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Emergency Management Bill (No 2)

Introduction

You could also call this:

"Breaking down the Emergency Management Bill into smaller parts to understand it better"

Illustration for Emergency Management Bill (No 2)

The Emergency Management Bill is a proposed law to help keep people safe. You will see it has many parts, including a title and a commencement clause. The commencement clause says when the law comes into force. The Bill has different start dates for some parts. You can find these dates in the Bill, like six months or a year after it is agreed to. Some parts start on a specific date set by the government. The purpose of the Bill is to support people's well-being and safety. It aims to manage hazards, protect property, and help communities prepare for emergencies. The Bill also encourages people to work together to manage emergencies. The Bill is divided into five parts. It defines important terms like emergency, hazard, and recovery activity. It also explains how the law applies to the government and how it can be enforced. Some clauses in the Bill explain how people can work together to manage emergencies. They also describe how to take a precautionary approach to risk, even if you are not sure about the extent of the risk. You can find more information about the Bill's different parts and clauses in the Bill itself, such as Clause 1, Clause 2, and Schedule 2.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1022327-clause-by-clause-analysis.

This page was last updated on 31 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Government and voting > Emergency managementHealth and wellbeing > Public health

Regulatory impact statement, or

"A plan to help the Government make good decisions about the Emergency Management Bill"

1: Title, or

"A new law to help with emergencies"

Clause by clause analysis

Clause 1 is the Title clause.

Clause 2 is the commencement clause. It provides that the Bill comes into force on the day after Royal assent. The exceptions to this are—

provisions relating to compliance orders (clauses 174 to 178), which come into force 6 months after Royal assent:
the provision relating to the obligation on chief executives of territorial authorities regarding the use and provision of resources (clause 44), which comes into force 12 months after Royal assent:
provisions relating to District and Local Controllers and District and Local Recovery Managers (clauses 52, 54, 57, 58, 59(1)(c) and (d), 61, 63, 66, 67, and 68(1)(c) and (d)), which come into force 12 months after Royal assent:
the provision relating to the Director-General’s engagement with disproportionately affected communities during the development of a proposal for the national emergency management plan (clause 86(2)(a)), which comes into force 12 months after Royal assent:
the provision relating to including certain content in regional emergency management plans relating to disproportionately affected communities, offers of assistance, and managing animals (clause 91(1)(k) to (m)), which comes into force 12 months after Royal assent:
provisions relating to the identification and role of government agencies as lead agencies in the national emergency management plan (clauses 69, 70, and 83), which come into force on a day set by Order in Council (or by the second anniversary of Royal assent). The reason the Bill allows for these clauses to commence by Order in Council is to enable their commencement to align with the timing of regulations providing for the national emergency management plan, which may identify government agencies as lead agencies. This means that the obligations on and functions for lead agencies will apply only once lead agencies have been formally identified in the national emergency management plan. Without the delay in commencement, references to lead agencies in the Bill may create confusion because of the use of the same term in pre-existing emergency management instruments.

1Preliminary provisions

Clause 3 states that the purpose of the Bill is to support the social, economic, cultural, and environmental well-being and safety of the public, including by—

promoting and improving the sustainable management of hazards; and
providing for the protection of property and for planning and preparation for emergencies and for response and recovery in the event of an emergency; and
encouraging and enabling communities to achieve acceptable levels of risk; and
encouraging the co-ordination of emergency management, planning, and related activities among agencies and organisations involved in preventing or managing emergencies under this Bill and certain other legislation that is identified as relevant legislation and listed in Schedule 2.

Clause 4 outlines each of the Bill’s 5 Parts.

Clauses 5 to 8 define terms used in the Bill. Key terms include emergency, emergency management, essential infrastructure, essential infrastructure provider, hazard, national significance, and recovery activity.

Clause 9 provides for the transitional, savings, and related provisions in Schedule 1.

Clause 10 provides for the Bill, if enacted, to bind the Crown.

Clause 11 provides that the Bill may be enforced against the Crown as follows:

a compliance order may be issued under the Bill against a Crown organisation:
the District Court may make an order against a Crown organisation relating to the enforcement of a compliance order:
the criminal offence under clause 187 may be enforced against the Crown.

Clause 12 states that, unless the Bill provides otherwise, the Bill—

does not limit or affect any person’s functions, duties, or powers under any other legislation or rule of law; and
does not apply in substitution for such functions, duties, or powers.

Clause 13 provides that a person exercising functions in relation to an emergency management plan may take a precautionary approach to risk despite uncertainty about the extent of that risk.

2Emergency management system role-holders

3Emergency management system planning

4Emergency response and recovery: states of emergency and transition periods

Clause 107 defines key terms used in Part 4. Emergency Management Committees and each of the following office-holders are defined to include a person acting under the authority of the Committee or relevant office-holder: the Director-General, a District Controller, a District Recovery Manager, a Local Controller, a Local Recovery Manager, the National Controller, the National Recovery Manager, a Regional Controller, and a Regional Recovery Manager.

Plain language law