New Zealand’s regulatory framework has been comprehensively mapped for the first time, exposing more than 260 regulators operating across central government, local government and statutory bodies, many of them duplicating each other’s responsibilities and driving up costs for businesses and individuals alike.
Regulation Minister David Seymour announced the findings alongside a broader government push to reduce complexity, describing the current system as a “twisted spaghetti of regulators” that consumes public funding, drains productivity and forces some operators to abandon compliance efforts entirely.
The audit identified 95 regulators within central government, 79 across local government and 57 statutory bodies, committees or tribunals, all operating under hundreds of separate Acts, with multiple agencies frequently responsible for the same regulatory domain.
Why it matters for cleaning and facilities businesses
For operators in the cleaning, hygiene and facilities management sector, the findings resonate. Businesses routinely navigate overlapping requirements across workplace health and safety, environmental compliance, waste management, labour law and infection control – each governed by different agencies with different standards, timelines and enforcement approaches.
“This drives high costs, long delays and confusion, while weakening accountability,” Seymour told Inside Government, adding that the layers of regulation have accumulated over more than 25 years without any systemic review of their collective impact.
The Ministry for Regulation will use the mapping exercise to identify overlap, duplication and unnecessary complexity, and will maintain and progressively update the register under the requirements of the Regulatory Standards Act 2025.
The case for reform
Seymour framed the reform agenda in direct economic terms, arguing that every dollar saved on bureaucratic overhead is a dollar returned to taxpayers or redirected to frontline services.
For facility service providers, a leaner, better-aligned regulatory environment could mean fewer compliance gaps, clearer accountability and less time spent navigating competing obligations, freeing resources for the operational and safety priorities that matter most.
