New Zealand’s new national lifejacket rule started out as a law for children. By the time it passed, it was aimed at adults, and especially at the middle-aged and older men who make up most boating deaths.
Since 9 October 2026, everyone on board a recreational craft 6 metres or shorter has had to wear a lifejacket while the craft is underway. Maritime NZ, the government agency responsible for safety on the water, says the rule applies everywhere in the country, on lakes, rivers and the sea.
The change comes from the Maritime Transport (Lifejackets on Recreational Craft) Amendment Act 2026, which received Royal assent on 10 September 2026. It amends Part 91 of the Maritime Rules, the national navigation safety rules. Before it, Parliament’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee noted, wearing a lifejacket on a small boat was largely left to the skipper and the people on board.
Who has to wear one
The rule covers anyone on a recreational jetski, dinghy, kayak, paddleboard, sailboat, motorboat, yacht tender or trailer-sailer of 6 metres or less. The person in charge of the craft must make sure everyone aboard wears a lifejacket of the right size.
Maritime NZ measures a boat by its length overall, from bow to stern. That includes permanent structure such as cabins, fixed bait tanks and the buoyancy tubes on an inflatable. It doesn’t include outboard motors, swim platforms, bowsprits or other fittings that stick out past the hull.
“Underway” means the boat isn’t at anchor, tied to a dock or the shore, or aground. The committee chose that word so the rule wouldn’t catch people eating or sleeping on board at anchor.
The existing exemptions still apply. They cover surfboards and similar unpowered craft, windsurfers in wetsuits, divers in wetsuits on boats 6 metres and under within 5 miles of shore, and approved supervised sporting events.
People swimming off a boat don’t need a lifejacket while they’re getting in and out of the water. SUP surfing, riding breaking waves on a stand-up paddleboard, is exempt too, though ordinary paddleboarding isn’t.
Boats over 6 metres keep the old rules. Every recreational boat, whatever its size, must carry enough lifejackets for everyone on board. People must still wear them at times of heightened risk and while being towed, such as water skiing.
Why adults became the focus
The bill was introduced in April 2025 as a requirement for children under 15 only. Submissions and advice from officials then showed the committee that children aren’t the main victims of small-boat drownings.
Officials from the Ministry of Transport and Maritime NZ told the committee that the average age of a person who dies in a recreational boating incident is 50, and most are men over 40. In its July 2026 report, the committee counted eight recreational boating deaths of children under 15 since the start of 2015, against 161 deaths of people aged 15 and over. Since the start of 2016, 147 of 199 boating deaths, or 74%, happened on vessels 6 metres or shorter.
The committee also heard accounts of adults who drowned because they couldn’t reach or put on a lifejacket, while their children, who were wearing theirs, survived. It widened the bill to cover everyone on board.
Sharyn Forsyth, chair of the Safer Boating Forum, a network of more than 30 water safety organisations led by Maritime NZ, says an average of 17 people die each year in recreational craft incidents.
Water Safety New Zealand, a drowning prevention organisation, recorded 78 preventable drowning deaths in 2025. Men made up 83% of them, and it says adult and older adult men remain the highest-risk group.
Its modelling suggests that if everyone wore a lifejacket on recreational craft while underway, an average of 12 lives a year could be saved. “A lifejacket cannot help if it is not being worn,” says Glen Scanlon, the organisation’s chief executive.
Penalties and local bylaws
At the time of writing, the specific national offences and penalties for not wearing a lifejacket haven’t been created. Maritime NZ says they’ll likely be in place within a few months, and that it’s good practice to educate the public first.
In the meantime, existing offences still apply, including causing unnecessary danger or risk under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act 1994.
The committee counted 18 regional council bylaws that already required lifejackets on small craft. Maritime NZ says bylaw offences that are consistent with the new rule can still be enforced. Where a bylaw conflicts with it, the committee noted, the national rule takes precedence.
Once the national offences exist, police, regional councils, harbourmasters and Maritime NZ staff will be able to enforce them.
Maritime NZ’s advice is to check that everyone has the right size and type of lifejacket, that it fits properly and that it’s in good condition. Inflatable lifejackets carry weight limits, and one that doesn’t fit doesn’t meet the rule. Then take two waterproof ways to call for help and check the marine weather forecast before you go.
