Last month, the New Zealand government released a new website which provides free public access to online versions of all New Zealand Acts, Bills and Regulations.

This may sound like something which should have been in existence for some time; however, it’s never been done before in New Zealand and is a large step forward for providing open and easy access to legal material for the average New Zealander.

The New Zealand Legislation website is the culmination of the Public Access to Legislation (PAL) project.

One of the key factors in building a site like this is how often it is updated and therefore how correct the details are. In their About Us section, they say new Acts will be updated within five working days of Royal assent; new Regulations on the day after the date they are notified in the Gazette; and new Bills introduced into the House, on the day after introduction.

So, if you’re interested in finding out all the controversial requirements in the Electoral Finance Act 2007 that was recently introduced, you can read it all yourself and you can even download a PDF copy of the Act itself.

Image from Flickr.