NZ’s new emergency management law sets the rules. Trust and connection are key to it working
Disasters don’t follow a script. Research shows adaptable relationships between emergency agencies are vital to an effective response.
New Emergency Management Act 2026 marks significant improvement in over 2 decades, but legislation alone does not guarantee effective coordination during disasters. Research into New Zealand's emergency management system reveals that relationships between organizations play a crucial role in successful coordination. Successful collaboration depends on trust, established relationships, shared learning, regular engagement, and understanding of other organizations.
Network analysis identified highly connected actors and "brokers" who can link groups and help the wider system adapt to unexpected developments. However, this adaptability can also create vulnerability, as reliance on specific relationships can become points of fragility when key individuals change roles, leave organizations, or become unavailable during emergencies.
Barriers to effective coordination include organizational silos, fragmented information, inconsistent engagement, unclear roles, and uneven levels of preparedness. While creating committees, rewriting plans, or clarifying statutory responsibilities may seem helpful, they do not automatically foster trust or relationships necessary for effective coordination under pressure.
Complex disasters often produce unpredictable circumstances, requiring organizations to adapt quickly and work together across boundaries. Research into complex adaptive systems suggests that some of the most important emergency management capabilities exist between organizations, not within them. The new emergency management act provides an opportunity to address these relational conditions alongside the formal architecture of the system.
Legislation clarifies roles and responsibilities while retaining the principle of managing risks at the lowest appropriate level. It also recognizes the need for coordination across various agencies and organizations. System stewardship should focus on strengthening networks, information exchange, shared capability, and learning, while ensuring the involvement of organizations at the edges of the system.
The effectiveness of the new act will ultimately be tested during unforeseen events, and its success will depend not only on understanding statutory responsibilities but also on the capability to work together when it matters most.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
