Video transcript: Improving Auckland Council’s emergency preparedness: A follow-up report

Rachel Patrick, Senior Performance Auditor

As New Zealand’s largest city and home to more than a third of the country’s population, it is critical that Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is well prepared to respond to, and recover from, major emergencies.

The severe flooding that affected Auckland and the wider North Island regions over Auckland Anniversary weekend and during Cyclone Gabrielle in early 2023 was a reminder of the importance of emergency preparedness.

The floods were also a reminder of the significant financial costs of natural disasters for both local and central government. Together, Auckland Council and central government have already committed over 2 billion dollars to pay for the recovery efforts in Auckland, which are forecast to take 10 years.

Auckland Council plays the central role in overseeing emergency preparedness in the Auckland region.

Two independent reviews commissioned by the Council into its response to the 2023 floods, and our June 2023 performance audit Auckland Council: Preparedness for responding to an emergency, identified the need for a significant programme of improvements to Auckland Council’s emergency preparedness.

Auckland Council has accepted the recommendations of all three reviews.

The purpose of our work was to assess the progress that Auckland Council had made in addressing the recommendations of the three reviews.

We found that Auckland Council has made significant progress in addressing the review recommendations, and that Council has clear plans in place to respond to all of them.

We found that Auckland Council now has the basis of a well-functioning emergency management system in place, in line with review recommendations.

But there is still more to do. Auckland Council now needs to focus on:

• Ensuring that its new systems and processes are thoroughly tested and practised.
• Ensuring that everybody involved in responding to an emergency knows their role and is supported to carry it out.
• Continuing to develop relationships with its stakeholders and communities, particularly those communities that need more support to be prepared for an emergency.
• Finally, the Council needs to keep the public regularly informed on its progress so Aucklanders can have confidence that the Council is actively working to address any outstanding gaps in its emergency planning.