A coordinated, effective counter‑terrorism system is fundamental to a resilient, prosperous New Zealand.
This strategy drives delivery and system maturity around four priority areas of prevent, protect, disrupt and respond, designed to respond to New Zealand’s specific threat environment and globally emerging challenges.
Mission: Protecting New Zealand and its people.
Our Counter‑Terrorism system is informed and agile, rapidly adapting to current and emerging threat actors and forms of attack, and acting early to reduce the risk.
Everyone has a role to play
All New Zealanders have a role to play in preventing terrorism and violent extremism – from staying safe on the Internet and supporting societal resilience to violent extremist ideologies, to helping to detect threats and prevent attacks.
We lead and coordinate
Our Counter‑Terrorism Coordination Committee (CTCC) is the multi‑agency governing body responsible for implementing the Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism Strategy and the annual work programme. CCTC reports to the National Security Board (NSB).
We act early to prevent harm
Working together with communities, businesses, and partners across the country and internationally, we prevent people from getting involved in or supporting terrorism, protect our people and places, and disrupt threats early, whilst ensuring that we’re ready to respond and support recovery if an incident occurs.
Our four priority areas
PREVENT
Objectives
Prevent and reduce the risk of radicalisation and violent extremism: Build awareness and resilience, address factors contributing to radicalisation, and support disengagement from violence.
Outcomes
- New Zealanders are aware of, understand, and challenge violent extremism and radicalisation.
- A safer online environment, mitigating the risks of radicalisation.
- People at risk of radicalising to violence are identified early and supported from further harm.
PROTECT
Objectives
Protect our people, places and infrastructure: Strengthen protective security measures and partnerships.
Outcomes
- People and crowded places are kept safe.
- Infrastructure and essential service delivery are protected against terrorist attacks.
DISRUPT
Objectives
Identify, understand and disrupt terrorism threats early: Through discovery and leads, intelligence gathering, comprehensive investigations, and effective, proportionate interventions.
Outcomes
- Agencies are highly effective at identifying and understanding threats.
- Identified threats are disrupted early, and people are kept safe.
RESPOND
Objectives
Be ready to respond and recover: Ensure swift, effective action and support for those affected.
Outcomes
- We respond swiftly and effectively to terrorist incidents – mitigating the impact, protecting lives, and supporting victims.
- Individuals and communities are supported throughout their recovery.
Our Counter-Terrorism system
The Counter-Terrorism Coordination Committee brings together agencies across government to deliver and improve New Zealand’s counter‑terrorism effort. This work programme outlines activities that agencies undertake, every day, to keep New Zealand safe and secure.
Preventing and countering terrorism is a cross‑government responsibility:
- The Minister for National Security and Intelligence is accountable for counter-terrorism.
- The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) is responsible for strategic leadership, and counter-terrorism system coordination and stewardship.
- The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) and New Zealand Police jointly lead the detection, investigation and understanding of terrorism threats.
- New Zealand Police lead the operational response to a terrorist incident.
Strategy action plan
The strategy is supported by a comprehensive annual action plan to ensure:
- New Zealanders are aware of, understand, and challenge violent extremism and radicalisation.
- A safer online environment, mitigating the risks of radicalisation.
- People at risk of radicalising to violence are identified early and supported from further harm.
- People and crowded places are kept safe.
- Infrastructure and essential services are protected against terrorist attacks.
- Agencies are highly effective at identifying and understanding threats.
- Identified threats are disrupted early, and people are kept safe.
- We respond swiftly and effectively to terrorist incidents – mitigating the impact, protecting lives and supporting victims.
- Individuals and communities are supported throughout their recovery.
The nature of the challenge
New Zealand faces an increasingly complex and demanding threat environment. Both the type of terrorism and violent extremism threat that is presenting, and the context these activities occur in, have changed over time. Terrorism and violent extremism are global challenges with domestic impact. These challenges include:
- Online terrorist and violent extremist content (TVEC) driving radicalisation.
- Young people are engaging with violent extremism.
- Crowded places, high profile individuals and symbolic sites are at greater risk.
- Violent extremists can easily access basic weapons and are adopting new and emerging technologies.
- Globally, polarisation, intolerance, and hate incidents are increasingly normalising violence.
- There is a rise in grievances linked to mixed, unclear and unstable ideologies – with a fixation on violence.
The strategy and annual action plan guide New Zealand’s counter-terrorism system to address emerging challenges and respond to the current environment.