Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA)

When a Minister wants to create or change legislation, their agency must first provide Cabinet with an analysis of the likely impacts of the regulatory changes being proposed. This is known as regulatory impact analysis (RIA).

The level of analysis should be in proportion to the significance of the change.

The Ministry for Regulation provides RIA guidance to help agencies ensure their regulatory proposals meet Cabinet requirements.

Why RIA matters

Completing regulatory impact analysis before taking a proposal to Cabinet ensures Ministers have information on

• the scope of the regulatory issue that’s being addressed, the rationale for government intervention, and the options for addressing it (including non-regulatory options)
• the costs and benefits of each option
• the views of those who have been consulted on the proposal
• how the regulatory changes could be implemented and monitored, and reviewed in the future.

Cabinet’s requirements for impact analysis are set out in full in Cabinet Office circulars:

• Until 30 June 2026 (inclusive): Agencies need to follow the requirements in the Cabinet Office circular: CO (24) 7: Impact Analysis Requirementsopen_in_new.
• From 1 July 2026: Agencies need to follow the requirements in Cabinet Office circular: CO (26) 2: Expectations for Good Law-makingopen_in_new.

These requirements are designed to encourage systematic and evidence-informed policy development, which helps support high quality regulation. They also help ensure Cabinet can make well-informed decisions about the regulatory changes being proposed.

Agencies preparing a regulatory proposal for Cabinet must prepare a summary of the impact analysis (unless an exemption applies). 

• Until 30 June 2026 (inclusive): The summary of the impact analysis must be provided in a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) and follow the requirements in Impact Analysis Requirements [CO (24) 7]open_in_new.
• From 1 July 2026: The summary of the impact analysis will need to be provided in a Regulatory Analysis Summary (RAS) and follow the requirements in Expectations for Good Law-making [CO (26) 2]open_in_new.

The next section provides an overview of the two sets of requirements.

The document (either a RIS or RAS) should provide the agency’s best advice based on the findings of their regulatory impact analysis. 

More information: Guide to Cabinet's impact analysis requirementsopen_in_new. 

Current requirements (until 30 June 2026)

• Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) must be prepared to accompany Cabinet papers which propose regulatory change (unless exempt).
• Agencies must seek an exemption through an exemption request form in RIA Online. The Ministry confirms whether the exemption is granted and provides the appropriate wording for the impact analysis part of the Cabinet paper.
• If the proposal is for the release of a discussion document, an interim RIS is required to accompany the Cabinet paper only if the discussion document contains a narrowed set of options.
• A discussion document which contains the range of feasible options must be independently assessed to confirm that it will lead to effective consultation and the future development of impact analysis.

New requirements (from 1 July 2026)

• Regulatory Analysis Summary (RAS) must be prepared to accompany Cabinet papers which propose regulatory change (unless exempt). The RAS should be no longer than 20 pages.
• Agencies must record their exemption decision in RIA Online.
• If the proposal is for the release of a discussion document, an interim RIS is required to accompany the Cabinet paper only if the discussion document contains a narrowed set of options. 

How this works in practice

When an agency is preparing a regulatory policy proposal for Cabinet, they must submit the details of the proposal to the Ministry of Regulation. This is done through the Ministry’s RIA Online platform. 

In RIA Online, agencies can manage exemptions and access the appropriate templates to support their Cabinet process.

For more information, including account setup, see Using RIA Online.

Already have a RIA Online login? Go to RIA Onlineopen_in_new.

Each RIS/RAS prepared as part of a regulatory proposal to Cabinet should be independently assessed before it’s submitted with a Cabinet paper. 

All RISs/RASs are quality assured against the same criteria:

1. Complete
2. Convincing
3. Consulted 
4. Clear and concise.

Once completed, submit the RIS/RAS document to Cabinet along with the Cabinet paper, and any other documents required, via CabNet.

See the Guidance Note on Quality Assurance in the Guidance, tools and templates section below. 

Once the proposal has been considered by Cabinet, RIA documents must be published on the websites of the authoring agency and the Ministry for Regulation. 

RISs/RASs should usually be published at the same time as Cabinet material is proactively released. This helps ensure an open and transparent regulatory process. 

To publish a RIS/RAS on the Ministry for Regulation’s website, submit a request through RIA Online

Find out more about RIA Online. 

More information on the timing and process for publishing see guidance provided in the section below.

For use until 30 June 2026

Templates

• Regulatory Impact Statement template (66 KB, Docx). Use this template to prepare your Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS). The template includes guidance which should be read alongside the guidance notes (see below).
• Stage 1 cost recovery impact statement templateopen_in_new
• Stage 2 cost recovery impact statement templateopen_in_new. Use these templates to prepare your impact statement for your Cost recovery proposal. 

Guidance

• Guide to Cabinet's impact analysis requirementsopen_in_new. This guidance note explains the process for preparing a RIS, including how to use RIA Online, the exemption grounds and process, and how to use the RIS template. 
• Guidance Note: Best practice impact analysisopen_in_new. This Treasury‑authored guidance describes the key elements of the Impact Analysis Framework. These elements should be used when developing government policy initiatives that involve proposals to create, amend or repeal primary or secondary legislation (a government regulatory proposal).
• Guidance Note: Discussion documents and the regulatory impact analysis requirementsopen_in_new. This guidance note explains the process for preparing discussion documents for regulatory proposals. It covers best practice consultation processes and how to write effective discussion documents.
• Guidance Note: Implementation and monitoringopen_in_new. This Treasury‑authored guidance explains the key elements of monitoring, evaluation and review. These elements should be considered as part of policy development for proposals to create, amend or repeal primary or secondary legislation.
• Guidance Note: Quality Assurance of Regulatory Impact Statementsopen_in_new. This guidance note explains the quality assurance process for Regulatory Analysis Summaries and is aimed at RIS authors and quality assurance panel members.
• Quick Guide: Quality Assurance of Regulatory Impact Statementsopen_in_new. This short guide explains the quality assurance process for RISs and is aimed at both RIS authors and people involved in panels (i.e. as a member or Chair): (371 KB, Pdf)

For use from 1 July 2026

Templates

• Regulatory Analysis Summary (RAS) template. Use this template to prepare a RAS. The template includes guidance which should be read alongside the guidance notes (see below).
• Cost recovery impact assessment template (coming soon).

Guidance

The Regulatory Analysis Summary Process. This guidance note explains the process for preparing a RAS, including how to use RIA Online, the exemption grounds and process, and how to use the RAS template. 

Guidance Note: Best practice impact analysis. This Treasury‑authored guidance describes the key elements of the Impact Analysis Framework. These elements should be used when developing government policy initiatives that involve proposals to create, amend or repeal primary or secondary legislation (a government regulatory proposal).

Guidance Note: Quality Assurance of Regulatory Analysis Summaries. This guidance note explains the quality assurance process for Regulatory Analysis Summaries (RASs). It is intended for RAS authors and people involved in quality assurance panels, including panel members and chairs.

Guidance Note: Discussion Documents and the Regulatory Analysis Summary. This guidance note explains how to prepare discussion documents for regulatory proposals, including best‑practice consultation approaches and how to write effective discussion documents.

Guidance Note: The Regulatory Analysis Summary Process. This guidance explains the publication requirements for RAS documents. 

Publication requirements for regulatory analysis documents. This guidance provides technical requirements for digital / web teams who are publishing RAS documents on their agency websites. 

If you need advice on meeting the requirements, contact us: RMS@regulation.govt.nz.

We can answer queries on impact analysis and provide advice on which templates to use for your submission.

Related content

See all published RIS/RAS documents in our library: Regulatory Impact Statements (RISs)