Member Position Description

1. The Disability Advisory Council (the Council) shall be made up of thirteen (13) members.

2. Members of the Council are expected to know about implementing the New Zealand Disability Strategy. This means knowing about things happening to disabled people and their families that stop them living good lives and being able to participate in society. The New Zealand Disability Strategy says that disabled people should have a good life like other people do.

3. The Office for Disability Issues (the Office) asks some disability sector organisations to appoint (or choose) people to be Council members.

4. Members shall be chosen who are disabled people and/or family members of disabled people.

5. There is a separate document called Disability Advisory Council - Terms of Reference that talks about what the Council does. There is also a separate document called Terms of Reference for Appointing Organisations that talks about them.

Responsibilities of members

6. Council members are chosen as individuals who have knowledge and experience of disability. They should also know how to join in with meetings and be able to talk about the New Zealand Disability Strategy.

7. People are accountable to their appointing organisation for the job that they do as a Council member.

8. The type of things that Council members need to do are:

• attend meetings
• prepare for meetings, such as reading papers and talking to people about issues
• talking about issues affecting disabled people and their families at Council  meetings
• talking about their own knowledge and experience of disability
• talking with their appointing organisations on Council meetings and the type of things the member talked about.

9. If the member cannot do any of these things, then the appointing organisation shall replace the member and choose someone else.

Time as a Council member

10. People will be chosen to be a Council member for three years.

11. The same person cannot be chosen again as a Council member right away. Someone else needs to do the job first before that same person can be chosen.

12. One third of the members will usually change every year.

13. If for some reason a member is no longer able to serve on the Council, the appointing organisation may choose someone else.

14. A person will also stop being a Council member if the appointing organisation changes what it does, so that it is no longer what we want an appointing organisation to be.

Attendance at meetings

15. Members must be able to travel to Wellington and attend a one or two day meeting. These meetings are held up to four times a year.

16. Council members are expected to attend every meeting.

17. Members will be paid a meeting fee.

18. Reasonable costs for attending the meetings will be met by the Office. All costs need to be approved by the Office before the meeting takes place. Costs include travel, personal support and child care. 

People that make a good Council member

19. Council members should reflect the diversity and differences of disabled people and their families.

20. People will be good at being a Council member if they:

• know about disability issues, and things stopping disabled people from living good lives and being able to participate in society
• can talk about things clearly in meetings, and does this in a way that other people can easily understand
• think and talk about disability issues in a strategic way, and know how to see the big picture (that is make connections with other things and not just look at one thing but many things)
• are able to work together with other people, such as in meetings
• are committed to doing the job and can be trusted
• be diligent and hard working.

Authorised

21. This Member Position Description comes into effect on 1 December 2008, and replaces the previous Member Position Description.

22. Council members that were appointed under the previous Terms of Reference will only have their time on the Council extended (from two years to three years) if the member and their appointing organisation both agree.

Jan Scown
Director
Office for Disability Issues

26 November 2008.