OWASP New Zealand Day 2026 returns to the University of Auckland

New Zealand's application-security community gathers in Auckland

The 16th OWASP New Zealand Day returns to the University of Auckland from 1 to 4 September 2026, with two days of pre-conference training on 1-2 September followed by the main two-day conference on Thursday and Friday, 3-4 September. The programme runs from 9:15 a.m. on the Thursday and 10:00 a.m. on the Friday, closing at 5:00 p.m. each day.

OWASP New Zealand Day is a conference dedicated to web and application security, with an emphasis on secure architecture and development techniques aimed at helping New Zealand developers build more secure software.

Who runs it

The conference is presented by the OWASP New Zealand Chapter, the local arm of the global OWASP Foundation (Open Worldwide Application Security Project), and is organised by AppSec New Zealand Incorporated, a New Zealand-registered charity that supports and promotes application-security awareness and education. The University of Auckland Business School partners with the event as its Hosting Sponsor, which the organisers say allows them to keep attendance costs low and to offer free registration and travel support to students and unwaged attendees.

Who it is for and what is on

The organisers pitch the event at web developers, security professionals, programme and project managers, business analysts, requirements analysts and software testers. The main conference runs two parallel streams across both days: one covering introductory topics alongside programme management, policy, compliance and risk; the other addressing deeper technical material. A third, smaller stream supports sponsor presentations, demonstrations of OWASP tools and interest-group meetings, and an exhibition area operates in the main atrium throughout. Sessions on both principal tracks are recorded and published to the OWASP NZ Day YouTube channel after the event.

Venue, movement and accommodation

The conference is held in the Sir Owen G. Glenn Building (OGGB) on Grafton Road, on the University of Auckland's city campus in the Auckland CBD. Stream One runs in the Fisher & Paykel Appliances Auditorium on Level 1, with Stream Two in the Level 0 lecture theatre and sponsor demos in a Level 0 case room. The central-city location sits within walking distance of Symonds Street and Grafton, and Auckland Airport (AKL) is around 20 kilometres south of the CBD. The organisers list several nearby accommodation options for delegates, including the Cordis Auckland on Symonds Street, the Princeton Apartments, the Crown on Cintra Lane, Columbia Apartments and Tetra Serviced Apartments on Wakefield Street.

Why it matters for NZ business events

As a long-running annual fixture now in its 16th edition, OWASP New Zealand Day is one of the country's established technology-sector conferences, drawing developers and security practitioners into central Auckland each spring. Its university-hosted, charity-run model and low-cost registration make it a recurring anchor for the technology strand of New Zealand's business-events calendar.