Official bodies for tree work in New Zealand
Official bodies and official schemes in New Zealand that matter to tree workers, grouped by what they do. Each row links to the body's own page.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here.
On this page
- Workplace safety regulators
- Workers' compensation and injury cover
- Pesticide licensing
- Plant health and biosecurity
- Plant disease and insect diagnostic labs
- Forestry and urban forestry
- Utility tree work and vegetation management
- Qualifications and apprenticeships
- Standards bodies
- Underground utility locate centres
- Emergency management and civil defence
- Business registration and company registries
- Tax offices
Workplace safety regulators
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| WorkSafe New Zealand | Whole country | New Zealand's primary work health and safety regulator. |
| WorkSafe New Zealand (Hazardous substances) | Whole country | Explains what hazardous substances are and why they must be managed safely. |
| WorkSafe New Zealand (Safety and health in arboriculture) | Whole country | Hosts the arboriculture approved code of practice (climbing, pruning, removing trees), which WorkSafe says has not been updated for the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. |
| WorkSafe New Zealand (What events need to be notified?) | Whole country | Guide to the work-related events (notifiable events) that must be notified to the health and safety regulator. |
Workers' compensation and injury cover
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation), For business | Whole country | The Crown entity that runs New Zealand's accident cover. Its page for businesses covers levies, cover options and invoicing. |
Pesticide licensing
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Hazardous substances | Whole country | Approves hazardous substances and sets the rules for using them; its page says every hazardous substance needs approval for use in New Zealand. |
| Growsafe (New Zealand Agrichemical Education Trust) | Whole country | A charitable trust that runs the national agrichemical training programme, with training, information and advice on agrichemical use. |
Plant health and biosecurity
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Biosecurity New Zealand (Ministry for Primary Industries) | Whole country | Stops harmful pests and diseases at the border and works to get rid of the ones already here. Pest and disease hotline: 0800 80 99 66. |
| Department of Conservation | Te Papa Atawhai (Myrtle rust) | Whole country | Describes myrtle rust, a wind-borne fungal disease that can infect trees such as pohutukawa, manuka and rata. |
| Tiakina Kauri (Kauri dieback reporting page) | Whole country | The programme within Biosecurity New Zealand that protects kauri from dieback, with a page to report sick kauri. |
| Auckland Council (Plants and animals) | Auckland | Council page on protecting trees from kauri dieback disease and myrtle rust. |
| Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Pests) | Bay of Plenty | Runs the Regional Pest Management Plan 2020 to 2030 for pests across the region. |
| Gisborne District Council (Biosecurity) | Gisborne | Council biosecurity team that works with landowners on pest plants in the Regional Pest Management Plan. |
| Hawke's Bay Regional Council (Biosecurity) | Hawke's Bay | Regional biosecurity page covering pest issues and the Regional Pest Management Plan. |
| Horizons Regional Council (Pest plants) | Manawatū-Whanganui | Runs the regional plan to prevent new pest plants and manage those already established. |
| Marlborough District Council (About Biosecurity - What We Do) | Marlborough | Council biosecurity team that oversees risks, incursions and management of threatening organisms in Marlborough. |
| Nelson City Council (Biosecurity) | Nelson | Council biosecurity page on pests and the regional pest management plan. |
| Otago Regional Council (Biosecurity and Pests) | Otago | Regional pest hub with information on pest plants, which are non-native plants that cause problems. |
| Environment Southland (Pest animals and weeds) | Southland | Regional council advice for landowners on weeds and pest control. |
| Taranaki Regional Council (Pest Management Plan) | Taranaki | Holds the regional pest management plan, the council's rulebook for pests targeted for eradication or sustained control. |
| Tasman District Council (Pests and weeds) | Tasman | Council page on identifying and controlling pests and on how responsibilities for them are shared. |
| Greater Wellington (Pest plants) | Wellington | Regional council pest plant programmes, with information on identifying pest species. |
Plant disease and insect diagnostic labs
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Laboratories & diagnostics (Manaaki Whenua) | Whole country | Research institute service from labs in Auckland and Lincoln that identifies plants, fungi, insects and plant diseases, including DNA analysis, and assesses their risk. |
Forestry and urban forestry
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Te Uru Rākau, New Zealand Forest Service (Ministry for Primary Industries) | Whole country | Supports forestry and wood processing: forestry rules, the Forests Act for native timber, funding for tree planting, and kauri dieback. |
| WorkSafe New Zealand (Forestry) | Whole country | Sets out the safety risks of forestry, which has high rates of serious harm associated with tree felling. |
Utility tree work and vegetation management
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| WorkSafe New Zealand, Energy Safety | Whole country | Part of WorkSafe and the regulator for the safe supply and use of electricity and gas in New Zealand. |
Qualifications and apprenticeships
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand Qualifications Authority (Domain - Arboriculture) | Whole country | Lists the registered national unit standards in the arboriculture domain. |
| New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZ Certificate in Arboriculture, Level 5) | Whole country | Registers the Level 5 arboriculture certificate, with strands in supervisory operations and technical operations. |
| New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZ Certificate in Horticulture Services, Level 4) | Whole country | Registers the Level 4 horticulture services certificate, which has an arboriculture strand. |
| New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZ Certificate in Horticulture, Level 3) | Whole country | Registers the Level 3 horticulture certificate, which has an arboriculture strand. |
| Tahatu Career Navigator (Arborist) | Whole country | Government careers page on the qualification an arborist needs and what the job involves. |
| Work and Income (Apprenticeship Boost) | Whole country | A government payment made to employers to help them keep and take on new apprentices. |
Standards bodies
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Standards New Zealand | Whole country | A unit within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment that develops and sells standards. |
Underground utility locate centres
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| beforeUdig New Zealand | Whole country | A free national online service that gives information on the location of cables, pipes and other utility assets near a proposed dig site. |
Emergency management and civil defence
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| MetService, warnings | Whole country | National weather service page for weather warnings. |
| National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), local emergency management groups | Whole country | NEMA page listing each region's civil defence emergency management group, with phone numbers and group websites. |
| Auckland Emergency Management | Auckland | Works with emergency services, lifeline utilities and other organisations to coordinate Civil Defence and Emergency Management in Auckland. |
| Emergency Management Bay of Plenty | Bay of Plenty | Regional group with emergency alerts, safety tips and resources to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. |
| Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) | Canterbury | Regional group with preparedness help, group information and updates during an emergency response. |
| Tairāwhiti Emergency Management | Gisborne | Regional group with emergency alerts, preparedness resources and recovery updates for Tairāwhiti. |
| Hawke's Bay Emergency Management | Hawke's Bay | Regional emergency management group for Hawke's Bay. |
| Manawatū Whanganui Civil Defence Emergency Management | Manawatū-Whanganui | Regional group with a status check for each district and preparedness help. |
| Otago Civil Defence and Emergency Management | Otago | Regional group that helps households prepare for an emergency. |
| Emergency Management Southland | Southland | Regional group with pages for the Southland districts and for hazards such as earthquakes, floods and landslides. |
| Taranaki Emergency Management | Taranaki | Regional group with the status of each district and help to get ready for an emergency. |
| Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) | Wellington | Coordinates Civil Defence and Emergency Management services for the nine councils in the Wellington Region. |
| West Coast Civil Defence Emergency Management Group | West Coast | Regional group with an emergency status display and information for the West Coast. |
Business registration and company registries
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Business.govt.nz | Whole country | Government site for businesses, with paths by business type such as sole trader, company, contractor and partnership. |
| New Zealand Companies Office | Whole country | Government agency that administers New Zealand's business registers. |
Tax offices
| Body | Covers | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Inland Revenue (Te Tari Taake) | Whole country | New Zealand's tax authority, with calculators and tools, forms and guides, and key dates. |
Sources
- Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Laboratories and diagnostics, read October 8, 2026
- National Emergency Management Agency, Local Emergency Management Committees, read October 8, 2026
- MetService, warnings, read October 8, 2026
- WorkSafe New Zealand, home page, read October 6, 2026
- ACC, For business, read October 6, 2026
- Ministry for Primary Industries, Biosecurity, read October 6, 2026