Awarded to members of the New Zealand armed forces who:

Served 1 day in the operational area on the posted strength of a unit conducting operations;
Conducted one sortie as a member of aircrew conducting operations in the operational area;
Served for 30 days or more (consecutive or aggregate) in the operational area for official visits, inspections, or other occurrences of a temporary nature on duty.

The operational area encompassed those areas of Perlis, Kedah, Perak, and Kelantan, provinces in the Federation of Malaya, where members of the New Zealand Army, the Royal New Zealand Navy, or the Royal New Zealand Air Force were deployed on active service.