Earthquake Commission Inquiry
The challenge
In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck New Zealand's South Island, triggering thousands of aftershocks including a devastating event in February 2011 that killed nearly 200 people in the Christchurch area. New Zealand's state-owned insurer, the Earthquake Commission (EQC), faced heavy criticism for its response, and by 2018 thousands of citizens still had unresolved claims. A public inquiry was established to examine the EQC's handling of the disaster and make recommendations for future improvements.
The approach
The inquiry, led by Dame Silvia Cartwright, chose Citizen Space as the platform through which affected New Zealanders could share their experiences. With nearly a tenth of the country's population impacted, the inquiry team needed a tool that was accessible across broad demographic ranges, capable of handling large volumes of responses and supporting evidence, and backed by robust data security. Citizen Space's built-in accessibility features, scalable response handling, and efficient analysis tools made it well suited to the task. The platform also allowed the inquiry team to keep the public informed throughout the process, with the consultation overview page updated regularly to reflect progress and signpost further information.
The results
The inquiry gathered close to a thousand written submissions alongside thousands of pages of documents, evidence from public forums, and input from a wide range of stakeholders including claimants, iwi leaders, engineers, insurers, lawyers and government officials. This breadth of engagement gave Dame Cartwright the foundation to produce 47 recommendations directed at both EQC and the government, covering everything from legislative reform and clearer definitions of EQC's role, to improved communication with claimants and better disaster preparedness. EQC subsequently made an unreserved public apology for its shortcomings and committed to a transformation programme. The inquiry's final report, published in March 2020, is now a cornerstone reference for how New Zealand approaches natural disaster response and residential insurance recovery.
Delib is a govtech leader specialising in consultation and engagement, trusted by over 600 government organisations worldwide, including major planning projects. Since 2004, we've been building secure, accessible digital platforms to make participation simpler, fairer, and more inclusive. Our flagship product, Citizen Space, was built in collaboration with the UK government and has supported more than 11 million responses across over 110,000 democratic activities.