NZ Disability Strategy
Describes the New Zealand Disability Strategy as a government framework guideing policy and services impacting on disabled people, the reporting and implementation process, and its history.
Read or download the NZ Disability Strategy
The NZ Disability Strategy is vital to the well-being of the one-in-five New Zealanders who identify that they have a long-term impairment. By implementing the Strategy, New Zealand will become a more inclusive society, eliminating the barriers to people with disabilities participating in and contributing to society.
The Strategy has the vision of a society that highly values the lives and continually enhances full participation of disabled people. It provides an enduring framework to ensure that government departments and agencies consider disabled people before making decisions.
In taking the lead, the Government will do everything possible to influence the attitudes and behaviour of society as a whole. By all New Zealanders considering issues facing people with disabilities and their aspirations, New Zealand can become a fully inclusive society.
Implementation
The monitoring and reporting on the Strategy implementation is co-ordinated and supported by the Office for Disability Issues. All government departments are required to develop annual Disability Strategy implementation work plans with goals and actions. Read the current and previous years work plans.
At the end of each year covered by the work plans, departments are required to prepare a progress report. The Minister for Disability Issues is required to report annually to Parliament on progress in implementing the Strategy. Read the progress reports.
Disability Advisory Council
One mechanism the Office uses to have ongoing input from disabled people and the disability sector on implementation of the NZ Disability Strategy is the Disability Advisory Council.
This advisory body is made up of 13 people appointed by consumer based disability organisations. They meet four times a year to provide advice to the Office on implementing the NZ Disability Strategy and emerging issues that impact on disabled people. The Council also assists the Office to provide advice to government departments on policy development.
Progress Review
On release of the New Zealand Disability Strategy in April 2001, a commitment was made to review progress on its implementation after five and ten years had passed. The five year review of implementation is now underway.
In March 2007, the Office for Disability Issues contracted a research and evaluation company, Litmus Ltd, to conduct the review. Key results from this work will be recommendations on the impact and any improvements that can be made in the Disability Strategy implementation.
The scope of the implementation review will not include revising the vision, principles or objectives of the New Zealand Disability Strategy. A full evaluation of implementation is planned for the ten-year mark.
The review report will be released in mid-2008.
Experiences of disability
In 2005, the Office commissioned interviews with 25 disabled people and their families. The people interviewed talk about their personal experience of disability, and bring a true-life, human dimension to the official statistics.
The interviews have been published as “Life is for Living - 25 New Zealanders living with disability tell their stories”. Read more