Submissions on the Regulatory Standards Bill discussion document

In November 2024, the Ministry for Regulation consulted on a proposal for the Regulatory Standards Bill through its discussion document “Have your say on the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill”.

How many submissions were received through consultation on the proposal for a Regulatory Standards Bill in the discussion document?

22,821 submissions were received on the proposal in the discussion document “Have your say on the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill”. The volume of submissions received reflected a high level of interest and engagement in the proposal for the Bill. The Ministry thanks everyone who took the time to provide their views and comments.

The Ministry was required to undertake its submissions analysis process over a three-month period, to meet the Coalition Government’s commitment to “pass the Regulatory Standards Act as soon as practicable” and to fulfil the Government’s Q2 Action Plan. The process followed aimed to ensure the Ministry was able to capture and reflect the feedback from submitters within those constraints.

How was the feedback collected?

The Ministry collected submissions through the engagement hub on its website (where submitters either completed an online form or uploaded a document) or by email. 

How were submissions processed and analysed?

The approach undertaken by the Ministry to analyse submissions is outlined in Section 1.4 and Appendix 1 of the Ministry’s Summary of Submissions. 

Submissions were analysed by staff members at the Ministry or the specialist consultancy the Ministry engaged. All emails received in the consultation inbox were read by Ministry staff and assessed to identify submissions on the Bill, queries on the submissions process, Official Information Act requests, and other miscellaneous queries/requests. All submissions received through the online form (Citizen Space) were assessed for the characteristics above. 

All 22,821 submissions received formed part of the Ministry’s quantitative analysis (the results of which are outlined in Section 2.1 of the Summary of Submissions). 

In addition to this, the Ministry undertook qualitative analysis on a sample of the submissions on the Bill to summarise the main reasons for support and opposition to the proposed Bill, and feedback on specific proposals (the results of which are outlined in Sections 2 and 3 of the Summary of Submissions). This sample included all submissions made on behalf of organisations, iwi or hapū, and any other submission with over 10,000 characters. This involved the manual analysis of approximately 4.1 per cent of all submissions, which was 34.4 per cent of all text received. 

The Ministry then cross-checked findings of the quantitative and qualitative assessment as part of its quality assurance processes. Overall, the Ministry is confident that this analysis captured the full range of views given by submitters. 

Alongside qualitative analysis on the sample of submissions indicated above, the Ministry additionally read hundreds of submissions that provided detailed feedback on aspects of the Bill, including from academics and legal experts.

Why was the qualitative analysis only undertaken on a sample of submissions? Was my submission considered if it was under 10,000 characters?

All submissions, regardless of length or category of submitter, were analysed as part of the quantitative analysis process. 

Due to the high volume of submissions received on the proposed Bill and time constraints involved, the Ministry analysed a sample of submissions as part of its qualitative analysis to meet the Government’s commitment to “pass the Regulatory Standards Act as soon as practicable” within the time available. The sample of submissions selected comprised 4.1 percent of submissions received, and 34.4 percent of all text received. The sample was selected on the basis that submissions included were likely to have more detailed feedback on the components of the proposed Bill to inform the Ministry’s qualitative analysis. 

Why was the quantitative analysis of submissions contracted out to an external provider? Who was the contractor engaged and what was the process they followed?

As is common practice, the Ministry engaged a New Zealand-based firm and All-of-Government consultancy supplier specialising in public consultation to support the quantitative analysis of submissions on the proposed Bill. 

Given the high volume of submissions received, engaging with a specialist provider with expertise in public consultation and submissions analysis enabled the Ministry to consider all submissions in the time available. The approach used is outlined in Appendix 1 of the Summary of Submissions. 

Was AI used to analyse my submission?

Tools used to analyse submissions are outlined in Appendix 1 of the Summary of Submissions. 

Briefings provided by the Ministry on the Regulatory Standards Bill have been proactively released and can be accessed at Our publications | Ministry for Regulation.open_in_new