This page is about a bill. That means that it's not the law yet, but some people want it to be the law. It could change quickly, and some of the information is just a draft.

Emergency Management Bill (No 2)

Emergency management system role-holders - Other parties - Lead agencies

70: Transfer of lead agency role

You could also call this:

"When to pass control of an emergency to another team"

Illustration for Emergency Management Bill (No 2)

If you are dealing with an emergency caused by a hazard, the main agency in charge, called agency A, can pass its job to another agency, called agency B, if agency B agrees. Agency A can also pass its job to an Emergency Management Committee if the Committee agrees. When this happens, agency B or the Committee takes over managing the emergency response. If the main agency's job is passed on, the new agency or Committee is in charge of responding to the emergency and follows the rules set out in section 69. This means the new agency or Committee has the main responsibility, not agency A. The new agency or Committee must manage the response to the emergency. When the emergency is over, the main agency job goes back to the agency that was originally in charge of dealing with that type of hazard, as set out in section 83. This happens automatically when the response to the emergency is complete. The original agency is then in charge again.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1469479.

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

Topics:

Government and voting > Emergency management

69: Role of lead agencies, or

"Who helps keep you safe during an emergency?"

71: Requirement to undertake emergency management functions and responsibilities, or

"People in charge must do emergency management work"

Part 2Emergency management system role-holders
Other parties: Lead agencies

70Transfer of lead agency role

During the response to an emergency that has been caused or contributed to by a hazard, a lead agency (agency A) may transfer its obligations as lead agency for that emergency to—
another government agency (agency B) with agency B’s agreement; or
to an Emergency Management Committee with that Committee’s agreement.

If the lead agency obligations for an emergency are transferred, agency B or the relevant Committee has the primary responsibility for managing the response to the emergency and has the role set out in section 69 in respect of the hazard (rather than agency A).
When the response to the emergency for which the lead agency obligations were transferred is complete, the role of lead agency for emergencies caused or contributed to by that hazard reverts to the government agency identified as the lead agency for those emergencies under section 83.