NZSAR is the government agency that provides strategic coordination of all Search and Rescue activities in New Zealand. AREC is a member of the NZSAR Consultative Committee, a national forum for all New Zealand SAR stakeholders including voluntary groups, and facilitates research, reviews, and reports relevant across the SAR sector. AREC receives funding from the Government via NZSAR in order to provide communication services to the SAR sector.

New Zealand Police coordinate all class 1 search and rescue operations in New Zealand. AREC provides field communication support and technical advice to police SAR incident management teams and other volunteer SAR organizations

New Zealand Land Search and Rescue volunteers operate in the suburban, urban, wilderness, and rural areas including regional and forest parks, shorelines and caves. They provide a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week land search and rescue service to the New Zealand Police and the Rescue Coordination Centre. AREC supports LandSAR by providing technical services such as installation and maintenance of repeaters for SAR use, maintaining and programming LandSAR radios, evaluating and recommending new technologies for use in SAR operations. We also provide training for LandSAR field team members in radio procedures and equipment operation, and AREC members assist with setting up and operating the radio and computer equipment at search bases in the field.

The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) is responsible for coordinating:

• all major maritime and aviation search and rescue missions within New Zealand’s search and rescue region

• land-based missions arising from someone activating a distress beacon.

These incidents are termed ‘Category II’ incidents. RCCNZ also assists with other rescues when required, and provides search and rescue (SAR) services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

AREC supports RCCNZ as required

Auckland Emergency Management is a part of the Auckland Council and works in partnership with emergency services and other organizations to ensure effective coordination of civil defence and emergency management within its area. In an emergency, AREC provides personnel, equipment, and advice to support the CDEM controller's response priorities. AREC will maintain radio communication with groups in the affected area, including Community Resilience Groups, deployed AEM personnel, Response teams, and other groups that require communication with the Auckland Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC)

In preparation for an emergency AREC maintains and operates a CDEM communications base at Sunnynook and conducts regular checks of the AEM VHF radio repeater network which links critical infrastructure organizations and community resilience groups with the ECC.

When disaster strikes, communities may need to take care of themselves for several days until assistance arrives. Community Resilience Groups are local initiatives to develop plans to help local communities cope with the aftermath of a disaster. The development of resilience plans is encouraged and coordinated by Auckland Emergency Management and Auckland North Community and Development (ANCAD).

AREC provides advice and assistance to local groups who wish to implement local communication systems to provide a backup when normal telecommunications infrastructure fails. In addition to technical assistance, AREC can provide training in the use of radios and the setup and operation of communication bases to enable communication both within and beyond the local area.

AREC would like to acknowledge the support of Firth Industries who have donated a substantial number of UHF mobile radios for use by AREC and Volunteer Community Groups involved in disaster preparedness. This generous gesture is much appreciated. Thank you Firth.