Menu

Home Kainga

Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) Review

Toitū te Waiora is pleased to announce NZQA approval of a new suite of CDEM skill standards and a micro-credential. This marks the completion of phase one of the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Review. Phase Two: the development of micro-credentials and or certificates will be transitioned to the Industry Skills Board (ISB).

Review Approach

Our initial (June 2024) survey and one-to-one conversations with the Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) sector told us: 

  • Training across the CDEM sector lacks national consistency and robustness. 
  • There is a call for national, standardised training pathways aligned with specific CDEM roles. 
  • There is a need for flexible standards and qualifications that work for the sector’s volunteer workforce and regional differences. 
  • Within the sector, there are varying levels of engagement with iwi/mana whenua during an emergency response highlighting a potential training gap. 

Toitū te Waiora aimed to address these findings in two phases. 

  1. Identify the key roles that require training, identify the skills required for these roles, create skill standards aligned to these roles. 
  2. Develop micro-credentials and or certificates as required by the sector to support with career pathways, professionalisation of the sector and recognition of the volunteer workforce. This will involve stacking the developed skill standards into larger qualification products. 

Work completed

Toitu te Waiora worked with an initial Steering Group (July-August 2024) to identify the knowledge and skill required for multiple sector roles.). The following knowledge and skill areas were identified: CDEM foundations, treaty partnership, CIMS, rescue, welfare, team leadership. response leadership, and recovery. 

Specialist working groups were formed to develop skill standards for each area. Development of 43 skill standards took place during Sept – Nov 2024 (stage one) and Jan-April 2025 (stage two). During this process, relevant unit standards were updated to skill standards and new skill standards were developed.  

Wider consultation on these skill standards was sought through the Toitū te Waiora website in December 2024 (stage one) and May 2025 (stage two). 

The skill standards and change reports were published on the NZQA website in July 2025 (stage one) and September 2025 (stage two).  

Next steps for providers 

Providers may now develop programmes that include these skill standards. When a skill standard replaces a unit standard, Consent to Assess (CTA) is transferred – see details in change report. Where providers need to apply for CTA, we strongly encourage the review of this page on our website: Apply for consent to assess – Toitū te Waiora  

Providers may also wish to apply to NZQA for accreditation to award the micro-credential using this form: Micro-credential accreditation-only form  

For more information about applying for micro-credentials visit NZQA’s website: Applying for micro-credentials and changes to micro-credentials – NZQA  

Next steps in this review 

Phase two of this review will transition to the relevant Industry Skills Board.  

Acknowledgements  

We extend our thanks to everyone who contributed to this review. Your input has been invaluable in shaping the future of emergency management in Aotearoa.  

For more information, contact us at [email protected].   

 

DASS skill standards

43 skill standards were developed. 19 of these replaced 18-unit standards. The remaining 24 skill standards were developed to meet the current training needs of the sector. They can be used for assessment in training courses and can later be stacked into micro-credentials and or qualifications as per sector need.  

Set  ID  Skill standard title  Level  Credits  Unit replaced 
Welfare  40684  Support the operation of a Civil Defence Centre during an emergency  3  2  7336 
40685  Determine care and handling requirements for companion animals during an emergency   3  1  23695 
40689  Provide shelter for domestic animals during an emergency  4  2  23695 
40690  Determine care and handling requirements for stock animals during an emergency   3  1  NA 
40691  Conduct needs assessment in an emergency management context  4  3  NA 
40692  Lead a Civil Defence Centre during an emergency  5  10  NA 
Rescue  40693  Manage people and vehicle movement during civil defence activities  2  4  7332 
40694  Identify driving legislation and CDEM procedures for emergency driving  2  1  23692 
40695  Perform ground level rescue in civil defence emergencies   2  3  20473 
40696  Work safely at flood incidents  2  3  22298 
40697  Respond to flood incidents  3  4  22297 
40698  Perform storm damage operations  3  4  23694 
40699  Provide support at urban search and rescue operations  3  4  18516 
40720  Rescue casualties at height using CDEM general rescue techniques  4  4  24500 
Response Leadership   40700  Use strategic and legal frameworks to inform CDEM response leadership   6  10  NA 
40701  Manage a coordination centre in a CDEM context  6  10  NA 
40702  Lead multi-agency coordination and resource management in CDEM response  6  10  NA 
40703  Lead decision making in a CDEM response  6  8  NA 
40704  Support strategic communications and public information management during response leadership  5  2  NA 
CDEM fundamentals  40705  Identify CDEM structure and emergency processes  3  2  7334 
40706  Outline the response phase within CDEM  3  1  NA 
40707  Outline the consequences and management of New Zealand’s hazardscape  3  1  26386 
40708  Develop a communication plan for CDEM field operations  3  2  NA 
40709  Operate communication technology in a CDEM context  3  2  20854 
40710  Prepare for a civil defence emergency  3  2  528 
Treaty partnership  40711  Recognise the foundations of working in partnership with iwi Māori in the CDEM sector  3  5  NA 
40712  Engage with iwi Māori across the CDEM sector  4  5  NA 
40713  Work as a treaty partner across the 4 Rs of emergency management   6  10  NA 
Recovery  40714  Outline recovery concepts in emergency management  3  1  NA 
40715  Support coordinated multi-agency recovery  4  5  NA 
40716  Manage and coordinate a multi-agency recovery  6  10  NA 
CIMS  40717  Outline New Zealand’s Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS)  3  2  32158 
40718  Outline CIMS response operations  4  2  29553 
40719  Use CIMS during a response  4  3  29554 
Team Leadership  40859  Lead a team during emergency response activities    5  10  NA 
40860  Lead emergency response team operations  5  10  NA 
40861  Build and lead a high-performing emergency management team  5  10  NA 
Community EM  40862  Support community preparedness for an emergency  3  1  NA 
Workplace EM  40683  Develop an emergency management plan for the workplace   6  10  16810 
Rope Rescue  40684  Support rope rescue operations  3  5  NA 
40685  Respond to rope rescue incidents  4  10  NA 
40686  Perform technical rope rescue   4  10  NA 
40687  Use specialist rope rescue techniques in complex environments    5  10  NA 

NZQCF micro-credential 

This micro-credential was developed to replace several NZQA-approved Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) training schemes for New Zealand’s emergency management sector with a single, cohesive micro-credential aligned with current industry standards and training requirements. The aim is to consolidate the schemes into one standardised micro-credential setting a national standard of consistent CIMS training.

Set  ID  Title  Level  Credits 
CIMS  5342  Applied Coordinated Incident Management (Level 4) micro-credential  4  7