Phase 2: Precautionary

University of Auckland Fuel Response Plan 2026

What's happening

The market continues to operate effectively and fuel is available nationwide, but there are signs of significant supply disruptions. These might include delays in deliveries or limitations on how quickly fuel can be restocked in certain areas.

This phase focuses on closer coordination between Government and industry, shoring up supply, and managing demand responsibly across the public sector and the wider community.  

What the University will do

Working on campus/remotely

The University remains committed to keeping the campus open and providing an engaging and vibrant working and learning environment for staff and students.

All staff and students are encouraged to continue travelling to their normal place of work or study. However, we recognise that it may become increasingly challenging for some staff and students to travel to campus or their primary place of work, particularly those who live further away or for whom public transport is not a practical option.

Staff and students are encouraged to consider alternative commuting options where available, such as use of public transport or carpooling/ridesharing, with most Auckland students now able to take advantage of the 40 percent tertiary student concession offered by Auckland Transport. For updates on the University pilot for subsidised public transport through Auckland Transport’s Fareshare programme for staff, refer to Subsidised public transport trial through AT Fareshare [staff intranet].

The University will continue to support a team-based, leader-led approach to staff requests for flexible working, in line with its flexible and remote working principles. Leaders may wish to consider temporary arrangements to provide additional flexibility while balancing stakeholder and student requirements. In doing so, leaders should also take equity considerations into account, recognising that the impact of increased fuel costs and transport disruption may not be the same for all staff.

As examples of increased flexibility, staff who were previously committed to working on campus at least four days per week may adopt temporary arrangements to reduce this to three days per week. Alternatively, teams who provide in-person student support may consider options for consolidating certain types of tasks to allow team members to work remotely one day per week.

Guidance for discussions about flexibility is available, including:

We will continue to monitor the situation and consider how best to support staff through this challenging period.

Contingency planning will also be finalised for subsequent phases to ensure the safe and effective delivery of critical activities, services and on-site staffing across our campuses.

Travel

Staff and student travel will only be approved if it is deemed essential and within approved budget envelopes. As travel costs are expected to continue escalating, this implies some travel may no longer be possible.

Essential travel is travel that is absolutely necessary and required to deliver the University’s strategic objectives, including where:

The purpose of travel is directly attributable to achieving a contracted deliverable or milestone, or student approved travel;
or
Travel provides demonstrable benefits to the University through updated knowledge, networking with peers or developing new skills, supporting early-career development and the benefits cannot be achieved through teleconferencing or videoconferencing;
or
The University traveller is presenting at an event which provides demonstrable reputational benefit to the University and/or contributes to the professional or academic community of practice;
or
The travel has been specifically included in a grant or fund.

Staff and students will be expected to explore public transport options for travelling to their destination, instead of by car or taxi.

If air travel is required, consideration must be given to potential trip disruption (including ability to extend travel time if needed) due to flight cancellations or similar. Travel to countries in the Middle East region designated by MFAT SafeTravel as Level 3 (Avoid non-essential travel) or Level 4 (Do not travel) will not be approved until further notice.

PReSS and RDA accounts will be approved to go into temporary arrears (with supervisor approval) whilst waiting on refunds for cancelled travel bookings (extended to 6-8 weeks), to allow travel to be rebooked if required.

Impacts on enrolled students

Student sentiment will continue to be monitored through usual channels and active engagement with the Student Consultative Group, with any matters arising reported back to the Incident Management Team.

Students facing financial hardship will continue to be considered for short term, immediate hardship support under the University’s normal support processes. This includes students experiencing financial difficulty due to being from a country impacted by the Middle East conflict. The University will also continue to explore future mitigating actions for impacted international students, working with Government agencies such as Immigration New Zealand to ensure compliance.

Students on overseas mobility activities

The University’s 360 International team will continue to monitor and advise students on overseas mobility programmes of the latest travel advice as their study programme ends.

Students travelling through the Middle East will be referred to the University’s Risk Office for further guidance as appropriate.

Economic and cost impacts

With emerging signs of supply disruption during this phase, price volatility, reduced availability, delivery delays and increased surcharge requests are anticipated. The University will manage this through consistent triage, evidence-based review, proactive category management and disciplined tracking via a Finance-managed, centralised register.

Centralised capture and triage

All fuel surcharges and conflict-related cost escalation requests must be logged in the Finance-managed centralised register and triaged through the relevant Finance Business Partner, with Procurement support to assess contractual position and commercial reasonableness.

Evidence required

No surcharge or cost increase will be agreed without documented evidence, appropriate review and a recorded decision in the centralised register.

Proactive category management

Procurement will continue to engage with and monitor key suppliers in high-risk spend categories to confirm continuity plans and reinforce expectations for evidenced, time-bound requests.

Single source of truth

The centralised register will be used to record requests, supporting evidence, review outcomes, approvals and status updates to ensure consistent governance and reporting.

Financial coding

All approved conflict-related costs must be coded to the general ledger product code GEOFX – Impacts of war in the Middle East, with the approval and coding reference recorded in the centralised register.

Research

Fuel supply pressures may begin to affect some research activity, particularly where work is travel‑intensive, time‑critical, field‑based, or reliant on physical supply chains. While most research can continue, this phase focuses on early planning and risk mitigation to ensure continuity should conditions deteriorate.

We will:

Continue research activity where practicable, while encouraging early assessment of exposure to fuel, travel and logistics constraints;

Support research continuity planning, with researchers encouraged to review Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) for critical research programmes, facilities and infrastructure;

Engage with research areas more vulnerable to fuel disruptions, including fieldwork, animal facilities, clinical research and research requiring specialist freight or contractor access, to identify emerging risks and mitigation options; and

Monitor cost and schedule impacts on funded research, including grant milestones, deliverables and contractual obligations, and support escalation where delays or variations may be required.

Learning and teaching

Learning and teaching activities will continue as normal, while monitoring the impact on student attendance on campus. During this time:

  • Monitoring of Invigilator and casual staff availability will be increased, especially for staff travelling to complete assessments and exams;
  • Prioritisation planning will begin for high-stakes exams;
  • Contingency options will be developed for expanded use of online/remote exam delivery where academically appropriate;
  • Cohorts more vulnerable to travel disruption will be identified, and preapproved alternative assessment arrangements will be prepared if required;
  • Staff can access the central Learning Design Team’s curated suite of resources to support online design and delivery in anticipation of any change in mode of delivery. Increased capacity will also be provided for on-demand TeachWell Consults [1:1 support where requested].

What you can do

Staff are encouraged to review business continuity plans for their area, both for critical activities and other prioritised activities that may be severely impacted by reduced travel or fuel availability. Focus not just on Maximum Tolerable Outage times, but also on severity of impact, as disruption may last for weeks or months.

Staff and student wellbeing

Ensure you continue to prioritise your personal wellbeing. All permanent and fixed-term staff can access support through our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), with students able to access a variety of support through our specialist support teams:

If you are a student facing financial hardship, you may be eligible for short term, immediate hardship support under the University’s normal support processes. These can be accessed through our Financial support page or by talking to your faculty student support team about other potential options.

Staff working on campus/remotely

We encourage staff to maintain open conversations with their line manager or academic head about their individual circumstances. The HR Advisory team is also available to support teams with flexible working considerations.

Consider different travel options where available, such as use of public transport or carpooling/ridesharing. For updates on the University pilot for subsidised public transport through Auckland Transport’s Fareshare programme for staff, refer to Subsidised public transport trial through AT Fareshare [staff intranet].

Students working on campus

Continue coming onto campus or your work placement site as normal. Explore more affordable travel options where available, noting that most students based in Auckland receive a 40 percent discount on public transport through the tertiary student concession offered by Auckland Transport.

Students on overseas mobility activities

Please refer any concerns to the University’s 360 International team at 360international@auckland.ac.nz.

Travel

  • Avoid all non-essential travel, and explore public transport options where travel is required, in place of car or taxi;
  • Send only one University representative instead of a larger delegation to offsite meetings or conferences;
  • Use virtual meetings whenever possible to replace travel;
  • Plan for trip disruption by working with your line manager or supervisor on a return contingency plan.

Economic and cost impacts

Escalate early

Refer any supplier surcharge or escalation communication to your Finance Business Partner and Procurement, and do not accept changes informally.

Register the request

Ensure each conflict-related cost increase request is entered into the Finance-managed centralised register, with the supplier communication and supporting evidence attached where available.

Apply correct coding after approval

Code approved conflict-related costs to GEOFX – Impacts of war in the Middle East, and ensure the coding is recorded in the centralised register.

Research

  • Review your research project plan, focusing on activities that are fuel‑dependent, time‑critical, or difficult to replace if disrupted in this or future response phases.
  • Assess upcoming fieldwork and travel. Consider deferring, consolidating, or redesigning activities to reduce fuel and transport demand, given the potential for a move into subsequent response phases with little notice.
  • Plan alternatives such as hybrid or remote data collection, reduced site visits, or adjusted sampling schedules where feasible.
  • Engage early with your faculty if you anticipate impacts on milestones, deliverables, student progress, or contractual obligations.
  • Escalate supplier or logistics risks early through your Faculty Finance Business Partner and Procurement, particularly where fuel surcharges or freight delays are proposed.
  • Communicate openly within research teams, including postgraduate students, about potential impacts and contingency arrangements if conditions escalate.

Learning and teaching

Teaching staff should:

  • Ensure their courses are ready to be delivered in an online mode, in anticipation of any change in teaching delivery requirements. This should include engaging with central Learning Design Team resources to support with the transition as required; 
  • Review field trip plans and consider combining or avoiding non-essential field trips;
  • Review assessment designs and identify where contingency options may be applied if escalation occurs.

Prospective international students

  • Refer any questions from prospective students related to concerns over travel or the impact of the situation in the Middle East to the International Office for advice and guidance.
  • Seek guidance from the International Office regarding any recruitment activities planned overseas.

Our fuel response plan