EMPA New Zealand 2026
The EMPA New Zealand Committee is pleased to announce that EMPA New Zealand 2026 will be held at Te Papa Tongarewa on Thursday 5 & Friday 6 November 2026!
Entries for the 2026 EMPA Awards for Excellence in Emergency Communications are now open.
EMPA New Zealand is the meeting of the voices of emergency management in New Zealand
Effective public information and connection with communities is critical to building safer and more resilient communities. The need for constant improvement in warnings, information and engagement is always a major component of Royal commissions and inquiries into natural disasters.
It is critical that we focus on improving the capability and capacity of our public information and communications staff byexposing them to research and experience of their local, interstate and overseas peers.
EMPA’s are the only EM conferences which occur in this region that provide the intense focus on communications and engagement that Australasia’s EM professionals require.
Conference Programme
The EMPA NZ conference committee has pulled together another outstanding programme of presentations, workshops and networking.
One of this year’s international speakers will be Mark Ryan, who is the General Manager of Disaster and Emergency Management and Local Disaster Coordinator for the City of Gold Coast and will be sharing lessons learned from Cyclone Alfred. Mark’s presentation was one of the highlights of the recent EMPA conference in Brisbane and we’re delighted he has accepted our invitation to pop over the Tasman in November.
Lucy Easthope is an international expert and adviser on emergency planning and disaster recovery, who will be speaking about her experiences from mass casualty events. She is a visiting professor in mass fatalities and pandemics at the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath and also a researcher at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University here in New Zealand.
Closer to home, Judge Anna Tutton will be providing us with an introduction to coronial inquests following an emergency and we’ll also hear from some of those emergency communicators who have been called to give evidence.
Jo Lynskey, Emergency Management Officer and Recovery Manager for the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, will also be presenting a case study on the recovery from recent landslides and flooding in the region.
The conference also features the finalists from our annual Awards for Excellence in Emergency Communication with six different categories covering all aspects of communicating in emergency situations.
We look forward to celebrating the very best projects from the last 12 months in style at our gala awards dinner on the Thursday evening.
Delegates’ highlights and key take-aways from 2025
Register
Registrations now open!
Programme
EMPA Awards
The EMPA awards recognise excellence in emergency communications in Australia over the past year. Entries for the 2026 awards are now open.
Venue
Te Papa Tongarewa | 55 Cable Street | Wellington.
Over 160 delegates attended EMPA New Zealand in 2025. Delegates came from a broad range of emergency services agencies, national government & government agencies, local & regional government, NGOs and industry groups. The EMPA Australia conference has become an important professional development and engagement event for communications specialists within the emergency management community.
