The only constant is change - June 2023

Please note that this isn’t necessarily a complete list of all law changes relevant to your organisation. To get full clarity about legislative changes affecting your organisation, dial up the ‘clarity of change’ function in your ComplyWith Obligations Register. 

 
While you’re there, turn on law change notifications for yourself and remember that in the ComplyWith Admin module you can set up tailored law change notifications for anyone in your organisation who will benefit from being kept up to date about law changes relevant to their role. 

What laws changed recently?

Changes relating to the recent severe weather events 

• On 8 June 2023, the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery (Climate Change—Forestry) Order 2023 extended various deadlines for participants for certain deforesting activities in severe weather event affected areas.
• On 14 April 2023, the Arms (Extension of Licences and Endorsements) Amendment Regulations 2023 extended firearms licences, dealers’ licences, and endorsements for holders living in areas affected by severe weather events.
• On 13 April 2023, the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023 made various changes to assist local authorities in severe weather affected areas.
• The Civil Defence National Emergencies (Information Sharing) Code ceased to apply in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and the Tararua District on 31 March 2023 and in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay on 11 April 2023.
• On 21 March 2023, the Severe Weather Legislation Act 2023 made various changes to help with the recovery for those affected by severe weather events.

Key changes for all sectors 

• On 28 June 2023, the Radiation Safety Amendment Regulations 2023 came into force, changing the exemption for enclosed irradiating apparatus and the use licence exemption for veterinarians. 
• On 13 June 2023:
  • The Health and Safety at Work (Health and Safety Representatives and Committees) Amendment Act 2023 came into force removing the ability of low-risk workplaces with less than 20 workers to refuse to either:
    • initiate an election for a health and safety representative
    • establish a health and safety committee.
  • The Employment Relations (Extended Time for Personal Grievance for Sexual Harassment) Amendment Act 2023 made the following changes:
    • The time limit for raising a personal grievance involving sexual harassment was extended to 12 months (previously 90 days) for incidents on or after 13 June 2023.
    • Individual and collective agreements entered into or concluded on or after 13 June 2023 must refer to the new 12-month time limit.
• On 5 May 2023, the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Regulations 2023 came into force and changed the requirements for making reasonable inquiries about affordability.
• On 5 April 2023, the remaining changes from the Commerce Amendment Act 2022 came into force, including key changes about misusing market power.
• On 1 April 2023, the following changes were made: 
  • The minimum wage increased from $21.20 an hour to $22.70 an hour (and from $16.96 an hour to $18.16 an hour for starting-out workers and trainees).  
  • The student loan annual repayment threshold increased from $21,268 to $22,828 
  • The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2021-22, GST, and Remedial Matters) Act 2022 made various changes to the Income Tax Act and Goods and Services Tax Act. 
• On 11 March 2023, new tolerance levels for 21 prescription medicines and 4 illicit drugs were added by the Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Act 2022.

Changes for government organisations

• On 1 May 2023, the Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System Act 2022 added exclusions to the definition of official information in the Official Information Act 1982. 
• On 21 April 2023, the Plain Language Act 2022 came into force for Crown agents and public service departments. More information is in our article Let’s be clear.

Changes for local government 

• On 7 June 2023, certain provisions of the Self-contained Motor Vehicles Legislation Act 2023 came into force. 

Changes for the electricity industry

On 1 April 2023, the following changes were made:

• The Electricity Industry Participation Code Amendment (Avoided Cost of Transmission) 2022 removed the requirement for distributors to pay eligible distributed generation for avoided cost of transmission.
• The Electricity Industry Participation Code Amendment (Settlement Residual Allocation Methodology) 2022 added new requirements for distributors that are paid settlement residue.
• The Electricity Industry Participation Code Amendment (Transmission Pricing Methodology) 2022 replaced the transmission pricing methodology.

Changes for the gas industry

• On 1 April 2023, the Gas Governance (Compliance) Regulations 2008 were changed to refer to the new Gas (Facilities Outage Information Disclosure) Rules 2022.

Changes for the health sector

• On 16 June 2023, the Medicines Amendment Regulations 2023 and Misuse of Drugs Amendment Regulations 2023 exempted certain medicines and controlled drugs from certain labelling requirements.
• On 15 June 2023, the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021 replaced the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 1995.

Changes for organisations with firearms

• On 24 June 2023, the rest of the Arms Legislation Act 2020 and the Arms Amendment Regulations 2023 came into force, establishing an arms registry.

Changes for organisations with animals

• On 30 April 2023, exporting cattle, deer, goats, or sheep by sea was banned when the rest of the Animal Welfare Amendment Act 2022 came into  force.

What’s coming up?

Below is a summary of some of the key changes coming up.

• On 30 June 2023, the following come into force:
  • A new Code of Good Practice for New Zealand Apprenticeships 
  • The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (Class Exemptions) Amendment Notice 2023. 
• On 1 July 2023:
  • The Waste Minimisation (Plastic and Related Products) Amendment Regulations 2022 come into force expanding the list of plastic products that can no longer be manufactured or sold to include single-use plastic cutlery, produce bags, and tableware.
  • The Gas (Levy of Industry Participants ) Regulations 2023 come into force setting the levies on gas industry participants for the 2023/24 financial year.
  • The gas safety, monitoring, and energy efficiency (GSMEE) levy rate for 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 will increase to 6.0 cents a gigajoule (previously 4.9 cents a gigajoule). 
  • The income threshold for a rates rebate will increase from $28,080 to $30,100, and the maximum rates rebate will increase from $700 to $750.
  • The Local Government Members (2023/24) Determination 2023 comes into force, and the Local Government Members (2022/23) Determination 2022 is revoked.
  • Certain provisions in the Resource Management (Stock Exclusion) Regulations 2020 come into force for existing pastoral systems.
  • Zopiclone and zolpidem become class C5 controlled drugs and fentanyl becomes a class B1 controlled drug when the rest of the Misuse of Drugs (Classification and Presumption of Supply) Order 2022 comes into force.
• On 8 July 2023, the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act 2020 is repealed.
• On 18 July 2023, Part 2 of the Health and Safety at Work (Mining Operations and Quarrying Operations) Amendment Regulations 2022 comes into force.
• On 1 August 2023, the Resource Management (Freshwater Farm Plans) Regulations 2023 and Resource Management (Application of Part 9A - Freshwater Farm Plans) Order 2023 come into force.
• On 5 October 2023, the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 comes into force.