Some secondary legislation is drafted by the Parliamentary Counsel Office, published on the New Zealand Legislation website, and is clearly subject to the oversight of the House of Representatives (regulations for example). However, many other instruments with a legislative character are drafted by other agencies, and published in a variety of places. They are often not explicitly stated to be legislation — they may be called “notices”, “directions”, or “codes of practice”.

The Secondary Legislation Act 2021 identifies which instruments made under Acts of Parliament are secondary legislation, and therefore subject to the provisions of the Legislation Act 2019. It amends every provision of every Act that empowers the making of instruments with legislative effect to state that those instruments are secondary legislation. There are amendments to over 550 Acts. The Secondary Legislation Act and the consequent amendments are expected to come into force in the last quarter of 2021.

Keep track of legislation on Westlaw New Zealand here and see the training tips below relating to a couple of neat legislation features on Westlaw New Zealand.