Statutes Amendment Act 2025: Key Legal Updates, AML Changes & Compliance Impacts

Regulation Name: Statutes Amendment Act 2025
Date Of Release: 25 Nov 2025
Region: New Zealand
Agency: Ministry of Justice

Statutes Amendment Act 2025: Key Changes and Their Impact Across New Zealand’s Legal Landscape

The Statutes Amendment Act 2025 introduces wide-ranging technical and non-controversial updates across more than 40 Acts of Parliament. As with all Statutes Amendment legislation, the changes are targeted, corrective, and designed to improve legislative workability without altering core policy settings. This omnibus Act streamlines compliance, clarifies long-standing ambiguities, and modernises legal processes across areas such as anti-money laundering, privacy, oaths and declarations, land transfer, defence, conservation, local government, and more. Collectively, these amendments strengthen operational efficiency for regulators, businesses, service agencies, and public institutions in New Zealand.

At its core, the Act reflects Parliament’s ongoing focus on improving legal clarity, reducing administrative burden, and removing legislative duplication. It includes critical updates recommended unanimously by the Governance and Administration Committee to ensure consistency with legislative quality principles. Several amendments also respond to real-world challenges highlighted by industry, government agencies, and public submissions.

Major AML/CFT Amendments Strengthening Compliance Efficiency

One of the most consequential components of the Act is the reform of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009, which directly affects regulated entities such as banks, financial service providers, casino operators, and designated businesses. The Act clarifies that address verification is not required during Standard Customer Due Diligence (CDD)—a point that has long created confusion and unnecessary friction in onboarding processes. Under the amendment, address verification becomes mandatory only during Enhanced CDD, aligning compliance requirements more precisely with risk levels.

This targeted change reduces onboarding delays, eliminates redundant document collection, and lowers compliance costs—while maintaining strict AML safeguards where risk is elevated. The Act also updates reporting timelines for Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). Reporting entities must now file SARs within 3 working days, while law firms have 5 working days, balancing operational practicality with enforcement needs. Additionally, prescribed transactions reporting timelines extend from 10 to 20 days, providing needed administrative flexibility.

These amendments collectively enhance AML/CFT system efficiency, create greater clarity for reporting entities, and reduce the risk of penalties arising from procedural ambiguities.

Modernisation of Oaths, Affirmations, and Declarations

The Act also introduces significant modernisation to the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957, aligning legal processes with digital service delivery. Under the new section 2A, oaths, affirmations, and declarations may be taken using audiovisual links, provided the administrator can visually verify the signing process. However, the Act explicitly prohibits audio-only administration to ensure authenticity and prevent misuse.

This change enables remote legal transactions, supports the growing digital-first public service model, and provides convenience for individuals and professionals operating from remote locations—while maintaining trust and evidentiary integrity.

Privacy Act Updates: Enhanced Clarity on Complaints and Information Handling

The Act introduces a series of nuanced updates to the Privacy Act 2020, addressing recurring interpretive issues. Key changes include:

• Clarifying the definition of “related complaints” and aligning the 6-month limitation period to commence after all related matters are decided, preventing premature expiry of rights.
• Stating that individuals holding personal information solely for personal/domestic purposes remain exempt if the information was lawfully collected, received unsolicited, or personally created.
• Allowing refusal of access requests if information is not readily retrievable, adding practical flexibility for agencies.
• Reinforcing that agents holding information on behalf of agencies (e.g., processors, custodians) are treated as extensions of the agency for liability and knowledge purposes.

These amendments collectively strengthen fairness, reduce legal uncertainty, and modernise interpretation of privacy obligations.

Conservation Act & Wildlife Act: Clarity and Updates for Resource Management

The Act removes certain conservation-related clauses that have been overtaken by broader legislative reforms. Other updates include:

• Introducing a new offence for unauthorised taking of indigenous freshwater fish.
• Requiring the Director-General to consider existing concessions and other management plans when preparing conservation strategies.
• Updating penalties for contaminant discharge violations and clarifying acceptable defences under resource management frameworks.

These revisions promote sustainable resource management, ecological protection, and coherence across conservation-related legislation.

Land Transfer Act Modernisation

The Land Transfer Act 2017 receives several practical upgrades, notably:

• Allowing public notices to link to additional online information where including the full detail is impracticable.
• Recognising courier service delivery for legal notices as valid proof of service.
• Authorising payments from a Crown Bank Account for compensation and survey correction costs without separate appropriation.
• Strengthening rules around mortgagee consent and delegation of Registrar’s functions.

These changes enhance administrative efficiency for conveyancers, surveyors, landowners, and legal service providers.

Updates Across Sectoral and Technical Legislation

The Statutes Amendment Act 2025 also updates numerous other statutes, including:

• Defence Act 1990: replaces outdated terms like “airman” with gender-neutral “aviator”, modernising terminology.
• Coroners Act 2006: clarifies decision-making roles of associate coroners.
• Local Government Act 2002: requires reporting of rates written off in financial statements.
• Real Estate Agents Act 2008: strengthens clarity on complaints handling and supports electronic lodgment of documents.
• Radiocommunications Act 1989: enables electronic service of infringement notices where the person has no NZ address.
• Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 2004: introduces authentication rules for photographs and clarifies application procedures.
• Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003: allows assessors to continue functioning despite temporary panel removal to avoid disruption of tribunal proceedings.

Each amendment enhances legislative practicality in its respective sector.

Impact: A More Efficient, Accessible, and Modern Statutory Framework

The Statutes Amendment Act 2025 represents a comprehensive refresh of New Zealand’s statutory environment. While the changes are non-controversial and technical by design, their cumulative impact is significant:

• Greater clarity for compliance teams, legal practitioners, and regulators.
• Reduced administrative overhead for AML entities, government departments, and businesses.
• Improved digital accessibility for oaths, declarations, notices, and document delivery.
• Modernised legal language consistent with current practice.
• More consistent, interoperable frameworks across privacy, conservation, housing, and local government legislation.

The Act ultimately strengthens New Zealand’s commitment to transparent, modern, and user-friendly lawmaking—benefiting public agencies, regulated industries, and citizens alike.

Important FAQs:

🔹  What is the Statutes Amendment Act 2025?

The Statutes Amendment Act 2025 is an omnibus New Zealand law that updates more than 40 existing Acts through minor, technical, and non-controversial amendments. It aims to modernise legal processes, remove inconsistencies, clarify obligations, and improve digital accessibility across AML/CFT compliance, privacy rules, oaths and declarations, conservation, land transfer, defence terminology, and local government reporting. The Act does not create new policy but enhances operational efficiency, reduces administrative burdens, and strengthens the clarity and usability of New Zealand’s statutory framework.

🔹 Key AML/CFT Changes in the Act

The Act introduces several targeted improvements to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009, including:

• Address verification no longer required for Standard CDD; required only for Enhanced CDD based on risk.
• SAR reporting timeframes standardised, with reporting entities given 3 working days, and law firms 5 days.
• Prescribed transaction reporting timeframe doubled from 10 to 20 working days.
  These updates reduce compliance friction, clarify onboarding requirements, and support a more efficient AML/CFT regime without weakening safeguards.

🔹 What changed under the Privacy Act?

Key Privacy Act amendments in the Statutes Amendment Act 2025 include:

• A new rule for related complaints, allowing the 6-month limitation period to start only after all related matters are decided.
• Clearer exemption criteria for personal/domestic information holders.
• Ability for agencies to decline access requests if information is not readily retrievable.
• Expanded definitions establishing that agents or processors are considered part of the agency for liability and knowledge.
  These changes increase fairness, reduce ambiguity, and strengthen information-handling clarity.

🔹 Digital Oaths and Declarations

The Act modernises the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957 by allowing oaths, affirmations, and declarations to be administered via audiovisual link, provided the signing is visually verified. Audio-only administration is prohibited. Documents must be shown and transmitted to the administrator for verification.
This reform supports remote legal services, digital government delivery, and efficient document execution while preserving evidentiary integrity.

🔹 Conservation & Wildlife Updates

The Act updates conservation law by:

• Introducing an offence for unauthorised taking of indigenous freshwater fish.
• Requiring the Director-General to consider existing concessions and management plans when preparing strategies.
• Strengthening penalties and clarifying resource management defences for contaminant discharge.
  These changes improve ecological protection, strengthen enforcement, and ensure better alignment across natural resource legislation.

🔹 Land Transfer Act Improvements

The Land Transfer Act receives several practical upgrades:

• Public notices may link to additional information online when content is too large.
• Legal notices sent via courier with delivery tracking are now recognised.
• Compensation and survey correction costs can be paid directly from a Crown Bank Account.
• Mortgagee consent rules and Registrar delegation processes are clarified.
  These updates simplify conveyancing, strengthen legal certainty, and support digital workflows.

🔹 Why the Statutes Amendment Act 2025 Matters

The Act matters because it:

• Improves regulatory clarity across dozens of statutes.
• Reduces compliance burden for financial institutions, law firms, and government agencies.
• Enhances digital processes for oaths, notices, and documentation.
• Modernises legal terminology and removes outdated provisions.
• Strengthens privacy protection, environmental compliance, and public service accountability.
  Overall, it creates a more efficient, accessible, and future-ready legal framework for New Zealand.

Read about the law here.

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