In New Zealand, a lifeline utility is a service defined under one of the Schedules of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002.
The group called on its 16 member organisations to help deliver 25 key infrastructure projects across the region over the next two decades, at a cost of $5.3b, to help minimise the impact on economic activity in the five years following a major earthquake.
[6] The definition of essential services includes the Lifeline Utilities listed in Schedule 1 of the Civil Defence and Emergency Management CDEM Act 2002.
These essential businesses are allowed to continue to operate during New Zealand's COVID-19 Alert Level 4.
However, the Chief Executive of a company that maintains vegetation close to overhead power lines reported in April that members of the public were abusing their staff for working through the lockdown, despite the fact that this work is deemed an essential service.