There are around 11,000 people are involved in the search and rescue sector in New Zealand - 91% of whom are volunteers.
There are a variety of different opportunities for volunteer and paid employment in the sector.
The NZSAR Secretariat are paid staff who are employees of the Ministry of Transport. Any relevant job listings will be posted here.
Volunteering opportunities can be found within the volunteer agencies, who supply the bulk of the people in the sector.
As a volunteer you could be out searching rugged terrain or urban areas for a missing person, or taking part in a shoreline search from a rescue boat. You could be part of the Incident Management Team for a search, working out where to place search teams or helping with logistics. You could be answering radio calls and passing information on to where it needs to go. You could be involved in training, administration, funding or governance.
You don’t need to be exceptionally fit or strong to volunteer for search and rescue – there are roles to suit everyone’s capabilities.
Please contact one of the volunteer agencies listed below if you would like to volunteer for search and rescue:
There are no current vacancies that NZSAR is aware of.
Please contact the relevant agencies below to enquire about paid roles.
For more information please contact the relevant agency.