New Zealand Government library subject guide

A collection of government-related reports published every year from 1858. The reports document the work of government departments and a wide range of other activities carried out by, or of interest to, the government of the day. One of the most valuable tools for understanding how New Zealand has developed from its earliest colonial beginnings to the present.

From 1999/2000 the A to Js become:

, published separately under the A – H shoulder numbers:

A: legislative, political, and foreign affairs
B: public finance
C: Crown lands, mines, forests, primary production, environment
D: immigration, public works, energy
E: education, welfare, and justice
F: post office, broadcasting, communications
G: ��ǰ�� affairs
H: miscellaneous, commissions of inquiry
I: reports of select committees
J: petitions

Search notices from 1993 and full PDFs from 2000 onwards.

New Zealand Legislation

Shows bills, acts, in force and repealed legislation.

There are several stages that a bill passes before becoming an Act of Parliament. These stages ensure that a bill is subject to public debate and scrutiny. Some of these stages also provide an opportunity for a bill to be changed.

Committees and debate

Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
New Zealand Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) is the report of the proceedings of the House. Hansard is good for tracking discussion and debate about a particular Bill. Text is subject to correction until it is published as a bound volume. The bound volume is the only official report of the proceedings of the House.

Select committees work on behalf of the House of Parliament and report their conclusions to the House. There are up to 13 subject-area select committees, plus ad hoc committees set up from time to time for particular purposes. Select committees often ask the public for input when they are considering a Bill.

From bills to acts (statutes)

Bills are drafts of proposed new laws, considered in formal stages. If they pass through all stages they become laws, called Acts of Parliament. Limit to Bill.

These set out proposed amendments to a bill. They may be in the name of a member or Minister. Some SOPs may propose to divide a bill.

Statutes (or Acts) are bills that have been passed through Parliament and have received the Royal assent. Limit to Act.

This publicly-available database from the Parliamentary Counsel office contains the New Zealand Acts 1841 - 2007 As Enacted collection. The Acts, which are in PDF format, are as originally enacted and do not include any later amendments or show whether they have been repealed.

Every Act is administered by a government department or agency, which is responsible for the day-to-day workings of that Act. The Regulations are the “nuts and bolts” administration provided for under the Act. They are made pursuant to that Act and appear as secondary legislation. Limit to Secondary legislation.

Background and commentary

An encyclopedic work, updated quarterly. It provides an overview of the whole of the law of New Zealand – statutory, regulatory and judicial. It is a comprehensive source of primary comment.

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