Emergency Management Bill

Although the intent of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 (CDEM Act) is sound, the Government Inquiry into the Response to the North Island Severe Weather Events and other reviews have made it clear that New Zealand has not achieved the whole of society approach to emergency management that Parliament envisaged when the CDEM Act was passed in 2002.

Additionally, the frequency, complexity, and consequences of recent emergencies have highlighted the importance of updating the legislation to improve how we manage risks, respond to and recover from emergencies, and empower and support community resilience.

The Bill implements the parts of the Government’s response to the Inquiry that require legislation and addresses a range of other issues identified with the CDEM Act.

When passed, the Emergency Management Bill will replace the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 (the CDEM Act) and create the new emergency management legal framework for New Zealand. 

The Bill retains New Zealand’s existing philosophy for emergency management, which is based on three key principles:

• consideration of all hazards – natural and man-made
• taking an end-to-end approach to managing risks – that means taking action across the “4 Rs” of risk reduction, readiness, response, and recovery
• all parts of society have a role to play – risks should be managed by those who are best placed to manage them, at the lowest appropriate level.

This Bill builds on the legislative framework established by the CDEM Act. Its changes seek to:

• strengthen the role of communities and iwi Māori in emergency management
• provide for clear responsibilities at the national, regional, and local levels
• enable a higher minimum standard of emergency management
• minimise disruption to essential services; and
• ensure agencies have the tools to do their jobs effectively when an emergency happens.

The explanatory note at the start of the Bill provides more information on what the Bill contains.

The following two diagrams describe some of the key changes to structural arrangements and subsidiary instruments in the Bill.

• Structural arrangements under the CDEM Act and EM Bill (.pdf 87kb)
• Subsidiary arrangements under the CDEM Act and EM Bill (.pdf 109kb)

View the Bill at Emergency Management Bill (No 2) 236-1 (2025), Government Bill Contents – New Zealand Legislation

Eight information sheets outline substantive changes that the Emergency Management (No 2) Bill 2025 (EM Bill) would make to emergency management legislation.

The information sheets set out what’s changing and why, who the changes would affect, and when they would come into force.

Readers should keep in mind that the information sheets focus on what has substantively changed in the EM Bill from the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 (which the EM Bill replaces); many provisions remain the same or have minor changes. Readers should refer to the Emergency Management Bill (No 2)  for a complete view of what the proposed legislation provides for and requires.

The provisions in the EM Bill may also change through the Parliamentary process.

Information sheets

Information Sheet Overview (.pdf 140kb) provides an overview of the eight information sheets.

1. Emergency Management Participants (.pdf 316kb) outlines changes relating to participants in the emergency management system, including for iwi and Māori, rural and other communities, disproportionately affected communities, and emergency ambulance services.
2. Local Government Emergency Management Roles and Responsibilities (.pdf 236kb) outlines changes relating to local government emergency management roles and responsibilities, including how Emergency Management Committees are made up, their functions, and the functions of member local authorities.
3. Local Lines of Accountability for Emergency Management (.pdf 223kb) outlines changes relating to lines of accountability for emergency management, including for territorial authority chief executives and Controllers and Recovery Managers at the regional, district, and local levels.
4. Emergency Management Declarations (.pdf 193kb) outlines changes relating to how states of emergency and transition periods are declared and managed.
5. Emergency Management Powers (.pdf 195kb) outlines changes relating to who can use emergency powers during states of emergency and transition periods, reporting requirements, and civil liability protections; as well as new powers to relieve animal suffering and provide for restricted access to roads/public places.
6. Assurance (.pdf 220kb) outlines changes relating to assurance in the emergency management system, including to set rules for technical and operational matters and for the Director-General Emergency Management to issue compliance orders relating to non-performance.
7. Essential Infrastructure Providers (.pdf 179kb) outlines changes relating to essential infrastructure providers (previously called lifeline utilities) including duties to contribute to planning and provide technical advice; and expanding who may be considered an essential infrastructure provider.
8. Planning Arrangements (.pdf 399kb) outlines changes relating to the emergency management planning framework, including enabling Regional Planning Standards, requirements for engagement with and planning for disproportionately affected communities and iwi and Māori, and planning for managing animals and offers of assistance from the public in an emergency.

DISCLAIMER: For planning purposes, these information sheets are based on the Emergency Management Bill (No 2), as introduced to Parliament. Its provisions may change through the Parliamentary process. The information sheets focus on what has substantively changed in the Emergency Management Bill from the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 (which the Bill replaces). Many provisions remain the same or have minor changes. Stakeholders should refer to the Emergency Management Bill (No 2) | New Zealand Legislation for a complete view of what the proposed legislation provides for and requires.

In October 2024 the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery announced that a new Emergency Management Bill will be introduced as part of the Government’s Response to the Government Inquiry into the North Island Severe Weather Events.

The development of the proposals for the new Bill has incorporated lessons from the Government Inquiry and other reviews, as well as proposals from the discharged previous Emergency Management Bill.

In April 2025, NEMA released a discussion document which sought feedback from the public on the reform objectives, issues with the status quo, and options to address them. NEMA received 324 submissions between 15 April to 20 May 2025. The majority of submitters who commented on the reform objectives either supported them or provided conditional support. Submitters generally agreed with the issues set out in the discussion document and supported one or more legislative options that have since been drafted into the Bill. You can read the submissions and discussion document below.

• Online submissions (.pdf 6mb)
• Email submissions part 1 (.pdf 33mb)
• Email submissions part 2 (.pdf 33mb)
• Email submissions part 3 (.pdf 1.3mb)
• Discussion document: Strengthening New Zealand’s emergency management legislation (.pdf 1.9mb)
  • Note: Translated summary versions of the discussion document are available in the following accessible formats and languages: audio, braille, large print, easy read, Māori, Arabic, Cook Islands Māori, Hindi, Japanese, Niuean, Punjabi, Samoan, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog, Tongan and Traditional Chinese. Please email [email protected] to request.

The public consultation was supported by targeted engagement with stakeholders and iwi Māori. This included testing draft policy with CDEM Groups, CDEM Group officials, local authority chief executives, the National Iwi Chairs Forum, and central government agencies.

Strengthening Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management: Legislative Implications (.pdf 1.3mb)

• The following documents have been included in this release:
  • Title of paper: Strengthening disaster resilience and emergency management: legislative implications (CAB-24-SUB-0458 refers)
  • Title of minute: Report of the Cabinet Economic Policy Committee: Period Ended 22 November 2024 (CAB-24-MIN-0458 refers)
  • Title of minute: Strengthening Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management: Legislative Implications (ECO-24-MIN-0269 refers)

Strengthening Emergency Management: Legislative Reform (.pdf 13mb)

• The following documents have been included in this release:
  • Title of paper: Strengthening emergency management: decisions on legislative reform (ECO-25-SUB-0117 refers)
  • Annex 1: Indicative Detailed Legislative Proposals
  • Annex 2: Proposals exempt from regulatory impact analysis – increased penalties and limitation of civil liability for issuance of warnings
  • Annex 3: Proposed functions of CDEM Groups and local authorities
  • Regulatory Impact Statement: Strengthening New Zealand’s emergency management legislation
  • Title of minute: Report of the Cabinet Economic Policy Committee: Period Ended 25 July 2025 (CAB-25-MIN-0249 refers)
  • Title of minute: Strengthening Emergency Management: Legislative Reform (ECO-25-MIN-0117 refers)

Emergency Management Bill (No 2): Approval for Introduction (.pdf 1.1mb)

• The following documents have been included in this release:
  • Cabinet Legislation Committee Minute of Decision – Emergency Management Bill (No 2): Approval for Introduction (LEG-25-MIN-0248)
  • Cabinet Minute of Decision – Report for the Cabinet Legislation Committee: Period Ended 5 December 2025 (CAB-25-MIN-0446)
  • Emergency Management Bill (No 2): Approval for Introduction 

The Government decided not to proceed with the previous Emergency Management Bill.  

Information about the decision is provided in the following proactively released material:

• Documents relating to the Government’s decision to not proceed with the Emergency Management Bill (.pdf 3mb)
  • The following documents have been included in this release:
    • Title of paper: Discharging the Emergency Management Bill (LEG-24-SUB-0039 refers)
    • Title of minute: Report of the Cabinet Legislation Committee Minute (CAB-24-MIN-0099 refers)
    • Title of minute: Discharging the Emergency Management Bill (LEG-24-SUB-0039 refers)
    • Title of briefing: Emergency Management Bill: overview and next steps
    • Annex One: Timeline of emergency management primary legislation
    • Annex Two: Subsidiary instruments made under the CDEM Act 2002
    • Annex Three: The 4Rs of emergency management
    • Annex Four: Structural arrangements under CDEM Act and EM Bill
    • Annex Five: Planning arrangements under CDEM Act and EM Bill
    • Main changes made through the Emergency Management Bill

On 6 May 2024 the Governance and Administration Select Committee reported back to the House without further consideration. On 8 May 2024 the Bill was discharged from Parliament.

• The discharged Bill can be viewed at Emergency Management Bill 225-1 (2023), Government Bill – New Zealand Legislation 
• View progress of the discharged Bill through Parliament Emergency Management Bill (bills.parliament.nz)