Emergency Management Bill

New Zealand’s current emergency management system has many strengths, but the frequency, complexity, and consequences of recent emergencies have highlighted how important it is to update the law to improve how we manage risks, respond to and recover from emergencies, and empower and support communities to be resilient.

The emergency management system must be improved so that:

• communities are better prepared to respond to and recover from emergencies
• iwi and Māori participation is recognised, enhanced, and valued
• the impacts of emergencies on people, the economy, and the environment are reduced
• the emergency management system is well-co-ordinated, high-performing, and enjoys widespread trust and confidence.

The Emergency Management Bill takes into account many lessons identified from emergencies and reviews over the years. Further detail is provided below in the Development of the Bill section.

When passed, the Emergency Management Bill will create the new legal framework within which Aotearoa New Zealand can prepare for, deal with, and recover from local, regional and national emergencies.

The Emergency Management Bill seeks to replace the now two decades old Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002.

The Bill is not a fundamental transformation of the emergency management system, but instead makes some practical improvements to ensure the system can meet current and future needs.

Some of the key measures in the Bill include:

• clarifying roles and responsibilities across the sector
• recognising and enhancing the role of Māori in emergency management
• enabling equitable outcomes for communities disproportionately impacted by emergencies
• enhancing the resilience and accountability of critical infrastructure
• modernising the legislative design, including establishing a more responsive regulatory framework for setting standards.

The Bill, for example, clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the key people and organisations within the emergency management system including the Director of Emergency Management, Controllers, Recovery Managers, government agencies, local authorities, Emergency Management Committees (currently Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Groups), emergency services and critical infrastructure entities (currently lifeline utilities).

The Bill carries over much of the existing law. For example, it continues the current arrangements for when a state of emergency can be declared and who can make the declaration. The Bill also specifies who can give notice of a transition period to support recovery after an emergency. A state of emergency or transition period provides an Emergency Management Committee access to powers that would not normally be available. The emergency powers specified in the Emergency Management Bill remain the same as in Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002.

Read more about what the Bill does: Emergency Management Bill overview of proposed changes

Legislative change is required to implement the Government’s response to a Technical Advisory Group’s (TAG) report into how New Zealand responds to natural disasters and emergencies.

In late 2020, the National Emergency Management Agency established a project to amend the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 (CDEM Act). As work on this progressed, it became clear that the scope and complexity of the changes required meant that a new Emergency Management Bill was more appropriate than a general amendment bill.

In December 2021, the then Minister for Emergency Management, Hon Kiri Allan publicly announced that a new Emergency Management Bill will be introduced.

The development of the Bill builds on policy decisions made by Cabinet over the last three years. You can view the proactively released Cabinet papers in the section below.

The project to develop the Bill drew on the TAG Report, lessons identified from other events, and insights from the 2021 National Emergency Management Conference. A stakeholder survey also informed this work.

Throughout the development of the Bill, we have engaged with central and local government agencies, and the emergency management sector, including Māori emergency management experts through the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Emergency Management.

Public submissions are now open for the Emergency Management Bill.

You can have your say on the Bill by making a submission to the Select Committee at https://bills.parliament.nz/v/Bill/0d1391e5-198f-44b9-8670-08db66e3a6bf

Information about how to make a submission to a Select Committee is available at https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/how-to-make-a-submission/ 

Proactively released material related to the Emergency Management Law Reform Programme.

• Ministerial Review: Better Responses to Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies in New Zealand
  • This page provides proactively released material related to the Government Response to the TAG Report August 2018

• Cabinet paper (2020): Updating the legislative framework to strengthen New Zealand’s response to emergencies – tranche one (.pdf 20mb)

• Cabinet Paper (2021): Emergency Management System Reform (.pdf 1.4mb)
  • The following documents have been included in this release:
    • Title of paper: Emergency Management System Reform (GOV-21-SUB-0043 refers)
    • Title of minute: Emergency Management System Reform (GOV-21-MIN-0043 refers)

• Regulatory Impact Statement (2021): Emergency Management System Reforms – Iwi and Māori Contributions to Emergency Management, Legal Framework and Critical Infrastructure (.pdf 24mb)

• Regulatory Impact Statement (2022): Emergency Management System Reforms  (.pdf 7.5mb)

• Cabinet paper (2022): Emergency Management System Reform Proposals (.pdf 9.1mb)
  • The following documents have been included in this release: 
    • Title of paper: Emergency Management System Reform Proposals (GOV-22-SUB-0031 refers) 
    • Title of Regulatory Impact Statement: Emergency Management System Reforms  
    • Title of minute: Emergency Management System: Reform Proposals (CAB-22-MIN-0339.01 refers) 

• Emergency Management Bill: Approval for Introduction (.pdf 1.3mb)
  • The following documents have been included in this release:
    • Title of paper: Emergency Management Bill: Approval for Introduction (LEG-22-SUB-0239 refers)
    • Title of paper: Emergency Management Bill: Draft Departmental Disclosure Statement
    • Title of minute: Report of the Cabinet Legislation Committee: Period Ended 16 December 2022 (CAB-22-MIN-0601 refers)
    • Title of minute: Emergency Management Bill: Approval for Introduction (CAB-22-MIN-0601.01 refers)

View the Bill at Emergency Management Bill 225-1 (2023), Government Bill – New Zealand Legislation

View the Minister for Emergency Management's media release at https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/emergency-management-bill-introduced 

View progress of the Bill through Parliament at Emergency Management Bill (bills.parliament.nz)

Departmental disclosure statement https://disclosure.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2023/225

Emergency Management Bill: Overview of proposed changes

• This is also available as a PDF: Emergency Management Bill: Overview of proposed changes factsheet (.pdf 193kb)

Diagram of structural arrangements under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 and proposed in the Emergency Management Bill (.pdf 90kb)