Taituarā has recently submitted feedback on the draft DZ 9202:2025 – Local Government Standing Orders, sharing insights from our members and the Democracy and Participation Reference Group (DPRG) to ensure standing orders work in practice for councils and communities.
Why it matters
Standing orders are the rules that guide how council meetings operate, ensuring transparency, fairness, and accountability. They underpin local democracy and give communities confidence that decisions are made openly and inclusively.
What the submission recommends
- Clear, practical, and accessible rules
Standing orders should be easy to read and use during real-time meetings. We advocate for plain language, logical structure, clear headings, and versions tailored for different types of councils and boards.
- Cultural responsiveness and inclusivity
Standing orders must reflect Aotearoa’s diversity, including Māori perspectives and local tikanga. Councils should be able to add non-contradictory appendices to reflect local practices and emerging governance structures, such as Combined Territorial Boards.
- Strengthening governance principles
Beyond legal compliance, standing orders should embed values like transparency, fairness, professionalism, and respectful participation. This helps councils uphold high standards of local democracy.
- Flexibility for local needs
Councils operate in diverse contexts. We recommend allowing technical refinements and optional provisions to suit different governance arrangements, while maintaining consistency across the sector.
- Regular review and legislative alignment
To remain relevant, standing orders should have a scheduled review cycle, ideally every three years, and a process for councils to report issues between reviews.
- Removing barriers to transparency
Current copyright rules make it hard for councils to share standing orders publicly. We propose transferring licensing responsibility to the Department of Internal Affairs so councils can publish standing orders freely.
Supporting councils with resources
We also emphasise the ongoing need for accessible guidance, such as the Standing Orders Guide, integrated with Taituarā’s Council Toolkit, to help councils apply the rules consistently and effectively.
The goal
Our submission aims to ensure that standing orders are fit for purpose, culturally inclusive, and practical, supporting councils to operate transparently and enabling communities to participate fully in local democracy.
