The Regulatory Standards Act

Good regulation can help governments achieve their desired economic, environmental and social outcomes, support the effective operation of markets, and protect communities from harm.

The Regulatory Standards Act establishes a benchmark for responsible regulation through a set of regulatory principles based on good law-making and economic efficiency.

The Act requires transparency where legislation is inconsistent with these principles. 

At a high level, the Act:

• establishes a set of principles for responsible regulation
• requires agencies to identify where legislation is inconsistent with those principles
• requires Ministers or makers of legislation to provide reasons for any inconsistencies
• introduces new accountability documents to support transparency. These are:
  • Consistency Accountability Statements (CAS).
  • Minister/Maker Statements of Reasons.
• establishes the Regulatory Standards Board to independently identify inconsistencies  
• places regulatory stewardship responsibilities on Chief Executives and agencies.

The Regulatory Standards Act was enacted on 18 November 2025.

The Act came into force on 1 January 2026.

The requirements under Part 2 of the Act apply from 1 July 2026.

See the Regulatory Standards Actopen_in_new.
Find out more about the development of the Act.

The Act sets out principles of responsible regulation. The principles cover aspects of rule of law, liberties, taking of property, taxes, fees and levies, role of the courts and good law-making.

See the principles in section 9 of the Regulatory Standards Actopen_in_new.

Statutory guidance

Statutory guidance has been issued by the Minister for Regulation and the Attorney-General. This sets out best practice and expectations for meeting the requirements of the Act.

See the statutory guidance.

Agencies responsible for legislation must assess both new and existing legislation against the principles of responsible regulation, and identify any inconsistencies. They do this by completing a Consistency Accountability Statement (CAS).

Where inconsistencies are identified, the responsible minister or maker of the legislation must provide a statement explaining the reasons for those inconsistencies. This is called a Statement of Reasons.

See CAS requirements for new legislation.

See CAS requirements for existing legislation (not published as at May 2026).

Regulatory stewardship requirements

The Act requires chief executives of agencies to take a proactive role in regulatory stewardship and ensure their agency does the same when carrying out its responsibilities and functions.

Find out more about regulatory stewardship. 

Some legislation is excluded from the Regulatory Standards Act. Excluded legislation does not require consistency assessments and is not included in agencies’ review plans.

See more on exclusions from the requirements.

The Regulatory Standards Board

The Act establishes a Regulatory Standards Board. Its roles are to:

• inquire into whether existing legislation is consistent with the principles of responsible regulation
• consider consistency accountability statements for government Bills.

Find out more about the Regulatory Standards Board.

More information

See answers to common questions about the Act and the requirements.