Our history
The National Emergency Management Agency was established in December 2019.
Our name
NEMA is also called Te Rākau Whakamarumaru i te Mate Ohotata, meaning: “The Tree that Shelters and Protects”.
The name was bequeathed to our organisation by the Maori Language Commission, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori in August 1999.
The Māori name given to our organisation aimed to convey our mission of community resilience, through the protection of Tane Mahuta, to the sustenance, strength and support of the earth and plants surrounding the tree.
NEMA as a departmental agency
The hosting responsibilities for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) transferred from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) to the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) on 25 September 2025.
NEMA has been a departmental agency since 1 December 2019. A departmental agency is an operationally autonomous agency with its own chief executive, hosted by a department of the Public Service. The chief executive is directly responsible to the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery for its identified, ring-fenced activities and performance.
The change of host, from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the Department of Internal Affairs aligns NEMA with a larger, more operationally focused organisation that is well-suited to provide the necessary corporate support to departmental agencies. The transfer is also consistent with long-standing Machinery of Government principles, ensuring agencies are hosted within entities that maximise efficiency and effectiveness.
The Department of Internal Affairs previously hosted NEMA's predecessor, the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM), until 2014 when it transferred to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. With its strong ties to communities and local government, groups critical in emergency preparedness and response, the Department of Internal Affairs is well-positioned to support NEMA.
This organisational change is designed to strengthen New Zealand’s ability to prepare for and respond to emergencies, by leveraging the Department of Internal Affair’s operational focus and strong community connections.
From the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
The decision to establish the National Emergency Management Agency was part of the Government’s response to a Ministerial review into better responses to natural disasters and other emergencies, commissioned after the November 2016 earthquake and tsunami and the 2017 Port Hills fire.
The review’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG) found that, although New Zealand’s emergency management system is fundamentally sound, several issues need to be addressed.
The TAG report contained 42 recommendations to improve the system, including establishing a National Emergency Management Agency to replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management.
As a departmental agency, NEMA has greater autonomy than the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management had. The government has also given NEMA an important stewardship role that requires it to lead and coordinate across the emergency management system (including central and local government) for all hazards and all risks.
Civil Defence in New Zealand
Read about the origins of Civil Defence in New Zealand and its history until the 1990s (.pdf 209kb)