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The Big Picture

The Structure of Search and Rescue in Aotearoa New Zealand:

An Overview

An oversimplified representation of the New Zealand SAR structure of looks something like this:

1. Governance: New Zealand SAR Council
2. Stakeholder Representation: SAR Consultative Committee
3. Providers: Many organizations (eg NZLSAR)

Governance:

The current view from the top starts with the New Zealand Search and Rescue Council. The New Zealand Search and Rescue Council provides high level strategic governance to all search and rescue agencies in New Zealand. The SAR Council was established by Cabinet in 2003.

The SAR Council provides strategic policy advice to government. It consists of the Chief Executives (or their designates) of 5 organizations with strong links to the Search and Rescue Sector. The five organisations are the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Maritime Safety Authority (MSA), the New Zealand Police, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the New Zealand Defence Forces. The Council is supported by a Secretariat and a Consultative Committee.

Stakeholder Representation:

The Consultative Committee is the interface or link between the NZSAR Council and the many providers of New Zealand's SAR services (referred to as SAR stakeholders). The Consultative committee:

• was established in November 2003, and
  
• provides a channel through which issues generated at an operational level are fed into the governance process, and
  
• contains representatives of the following agencies operating in the search and rescue sector:
  1. SAR Secretariat
  2. Maritime Safety Authority
  3. Civil Aviation Authority
  4. New Zealand Police
  5. New Zealand Defence Force
  6. Ministry of Transport
  7. NZ Land Search and Rescue Inc
  8. Royal New Zealand Coastguard Federation
  9. Aviation Industry Association
  10. Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
  11. Rescue Co-ordination Centre of New Zealand
  12. Department of Conservation