Appendices

Appendix I

Civil defence emergency management in New Zealand

The Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act 2002 recognises that local hazards are best managed by local communities, and devolves responsibility for civil defence functions to the local level.

Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) groups – statutory bodies made up of local authorities working in partnership with emergency services – are responsible for planning for and responding to all hazard emergencies across their local operating areas. The groups work in partnership with surrounding areas. For wider scale events, the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management helps to co-ordinate the response.

Every CDEM group must have a Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan. These plans include the hazards and risks that may have to be managed, the necessary arrangements required to manage them and arrangements for declaring a “civil defence emergency”.

When there is an adverse event the local mayor or the Minister of Civil Defence may declare a local “civil defence emergency”. If the event is a national emergency, the Minister of Civil Defence may declare a “national disaster”. Local CDEM groups maintain primary responsibility for response and recovery arrangements, regardless of whether an emergency is declared.

The National Crisis Management Centre in Wellington may be activated to provide a monitoring and co-ordinating function in the case of a wider scale emergency that needs to be co-ordinated nationally or across regions.

For more information refer to: www.civildefence.govt.nz

Appendix II

Overview of taskforce green

The Taskforce Green programme supports projects that benefit the community or environment where long-term unemployed people can gain work-related skills, habits and confidence to improve their chances of securing permanent unsubsidised work.

Work and Income subsidises the wages of job seekers involved in the projects. There are three levels of subsidy. All employers can take part, including community organisations, service groups, local authorities and farmers, as long as the criteria are met. However, it is usually the local authority that organises the projects.

Following an adverse event, there may be the need for an initial clean up to clear debris and to restore the basic integrity of property and infrastructure. In cases where this is of a scale beyond the capacity of volunteers or local authority employees, Taskforce Green labour may be available for helping clean up and repair damage.

Taskforce Green labour is not to be a replacement for the use of volunteers, or operate as a subsidised form of commercial labour.

For more information on the criteria and the levels of subsidy, refer to www.msd.govt.nz.

Overview of enhanced taskforce green

Following a significant adverse event, Cabinet may approve “enhancements” to Taskforce Green. The approval for enhancements usually requires a declaration of a civil defence emergency.

The focus of these “enhancements” is to increase the rate of pay of Taskforce Green workers. Other enhancements include additional assistance for equipment use and personal safety equipment.

The following is an example of the levels of extra assistance that may be approved by Cabinet for the enhanced Taskforce Green programme:

standard Taskforce Green plus wage top-up to the minimum wage including holiday pay, ACC and GST;
administration costs of 10 percent of the overall cost;
any equipment such as boots, spades and gloves (GST inclusive); and
any supplementary equipment such as chainsaws.

For more information refer to www.msd.govt.nz.

Contact for Enquiries

email: adverseevents_feedback@maf.govt.nz
phone number: (07) 957 8311

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