Services › Local Government Operations

The Department carries out a variety of services and has operational responsibilities with regard to local government.

The Department provides boating facilities and regulates boating activity at Lake Taupo, is responsible for Harbourmaster functions for Lake Taupo and administers and enforces the Lake Taupo Regulations 1976. The team exercises territorial authority functions on behalf of the Minister of Local Government on some offshore islands where the Minister has the powers of a territorial authority.

The Rates Rebate Scheme, which provides rebates to low-income ratepayers, is also administered by the Department.

Further Information

• Link here to Local Government Policy

• Link here to information about the Local Government Act 2002

• Link here to information about the Local Electoral Act 2001

• Link here to information about the Community Outcomes Processes

• LG KnowHow is a joint work programme by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), the Society of Local Government Managers (SOLGM), and the Department of Internal Affairs, to provide councils with the guidance, templates, "best practice" advice and ongoing training that will enable them to implement the new Local Government and Rating Acts successfully.

• Policy development guidelines for regulatory functions involving local government (December 2006) These guidelines have been prepared to prompt and assist central government agencies to identify and consider key issues that may arise where local authorities are, or are proposed to be, involved in the implementation of regulatory functions.

• Strategy for Evaluating Local Government Legislation (December 2005) Link here to a copy of the strategy developed by the Department of Internal Affairs for evaluating the roles, responsibilities, powers and accountabilities of local government as defined by the Local Government Act 2002, the Local Electoral Act 2001, and the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.

• www.localcouncils.govt.nz (Link here to the Local Councils website, managed by the Department of Internal Affairs)

• Dog Control The Dog Control Amendment Act 2003 is intended to make New Zealand a safer place for children. An electronic (pdf) version of the Dog Control Amendment Act is now available from this website.

• Maori and the Local Government Act A summary of feedback from the series of workshops conducted in 2003 on Treaty of Waitangi issues and the Maori provisions in the Local Government Act 2002.

Local Government Information Project
The purpose of the Local Government Information Project is to collect, analyse and disseminate consistent, credible information about each Council, easily accessible from a single website for the public, councillors and staff . The Local Councils website went live in August 2005.

Local Government Directory
A directory of Local Government in New Zealand is available on the Local Councils website.