The Department of Internal Affairs: Review of Fire Legislation - Review of Fire Legislation


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Review of Fire Legislation

Discussion Documents

Review of Fire Legislation

Introduction

A review of New Zealand's Fire Legislation was announced in March 2004.

The purpose of this review was to acknowledge the evolving rescue role of the Fire Service and resolve inconsistencies between urban and rural fire systems.

The Fire Service has a growing role in assisting at road accidents and in the development of urban search and rescue capability. It also has new duties under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002.

Latest

There are currently no proposals being considered for legislative change.

A report summarising the submissions to the discussion document released in April 2007 has been produced. The submissions portrayed a wide range of views on the future structure and funding of fire and rescue services. Link here to the report: New Fire Legislation - Report on submissions (.pdf) 380k*

The department received 368 submissions on the proposal document. Submissions to the 'New Fire Legislation' proposal document are now available: Copies of Submissions (searchable database).

The Minister launched the proposal document New Fire Legislation on 17/4/2007 (see also Minister's media release: 'Stronger fire and rescue services for NZ')

Progress on the review - The Minister hosted a workshop with key stakeholders on 11-12 July 2006. Link here to the Facilitators' Report from this forum (25/8/2006): Leaders' Forum Facilitators' Report (.pdf) 486k*

Link here to the Minister's speech: New Fire Service to be Developed (27/5/2006). Link here to the Minister's press release (30/5/2006).

Fire Service Amendment Act Commencement Order 2006 – This order was gazetted on 18 May 2006, stating that the new sections 21A to 21I in the Fire Service Act 1975, which relate to the Fire Safety and Evacuation of Buildings Regulations 2006, would come into force on 1 October 2006.

Fire Safety and Evacuation of Buildings Regulations 2006 – These regulations were gazetted on 18 May 2006 and came into force on 1 October 2006:
- A brief explanation of the May 2006 regulations

Submissions to the first discussion document:
- Summary of Submissions - July 2005 (.pdf ) 180k*
- Copies of Submissions - a searchable database of submissions received

Forest and Rural Fires Regulations 2005 - These regulations were gazetted on 9 June 2005 and come into force on 7 July (link to the Knowledge Basket website).

Key Documents

New Fire Legislation: A framework for New Zealand's fire and rescue services and their funding (17/4/2007) (.pdf ) 220k*

Facilitators' Report on the Leaders' Forum held in the Legislative Council Chamber 11-12 July 2006. (.pdf) 486k*

New Fire Legislation: The functions and structure of New Zealand's fire and rescue services - A Discussion Document (2/12/2004) (.pdf ) 680k*

The Governance of Fire Services in Australia - Report 1 (.pdf) 366k*

Fire Service Arrangements in the Australian States and Territories - Report 2 (.pdf) 636k*

The Need for New Legislation - A Short Background - Ministerial report on the provision and funding of fire services. (.pdf) 366k*

Fire Management in New Zealand - Background to the Ministerial report. A concise account of the current status of fire management services in New Zealand, including the role of fire services in wider emergency and first response activity. (.pdf) 236k*

Discussion Documents

*These documents are in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. You need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. You can download a free version from the Adobe site.

Further Information

Media Releases

Related Links


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Last updated: 01/07/2009