The regions of New Zealand are the administrative jurisdictions of the country's regional councils and unitary authorities; the country is divided into sixteen such areas. The councils derive their powers from the central government, as New Zealand is a unitary state rather than a federation.
Eleven are currently administered by regional councils, whilst the other five are administered by unitary authorities. Most of New Zealand's outlying Islands are not included within its regions, with the Solander Islands being the exception as they are within the Southland Region. The Chatham Islands are not within any region, having their own specially legislated territorial authority.
The regional councils are listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Local Government Act 2002, along with reference to the Gazette notices that established them in 1989. The act requires regional councils to promote sustainable developmentthe social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of their communities.
The current regions and most of their councils came into being through a local government reform in 1989 that took place under the Local Government Act 1974. The regional councils replaced the more than 700 ad hoc bodies that had been formed in the preceding century â roads boards, catchment boards, drainage boards, pest control boards, harbour boards, domain and reserve boards. In addition they took over some roles that had previously been performed by county councils.
The boundaries of the regions are based largely on drainage basins. This anticipated the responsibilities of the Resource Management Act 1991. Most regional boundaries conform with territorial authority boundaries but there are a number of exceptions. An example is Taupà  District, split between four regions, although most of its area is in the Waikato region. There is often a high degree of co-operation between regional and territorial councils as they have complementary roles.
Regional councils have these specific functions under the Resource Management Act 1991:
Regional councils have responsibility for functions under other statutes;
In mid 2025, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones proposed scrapping the 11 regional councils as part of the Sixth National Government's proposed overhaul of the Resource Management Act 1991. In late November 2025, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop confirmed the Government would seek to abolish regional councils and transfer their responsibilities to the 67 local district and city councils.
The Government has released two replacement proposals. First, abolishing elected regional councillors and replacing them with combined territories boards, which would consist of the mayors of the district councils within the former regions. While the regional councils as organisations would remain, they would be run by the mayors of the constituent regions. The Government's second proposal would be to get the combined territories boards to prepare a regional reorganisation plan within two years of their establishment, subject to approval by the Local Government Minister. These plans would focus on the delivery of infrastructure, public services and regulatory functions, and would be tested against criteria based on housing, infrastructure, and manageable rates services. Public consultation on the proposed legislative changes was open until 20 February 2026. The legislation is expected to be introduced in mid-2026 with the goal of passing it into law by 2027.
The Government's proposal to abolish the regional councils attracted a mixture of reactions. The proposal was supported by Otago Regional councillor Michael Laws and Dunedin City councillor Lee Vandervis, who described the regional councils as an "excessive level" of bureaucracy and argued that their dissolution would lower rates and red tape. By contrast, the proposal was opposed by Mayor of Wellington Andrew Little, Otago Regional councillor Alan Somerville, Te WÃÂnanga o Raukawa environmental planning lecturer Mahina-a-rangi Baker, Te Rà «nanga o Makaawhio chair Paul Madgwick and Mayor of Dunedin Sophie Barker on the grounds that abolishing the regional councils would erode environmental protections, reduce MÃÂori input in regional-level decision-making, infringe on Treaty of Waitangi obligations and add further to mayors and territorial authorities' workloads. Meanwhile, Mayor of Central Otago Tamah Alley, Mayor of Gisborne Rehette Stoltz and Labour leader Chris Hipkins expressed concerns about accountability, the loss of technical expertise, and the nature of the proposed reforms.
In mid-February 2026, several Otago regional councillors criticised the Government's proposal to replace the regional councils. Michael Laws described the proposal as "poorly written, drafted by bureaucrats who used AI when it was in a hallucination state and drawn up by people who had not passed their NCEA literacy tests." Instead, Laws advocated maintaining a regional government in Otago and a unitary authority based on the Auckland Council. Gretchen Robertson said that the restructure could lead to fragmentation while Neil Gillespie described local government as something "that was not simple."
Notes
Some outlying islands are not included within regional boundaries. The Chatham Islands is not in a region, although its council has some of the powers of a regional council under the Resource Management Act 1991. The Kermadecs and the subantarctic islands are inhabited only by a small number of Department of Conservation staff and there is no regional council for these islands.
Regional councils are popularly elected every three years in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001. Councils may use a first-past-the-post or single transferable vote system. The chairperson is selected by the elected council members.
Regional councils are funded through property rates, subsidies from central government, income from trading, and user charges for certain public services. Councils set their own levels of rates, though the mechanism for collecting it usually involves channelling through the territorial authority collection system.
The Auckland Regional Council (now the Auckland Council) was preceded by the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA), which existed from 1963 to 1989.
The Wellington Regional Council was first formed in 1980 from a merger of the Wellington Regional Planning Authority and the Wellington Regional Water Board.
In 1978, legislation was passed enabling the formation of regions that had united councils. Twenty regions were designated, excluding the Auckland and Wellington areas. For most of the country this was the first time there had been a regional level of government since the abolition of provinces in 1876. Councillors were not elected directly â they were appointed from the various territorial local authorities (TLAs) within the region.
The only responsibilities mandated by the legislation were coordination of civil defence and development of a regional plan, although the constituent TLAs could agree on additional responsibilities at the point of formation of each united council. For example, in a number of cases the united council took responsibility for the allocation of revenue from regional petrol taxes.
The united councils were based in the facilities of the largest TLA in the region and largely dependent on the TLAs for resources. They were allowed to levy rates but in most cases had minimal operating budgets (below $100,000 per annum). The notable exception was Canterbury, where the united council had a number of responsibilities. Only one united council undertook any direct operational activity â a forestry project in Wanganui.
Source: Summary of the Functions and Activities of United Councils. Dept of Internal Affairs, 1984.