Seeing the system, not just the rules

By Gráinne Moss, Secretary for Regulation and Chief Executive Ministry for Regulation

One of the things that’s struck me most since stepping into this role is how often regulation is talked about in pieces.

A rule here. A process there. A fix to a specific problem.

Regulation is a system. It’s the rules, yes, but also the people applying them, the agencies responsible for them, and the way they land for New Zealanders trying to get things done. When you change one part of that system, it doesn’t sit neatly in place. It shifts pressure somewhere else.

That’s where we need to be careful.

Because a change that looks like a clear improvement in one area can create cost, confusion, or risk in another. 

There are hundreds of organisations playing a role in regulation across New Zealand, spanning central government, local government, and statutory bodies. 

No one experiences that as a neat structure. They experience it as a journey across multiple touchpoints, rules, and decisions. 

If we want to make regulation work better, we have to step back and see the whole picture.

As a Ministry, we are deliberate about how our work fits together. Reviews, system mapping, and capability support are not stand-alone activities -they are parts of the same effort to improve how regulation works in practice. That matters because the problems we’re trying to fix don’t sit neatly in one place.

One of the most valuable things we’ve done is to map who regulates what, and how those pieces connect. 

It’s not glamorous work, but it’s foundational. You can’t improve a system you don’t fully understand.

For me, this is really about moving from fixing individual issues to asking better questions:

• Are we solving the right problem?
• Are we shifting the burden somewhere else?
• Are we making it easier or harder for people this most affects?

The Ministry’s role isn’t to own every rule; it’s to help the system work as a whole.

Because regulation isn’t abstract. It shapes how people build, trade, work, and live. When it works well, it enables. When it doesn’t, it gets in the way.

Taking a system view doesn’t make the work easier. But it will lead to better results.