Regulatory charters
We have responsibility for maintaining and reviewing charters for our regulatory systems.
On this page
The purpose of a charter
Government entities have stewardship obligations under the State Sector Act to monitor the performance of the regulatory systems they oversee.
A regulatory charter is a management tool designed to support a living regulatory system and reinforce its shared ownership for those with regulatory functions.
A regulatory charter:
- sets clear expectations for what the regime is intended to achieve
- describes the roles and functions of the various parts of the regulatory regime
- sets out how systems actors will work together to address the gaps, overlaps and uncertainties which inevitably arise in complex systems
- describes a regulatory regime for a public audience.
A charter's scope
A charter summarises how the system is intended to perform so that risks and gaps in the system can be identified quickly in system assessments and other types of regulatory system monitoring.
A charter doesn't impose an extra obligation on core agencies to carry out system assessments. Core agencies expect existing accountability processes and proactive self-assessments are sufficient.
Charters and system assessments complement each other as shown in this diagram:
Charter ownership
We develop charters and work with the other core agencies to ensure they are comfortable with the charter for their regulatory system. The charter confers no obligation on the core agencies, but records an understanding between them about their respective roles and functions in their regulatory system.
Other agencies have roles and functions in the system but these agencies are not parties to the charter nor are they owners of it.
Charter review and management
We have responsibility for maintaining and reviewing charters. Review of each charter should occur at least every 5 years and include assessments of:
- whether system objectives, policy or context have changed over time
- whether the charter document should be updated to reflect these changes
- whether, as a result of system assessments, progress has been made in addressing identified risks and closing gaps.
Published charters
Competition system charter [PDF, 496 KB]
Consumer and Commercial charter [PDF, 1.2 MB]
Energy markets charter [PDF, 848 KB]
Employment Relations and Employment Standards charter [PDF, 613 KB]