THE EVENT
Securing our borders, facilities and public spaces Following its successful Wellington debut in 2019, Securing NZ’s Borders, Facilities & Public Spaces is back for 2021. This time, the event brings a pantheon of renowned physical security specialists to Auckland. Scheduled for 13-14 April at Auckland’s Vodafone Events Centre, Securing NZ’s Borders, Facilities & Public Spaces will focus on key currents shaping today’s security landscape with presentations by renowned local and international practitioners and academics and the latest case studies. The conference is set to draw together professionals concerned with safety and security at the border and at facilities where people tend to congregate, including airports, managed isolation facilities, stadiums, gyms, pools, parks, shopping precincts, hotels, hospitals, museums and education facilities, places of worship, transport hubs, government facilities, commercial buildings and critical infrastructure (refineries, tank farms, ports, oil companies, water and gas). The conference is effectively the 2021 iteration of Conferenz’s successful 2019 offering Safe & Secure Facilities & Public Spaces, but reconfigured for security in the COVID era, extending its public spaces gaze to aviation, the border and managed isolation. As media reports constantly remind us, things might have started to feel normal, with new strains and continuing outbreaks in the northern hemisphere, the ongoing threat of COVID has not disappeared entirely from our borders. Questions are being asked as to what new or additional measures might be put in place to
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safeguard public health and protect our people at work, at play, and visiting public spaces. As part of the event’s international line-up, Dr John Coyne, Head of Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) will explore security at the Australian border. He will discuss how data and technology can be best utilised to improve border security and how temporary and longer-term personnel arrangements can be implemented to beat pandemics swiftly. While the COVID context has presented the need to treat potentially crowded spaces in an even more complex and diverse way than before, 2020 also saw the September release of the New Zealand Police’s longawaited Protecting our crowded places from attack – New Zealand’s strategy. Aimed at assisting owners and operators of ‘crowded places’ across New Zealand increase the safety, protection and resilience of their venues, the strategy cascades from the also recently released NZ Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism National Strategy. Inspector Fleur de Bes, NZ Police’s Prevention Manager - National Security, New Zealand Police, will open Day Two of the conference, providing specialist insights into how the crowded places strategy will work. Securing NZ’s Borders, Facilities & Public Spaces is co-located with National Safety Leaders’ Summit and
Wellbeing at the Front-Line event, and features a jam-packed two-day speaker line up, with just some of the sessions including: The shifting landscape of Australian aviation security – Clinton McCaughan, General Manager Aviation Security, Queensland Airport Ltd - ISS Facility Services • Explore the threats to aviation • International and national objectives of Australian aviation security and legislation • Change in screening to advanced screening using CT technology/ body scanners • Recognition of firearms and explosives including dangerous goods Security at national and civic level – funding, collaboration, and strategy – Darroch Todd, Risk Manager, Auckland Unlimited • An understanding of the decisions to allocate funding to increase safety and security in New Zealand is crucial for security professionals, hear about what is being done at the national and civic level to make this country a safer place. • Analyse strategy used to react to security threats in the long and short term • Learn how funding is allocated to various departments and services • Gain insight into how New Zealand operates security at a national and civic level
February/March 2021
