TOPIC GUIDE : PUBLIC POLICY

Business & Economics Information Services (BEIS)

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New Zealand government  

newzealand.govt.nz

The official site for the New zealand government. Draws together all government agencies and goverment funded sites. The Participate section outlines the processes available for public involvement in central and local government, including how to make a submission to a Select Committee

State Services Commission  

Statutory authority appointed to manage the Public Service and wider State sector organisations

Cabinet Committees

Falls within the jurisdiction of the Cabinet Office, part of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Office (DPMC).

Treasury

Selected Policies, Advisory committees & Policy units within Government Departments  

Royal Commissions

Political Party policies   

New Zealand legislation   

The legislative process   

Parliamentary debate and readings

All speeches in the Chamber, as well as the daily written and oral questions, are recorded in the New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, commonly known as Hansard. This is an invaluable source for discussion on legislation and is the official report of parliamentary debates.

Hansard is available:

  • Hansard [library database] full text, from 1987 onwards
  • Hansard (Debates) [NZ Parliament official website] from 2003 onwards
  • In print form Davis Law Library and 328.95 N53 New Zealand & Pacific Collection, Level G, General Library
    • Each volume has an index. To find the debate associated with a piece of legislation search in the ‘Sessional index’ in the last volume of each Session (usually coincides with a calendar year). Within the BILLS entry of the Index look under the title of the Bill to find the page where the debates appear. An Advance is published first and is later replaced by a corrected final copy. Please note that the bound volume of New Zealand Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), published under the authority of the House of Representatives, is the only official report of the proceedings of the House. 

Select Committees   

The select committee [NZ Parliament Fact Sheet] forms an integral part of the legislative process [NZ Parliament Fact Sheet] and is the forum for public input into the parliamentary process

Finding Bills - use these library databases:

  • Brookers Online Bills of New Zealand - includes Current Bills, Defeated Bills, Enacted Bills and Historic Clauses. Includes explanatory notes and Select Committee reports
  • LegislationNZ

Finding New Zealand Acts (or Statutes) - use these library databases:

  • LexisNexis NZ [helpsheet]
  • Brookers Online [helpsheet]
  • On the web Legislation is available via the New Zealand Legislation website. This is the government initiative to provide public access to legislation. Use with caution - this site is only updated on a monthly basis (unlike the library's subscription databases which are updated daily) and has no accompanying editorial comment. 

    In print in the Davis Law Library and General Library  Acts are also available in print form in the General Library: Statutes of New Zealand [Voyager record].
    The Davis Law Library and New Zealand & Pacific Collection, Level G, General Library, hold a copy of every Act of Parliament ever passed in New Zealand. They are bound together in volumes each year.   T    o know what legislation is in force and to find which print volume an Act is in use:
  • Tables of Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations in Force (abbreviated version) on the Legislation Direct website  or 
  • The print version Tables of New Zealand Acts and Ordinances and Statutory Regulations in Force [Voyager record] or
  • In the Davis Law Library and in the New Zealand & Pacific Collection, Level G, General Library (end of stack NZP 346.4 N53), wall charts are displayed which list legislation in force. The charts will either give you an RS (Reprinted Statute) and a number or just a number. Note the year of the Act and its number. Note that RS volumes are shelved in a separate sequence,  NZP 346.3 N56re). See further information provided by the Davis Law Library.

For additional information see also:

  • FAQs from the Parliamentary Counsel Office (explanations of Bills, Acts, Regulations)
  • Laws of New Zealand (fulltext online in LexisNexis NZ ) -  the New Zealand legal encyclopedia. Read legal commentary and follow referrals to relevant statutes, case law and commentary 
  • Davis Law Library links to New Zealand Legislation

Catalogue searches   

Use these subject heading searches to find legislative materials:

Advertising laws New Zealand New Zealand Employment Contracts Act 1991
Customary law New Zealand New Zealand Employment Relations Act 2000
Income tax Law and legislation New Zealand New Zealand Health & Safety in Employment Act 1992
Industrial hygiene Law and legislation New Zealand New Zealand Human Rights Act 1993
Industrial safety law and legislation New Zealand New Zealand. Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992
Labor laws and legislation New Zealand New Zealand. New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
Medical records Law and legislation New Zealand New Zealand Privacy Act 1993
New Zealand. Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989. New Zealand Resource Management Act 1991
Taxation law and legislation New Zealand

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use these subject heading searches to find books and journals on public policy:

Ageism Old age pensions
Affirmative action programs New Zealand Pacific Islanders Government policy New Zealand
Broadcasting policy Pensions
Child welfare Policy sciences
Children Government policy Policy sciences Methodology
Economic policy Political planning
Education and state New Zealand Poverty
Emigration and immigration Public administration Decision-making 
Finance, public Public health New Zealand
Finance public New Zealand Public policy
Fiscal policy New Zealand Public policy New Zealand
Future tertiary education policy for New Zealand Public-private sector cooperation
Government spending policy Public welfare
Health care reform New Zealand Responsibility Government policy New Zealand
Health planning New Zealand Retirement
Health policy Retirement income
Health policy New Zealand Social indicators
Housing policy Social policy
Information policy Economic aspects Social prediction New Zealand
Labor policy Social problems
Labor policy New Zealand Taxation
Maori (New Zealand people) Government policy Taxation New Zealand
Medical policy Transportation and state
Medical policy New Zealand Transportation and state New Zealand
New Zealand economic policy Transportation New Zealand
New Zealand emigration and immigration Transportation New Zealand planning
New Zealand emigration and immigration Government policy Welfare economics
New Zealand social policy Welfare state

Books in series 

Dictionaries and encyclopedias

Selected journals on public policy 


Library databases for journal articles on public policy topics  

Research centres 

University research centres

Other research centres

New Zealand

Australia

Canada

Europe

United Kingdom

United States

International


Statistics  
Copyright©The University of Auckland Library
Author: Subject Librarian Economics
Comments and suggestions to:Camille Tooman
 Last updated: 21 December, 2011