPU
When a non-Executive Council Statutory Regulation is to be notified, the responsible department must alert the PPU by fax or email. The fax or email must include:
- the date signed (eg 7 March 2008)
- the name of the signatory and the form of the signature (eg PT Jones or Hon PT Jones)
- the place signed (eg Wellington)
- the intended gazetting date (eg Friday 28 March 2008).
As previously stated, the website publication time is 4pm. If an earlier website publication time is required for a supplementary Gazette, that information must also be included.
Please use the notification form when faxing or emailing to make it easier to arrange the notification. If you are faxing the information, please also remember to fax a copy of the front page of the regulation. If you are emailing, then please attach a copy of the regulation to your email.
Deadlines
The deadline for acceptance of notification for publishing Stautory Regulations is 5pm on Tuesday for the following Thursday's Gazette. Two days' notice is required for publishing regulations in a supplementary Gazette. If a notice must be notified outside of these lead times, please contact the PPU.
PPU contact details
Phone 04 439 6425
Fax 04 499 7320
Please use these contact details for the PPU rather than for specific members of the unit to ensure your message is received if the particular staff member is away. Feel free to phone the PPU to obtain the PPU email address.
Deemed regulations
Please note that this does not have any effect on how departments treat deemed regulations or other instruments that are published in the Gazette but that do not appear in the Statutory Regulations series. These types of regulations should be notified to the Gazette Office, Department of Internal Affairs (see the New Zealand Gazette website for contact details).
Providing proofs or copies
The PPU does not supply copies of the printed regulations or the Regulations Summary Notice to clients. To confirm that regulations have been gazetted, visit the New Zealand Gazette website. Gazette Office contact details are also available here.
To confirm that Statutory Regulations have been printed, visit the Legislation Direct website, which lists all Statutory Regulations printed by year since 2003 and is updated weekly. Copies of Statutory Regulations are available from Legislation Direct and from Bennetts and other bookshops.
Further information
For more information on the different types of regulations and other legislation, see Types of legislation and Deemed regulations.