Legislation Amendment Bill
This bill updates the rules about how New Zealand laws are written, published, and accessed. It makes the government's legislation website the main place to find all laws, including those published by the agencies that run them. It also says that secondary laws — rules made by government agencies rather than Parliament — cannot take effect until they are published online. The bill tidies up who is responsible for publishing different types of laws and gives the Parliamentary Counsel Office new tools to support this.
What this affects
Tap a topic to see how this bill touches it, and the parts of the text that show it.
Government agencies that make rules affecting businesses and people must now publish those rules online before they can take effect, and may be charged fees or levies for some services from the Parliamentary Counsel Office.
Secondary legislation does not come into force on its commencement date unless the relevant requirement is met… the legislation or part comes into force on the day after the relevant requirement is met.
Regulations for fees and costs in connection with PCO's functions… requiring the payment of fees to the PCO… authorising the PCO to require payment of any costs incurred.
Administering agency may be required to pay levy in connection with PCO's functions… The PCO may recover in any court of competent jurisdiction as a debt due any unpaid levy.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Justice Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 27 August 2025.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.