EMPA New Zealand 2026, New Zealand's emergency communications conference, runs 5-6 November 2026 at Takina Convention Centre in Wellington, confirmed on organiser EMPA's site with a named programme, speakers and 160+ delegates in 2025.
EMPA New Zealand 2026 is New Zealand's emergency communications conference, scheduled for Thursday 5 and Friday 6 November 2026 in Wellington. According to organiser Emergency Media and Public Affairs (EMPA), it is a two-day gathering of the people responsible for public information, warnings and community engagement before, during and after emergencies, combining presentations, workshops, networking and the annual Awards for Excellence in Emergency Communication.
The programme spans public information and warnings capability, lessons from recent natural disasters, and what emergency communicators can learn from Royal commissions and coronial inquiries. Confirmed speakers on the organiser's programme include Mark Ryan of the City of Gold Coast (on Cyclone Alfred), international disaster-recovery adviser Lucy Easthope, Judge Anna Tutton on coronial inquests, and Jo Lynskey of Western Bay of Plenty District Council on recovery from landslides and flooding. An awards gala dinner is held on the Thursday evening.
The conference is run by Emergency Media and Public Affairs (EMPA), which describes itself as Australasia's disaster and communications hub. Per EMPA, its community is drawn from government agencies, councils, research organisations, business, not-for-profits and media, and it runs annual conferences on Australia's east coast, in Western Australia and in New Zealand. The New Zealand edition is an established fixture on that calendar; EMPA reports that more than 160 delegates attended EMPA New Zealand in 2025.
EMPA states that delegates come from emergency services, national and government agencies, local and regional government, NGOs and industry groups, with the content aimed squarely at emergency communications and public information staff. The 2026 edition's sponsor list reflects that base: Earth Sciences New Zealand as gold sponsor, Health New Zealand and the National Emergency Management Agency as silver, and the Ministry for Primary Industries, Auckland Council, NZ Transport Agency and Maritime New Zealand among the bronze sponsors.
For 2026 the organiser lists the venue as Takina Convention Centre at 50 Cable Street, Wellington. This is a change worth noting: the 2025 conference was held across the road at Te Papa Tongarewa (55 Cable Street), and a legacy reference to Te Papa still appears lower on the event page. Takina is Wellington's purpose-built international convention and exhibition centre on the central-city waterfront, opened in 2023, directly opposite Te Papa. The location sits within the central Wellington hotel precinct, is a short walk from the CBD and waterfront, and is a roughly 20-minute drive from Wellington Airport, with the city's bus network and railway station serving the wider area. These are offered here as neutral logistical context for delegates.
EMPA New Zealand is a recurring, government-and-agency-anchored conference that keeps a specialist Australasian professional community meeting in Wellington each November. Its move into Takina Convention Centre for 2026 is a straightforward example of a mid-sized public-sector conference (160-plus delegates in 2025) taking up capacity at Wellington's newest dedicated convention venue, and its sponsor roster of national agencies and councils underlines the event's standing within New Zealand's emergency management and public-sector communications sector.
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