Racing Industry Act 2020

Information about instruments created for applications under the Racing Industry Act 2020 and the requirements for dealing with titles that are affected by the Act.

The Racing Industry Act 2020 (“the Act”) reformed the law relating to New Zealand thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing. It includes provisions which require the Registrar-General of Land (“the RGL”) to record memorials on titles for land used by racing clubs.

Section 21 and 22

Under Section 21 of the Act racing clubs must obtain written approval from their administrative bodies (the racing codes) when dealing with a racing venue.

Section 22 allows the racing codes to apply to the RGL to have a memorial placed on the relevant titles noting that the title is subject to s 21(1) of the Act.

Once the memorial is placed on a title, it can only be removed by a subsequent application for removal by a racing code. The memorial is not an interest which will be removed under s 103 of the Land Transfer Act 2017 in the event the affected land is transferred by a mortgagee exercising their power of sale.

If a title is subject to s 21 of the Act, the memorial on the title is not a ‘stop’ that prevents further registration on that title.

Complying with section 21

Practitioners acting for racing clubs will need to ensure that their clients have complied with any obligations under the Act.

The standard certifications for several instruments include a certification from the certifying practitioner that “any statutory provisions specified by the Registrar this class of instrument has been complied with or do not apply”. We will update the Certification of Electronic Instruments (Statutory Requirements and Retention of Evidence) Standard 2018 – LINZS20012 to ensure that compliance with section 21 of the Act is included in this certification.

If an affected dealing, such as a transfer from a racing club to a third party, is selected for compliance review, the practitioner who certified the transfer for the racing club must therefore provide the racing code’s written approval to the RGL as the supporting evidence for their certifications.

A written approval to an instrument obtained from the relevant racing code should not be attached to the instrument lodged for registration by e-dealing.

Transfer of surplus venues under section 32

Section 27 of the Act sets out a mechanism for a racing code to have a surplus venue owned by a racing club transferred to that racing code. Once the transfer proposal has been approved by Order in Council, an application can be made to the RGL to register the racing code as the owner of the fee simple estate under s 32 of the Act.

New instruments

There are 3 instruments available in Landonline for dealings under the Act:

  • N21 (application to the RGL by a racing code under s22 to have a memorial added)
  • R21 (application to the RGL by a racing code under s22 to have a memorial removed)
  • A32 (application to the RGL under s32 to transfer surplus racing venue to racing code).

Each new instrument is an image only instrument to be signed by the applicant. An Authority and Instruction (A&I) form is not required.

Further information

Certification of Electronic Instruments (Statutory Requirements and Retention of Evidence) Standard 2018 – LINZS20012

E-Dealing compliance monitoring