The Restaurant Association has welcomed the release of the Ministry for Regulation’s Hospitality Sector Review, saying its 24 recommendations could deliver a more efficient and proportionate regulatory system that better reflects risk, recognises strong compliance performance and reduces unnecessary cost and complexity for hospitality businesses.
Restaurant Association General Manager Nicola Waldren says the Review reflects issues the Association has raised on behalf of the industry for many years.
“Many of the problems identified in this Review are legacy issues. For years, hospitality operators have been providing the same information across different parts of the system, dealing at times with inconsistencies in how requirements are applied, and facing costs that are not always proportionate to risk or that fail to recognise strong compliance performance,” says Waldren.
“It is encouraging to see those concerns recognised in the final report and translated into practical recommendations for change.”
The Review makes recommendations across food safety, alcohol licensing, fees and levies, information sharing, transport, planning and building requirements.
“These are not abstract policy problems. For small owner-operators, time spent navigating red tape can mean time away from running their business, supporting their team and serving their customers. Inefficiency also places pressure on the councils and regulators responsible for managing the system,” says Waldren.
“A better-designed system should reduce the time and effort required to meet regulatory obligations and allow regulators to focus their resources where they will make the greatest difference.”
The sector’s long-standing concerns were brought together through the first Hospitality Summit in 2024, where regulatory complexity was identified as a major barrier to opening, operating and growing hospitality businesses. The sector’s call for hospitality to become a focus for the Ministry for Regulation helped provide the impetus for the Review.
Ministry officials also held a workshop with industry representatives at the 2026 Hospitality Summit as the recommendations were developed.
“The Summit helped create a clear pathway for addressing these challenges. It gave operators a direct voice in the process and helped move the conversation towards practical action,” Waldren says.
The recommendations are not yet government policy, with Ministers expected to decide which recommendations to accept and the next steps over the coming weeks. “The report gives us a very positive starting point. What matters now is that the recommendations lead to practical change and operators see a real difference in their day-to-day dealings with the system.”
“We look forward to continuing to work with Ministers and officials as decisions are made and the detail is developed, including through the Government’s forthcoming Hospitality Action Plan.”