New Zealand Land SAR

The Land SAR Organization in Aotearoa New Zealand

For detailed information on Land SAR in Aotearoa New Zealand, check out the NZ Land SAR website. For the Encyclopedia of New Zealand version, see Te Ara. For a bit of subjective information, read on.

Context

Land Search and Rescue in New Zealand is the responsibility of the Police. In simple terms, this means that the authority to launch an officially recognised land SAR operation must come from a duly sworn Police Officer. Resources can then be made available for SAR operations.

Although the Police have personnel who are trained in Land SAR techniques, many operations still require volunteers. These volunteers have traditionally come from a variety of backgrounds, including alpine, caving, deer stalking, four-wheel drive, and tramping organisations. New Zealand Land Search and Rescue (Inc) is the organisation responsible for co-ordinating volunteers and providing land search and rescue services to the Police and public. Since 2006, this organisation has branded itself as LandSAR.

Short History

The First 70 Years: 1920's to 1994

During the 1920's, more people started exploring the backcountry as part of their recreation. In the Wellington area, backcountry exploration focussed on the Tararuas, where a number of people were caught out by the weather conditions. This resulted in a number of search and rescue operations. In 1927, following the Diederich-Scanlon search, a permanent search and rescue committee was formed in the Wairarapa. Over this time, the Police were nominally in charge of SAR operations. However, this sometimes resulted in ill-equipped uniformed Police personnel accompanying trampers into the backcountry.

During Easter 1933, a large two-week search and rescue operation took place in the Tararua's. Known as the Sutch search, this search involved over 200 people. After this search, the Tararua Tramping Club created a set of guidelines to help the Police in running SAR operations. The Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC) adopted these guidelines, which recommended that trampers be in charge of operational matters in the hills, while the Police maintained overall control of an operation. In 1935 the Police eventually accepted these guidelines on the recommendation of the FMC.

In 1934 the FMC formed a search and rescue subcommittee to coordinate the volunteer side of SAR. The FMC received some funding from the Police to support its SAR administrative activities. This structure continued until 1994, when NZLSAR (Inc) was formed.

1994 to 2006

Prior to 1994, Land SAR was co-ordinated through District SAR committees. In the mid-1990's a decision was made to change to administration of Land Search and Rescue. Consequently, it was decided to fund a full-time professional to coordinate Land Search and Rescue in New Zealand. John Tristram became the Land SAR Field Officer from 1994 until his retirement in May 2006. The field officer worked out of an office at Police National HQ in Wellington. One of his tasks was the development of a set of national SAR standards. The impetus for this stemmed from overseas developments in SAR systems. NZLSAR aimed to create a volunteer organisation that utilised international best practice.

A consequence of the formation of NZLSAR was the adoption of new search techniques since the mid 1990's. The impact was felt at all levels of SAR, from management practices to teams in the bush. In 1999 NZLSAR and the Police signed a memorandum of understanding that, among other things, cemented the adoption of minimum standards in SAR.

In 2002, funding for research and expert training received a big boost with the creation of the Search and Rescue Institute of New Zealand. SARINZ, in conjunction with Tai Poutini Polytech provides expert training to many local SAR groups. Training responsibilities are arranged in the following manner:

Tai Poutini polytechnic is responsible for the qualifications in terms of their delivery, assessment, and quality control.
SARINZ is responsible for training in terms of the development and delivery of courses.
NZLSAR is responsible for determining SAR training needs. NZLSAR is represented on TPP and SARINZ committees.

Land SAR Administration

NZ Land SAR (Inc) is an incorporated society (incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908). NZ Land SAR (Inc) is made up of five stakeholder member organizations and an associate membership. The five stakeholders are:

Amateur Radio Emergency Communications is an associate member. NZLSAR was headed by a Committee, which in addition to the usual office holders, consisted of stakeholder representatives and regional representatives.

After NZ Land SAR Inc was formed in 1994, Regional SAR committees consisting of Police and volunteers were formed. There were 7 Regional SAR committees. The geographical areas covered by the SAR committees were based on the respective Police regions.

At a local level, the District SAR committees operated as formerly constituted under the pre-1994 FMC sub committee system.

A simplified administrative structure of Land SAR in Aotearoa was as follows:

NZLSAR (Inc)
7 Regional SAR committees
District SAR committees

At the top, the NZLSAR (Inc) Committee consisted of the chair, secretary, treasurer, group reps from Police, MSC, FMC, DOC, NZSS, and AREC, and regional representatives from the 7 regional SAR committees. NZLSAR also established the following standing sub-committees:

The Regional SAR committees existed at the next level. In addition to a Police representative, these committees consist of representatives from the various District Committees within the region.

The District committees represented SAR at the local level. In addition to Police representation, the District committees consisted of members from local outdoor groups within the District. Wellington Land SAR is an example of a Distict committee.

2006 to Present: LandSAR

In 2005, the NZLSAR committee received a report (Strategic Review, Recommendations on the Development of NZLSAR - 2006 and beyond). The report recommended the following structural changes to NZLSAR:

Vesting ownership of the organisation in a Council consisting of 5 institutional stakeholders and 21 regional representatives (3 from each of the 7 regions)
Creating a Board of Directors (appointed by the Council) with Governance responsibilities
Appointing a business manager, who is responsible for obtaining financial contributions for LandSAR, improving relationships with other SAR organisations, creating a strong brand, facilitating a cohesive nationwide membership, and implementing appropriate administrative processes that benefit the national membership (incl Districts).
Appointing Field Support Officers to assist Districts in their fund-raising, help them with their administration, co-ordinate and support training, and identify best practice which can then be applied nation-wide.

The recommendations are reflected in the 2006 Constitution. Full members of LandSAR are:

FMC
NZ Speliological Society (NZSS)
Mountain Safety Council (MSC)
Police
Department of Conservation (DOC)
The chairs of the seven regional committees
The 14 regional representatives elected to represent their regions as members of LandSAR.

These full members of LandSAR are also members of the Council. Each of these members has 1 vote on the Council.

The Board is elected by the Council. At least four members of the Board must have significant experience in SAR. However, the Board must also include three members without significant experience in SAR, but with relevant experience or knowledge in other areas to allow it to operate effectively and efficiently.

Despite one of the stated aims of the strategic review, the 2006 Constitution does not define the Board's role, nor does it differentiate governance roles or functions from managerial roles or functions. In this respect, the Constitution merely identifies the goals of LandSAR and authorises the Board to interpret the Constitution as it sees fit.

LandSAR has produced the following governance documents

Wellington Land Search And Rescue