Notifying regulations
The information on this page is provided to assist agencies in alerting the PCO's Prepublication Unit (PPU) that Statutory Regulations are to be notified in the Gazette.
The making of Statutory Regulations must be notified in the New Zealand Gazette (under the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989). The 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. For these regulations, the responsible department or body does not need to inform the PPU.
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 or body.
Publication times
Hard copies of Statutory Regulations are available from bookshops/to subscribers in the afternoon that the notice is published in the Gazette, and PDF and HTML versions are published to the New Zealand Legislation website at 4pm on the day of notification, appearing on the website shortly thereafter.
Regulations can be notified in an ordinary Gazette, which is the Gazette that is published every Thursday. Alternatively they can be published in a supplementary Gazette, which is a Gazette published on any day other than Thursday. 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 email. The email must include:
- the title of the regulation
- 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 Thursday 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 form "Notification of non-Executive Council Statutory Regulations"— PDF format (19 KB), Word format (28 KB)—and attach it to your email, to make it easier to arrange the notification. Please also attach a copy of the regulation to your email.
Deadlines
The deadline for acceptance of notification for publishing Statutory Regulations is 5pm on the Tuesday two days before Thursday's Gazette. Two days' notice is also 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 04 817 6425
The PPU's email address is available on the notification form—or feel free to phone for this information.
Please use these general contact details for the PPU rather those of specific members of the unit to ensure your message is received if individual staff members are away.
Deemed regulations
Please note that this applies to notification of Statutory Regulations only, and 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 (more information on deemed regulations). These types of regulations should be notified to the Gazette Office, Department of Internal Affairs (see the New Zealand Gazette website for contact details).
The PCO provides links to deemed regulations through the New Zealand Legislation website, and relies on the agencies responsible for those deemed regulations to keep the links up to date. See Notifying deemed regulations to the PCO.
Obtaining 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 some bookshops.
Further information
For more information on the different types of regulations and other legislation, see About legislation.
Notification form
Notification of Non-Executive Council Statutory Regulations
- PDF format (19 KB)
- Word format (28 KB)
