(New Zealand Disability Strategy Objective 6: Foster an aware and responsive public service)

Accessible government services: general

A notable action taken in 2008/2009 was the development and implementation of a multifaceted accessibility action plan for the 2008 General Election, Access ’08, by the Chief Electoral Office, the Electoral Enrolment Centre and the Electoral Commission in consultation with disability sector groups. The plan’s initiatives included the development of the “Easy Guide to Voting”; the provision of information about voting in a range of formats including Braille, audio tapes and large print; the distribution of information about accessible polling places to disability groups throughout the country; and the production of a New Zealand Sign Language DVD in collaboration with the Deaf Association (now Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand) explaining enrolment and voting procedures.

Government departments are aware of the need to continually enhance their accessibility to disabled people. Their reported actions in 2008/2009, and their planned actions for 2009/2010, include an emphasis on promoting accessibility in their provision of information, particularly through their websites and documents; and in departmental buildings:

• completed and planned actions for accessible websites include actions for meeting or exceeding the government Web Standards, and for auditing these, with some plans including the provision for these to be tested by disabled people
• completed and planned actions for documents include plans for ensuring information on departmental services is more readily accessible to disabled people
• completed and planned actions for the accessibility of buildings include actions for ensuring these meet regulatory access requirements, with some departments also planning building changes to ensure better accessibility for Deaf and hearing impaired clients, such as assistive listening devices in meeting rooms.

Other specific actions to make government services more accessible include:

• the rollout of 15 more Community Link sites by February 2010: these sites provide for the integration of services for clients with complex needs, and the planned 15 will be in addition to the eight sites already established (Ministry of Social Development)
• assessments and online applications for support from Work and Income: this was implemented in October 2009, and the new online channel is to be progressively enabled over 2009/2010 (Ministry of Social Development)
• the appointment of a National Child Disability Advisor and four Regional Child Disability Advisors so disabled children and young people in Child, Youth and Family’s care can have their support needs appropriately addressed: ongoing from March 2009 (Ministry of Social Development)
• the introduction of transition planning for disabled children and young people leaving Child, Youth and Family’s services, to help them to effectively transition to appropriate adult support services: ongoing from March 2009 (Ministry of Social Development)
• work towards capturing information on disabled children and young people more effectively in the Child, Youth and Family database, to contribute to the better planning of services for them: this work began in September 2009 (Ministry of Social Development)
• research on best practice interventions for children and young people in Child, Youth and Family’s care with disabilities and problem sexual behaviour: this began in March 2009 (Ministry of Social Development)
• the letting of contracts for the provision of specialist family support services for families of disabled children and young people under the care of Child, Youth and Family: July 2009–July 2011 (Ministry of Social Development)
• the development of culturally responsive child disability services in Auckland, to improve access to services for families from refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds: this work has been underway from 1 March 2009 (Ministry of Health)
• Equality Impact assessments of the Department of Labour’s policy, delivery and human resources, to check for unconscious discrimination: to be launched in 2009/2010, applied over 2010/2011, and reviewed over 2011/2012 (Department of Labour)
• the publication of guidelines for departments on making information accessible: in 2010 (Office for Disability Issues)
• the implementation of the CommunityNet Aotearoa (CNA) website: an information-sharing resource for New Zealand community and voluntary groups providing guides, news and tools, and its design will take into account the needs of disabled people for accessing its information (Department of Internal Affairs)
• the completion in 2008/2009 of research on ACC’s service accessibility for disabled people, identifying barriers to service and recommended solutions; ACC will consider this research to develop decisions about steps to respond to its findings: over 2009/2010 (ACC)
• extensions to online service options for ACC levy payers, for accessing levy information, requesting changes to information and receiving notification for key events via text messaging and email: over 2009/2010 (ACC)
• online services to enable people to get access to and manage their tax affairs: these went live on 19 July 2009 (Inland Revenue)
• a formal customer feedback and complaint process implemented for National Archives’ Access Services by June 2010 (National Archives)
• the inclusion in December 2009 of Pacific disability community representatives on the Steering Group for Lu’i Ola, the interagency project aimed at better meeting the needs of disabled Pacific peoples in the Auckland region, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs
• an investigation of the possibility of a transport disability advisory group, to give disabled people more direct participation in transport policy developments: July 2009/December 2009 (Ministry of Transport)
• provision for verbal submissions to be made in consultations, where a disabled person’s impairment means she or he is not able to provide a word document or other written submission: by December 2009 (Electricity Commission)
• funding provided by the Health Research Council for research by the Māori Development Research Centre into problems faced by Māori in getting access to disability support services (Ministry of Research, Science and Technology)
• the development and initiation by Auckland Metro Crime Support in association with Auckland Land Search and Rescue of the Autism/Dementia project which uses the Wanda Trak tracking system to search for people with autism/dementia (among other groups) who regularly wander from their place of residence (New Zealand Police).

The New Zealand Police also has planned initiatives for 2009/2010 for providing increased access to crime prevention, safety and for disabled people, in particular as part of its Service First project, aimed at improving the public’s satisfaction with police services:

• exploring the potential for analysing the information gathered in its Citizens Satisfaction Surveys by disability
• exploring the possibility of completing disability audit templates on site visits by Service First teams
• working with ACC on auditing for emergency readiness and injury management.

Other actions planned for 2009/2010 to make government services more accessible include:

• an evaluation by the Ministry of Justice of technology to increase disabled people’s access to courts and court proceedings, for example through audio visual links; the timing of this is to be confirmed -- the Courts (Remote Participation) Bill, enabling courts to make greater use of video links, was introduced in December 2009
• the inclusion by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of a chapter in its consular instruction manual on improving access to consular services for disabled New Zealanders who get into distress overseas.

Increasing the accessibility of services for Deaf people

A number of actions in 2008/2009 related specifically to increasing accessibility for Deaf people:

• the preparation of a DVD providing information in New Zealand Sign Language on the services provided by the Ministry of Social Development’s Work and Income, Child, Youth and Family, and StudyLink Services, to be distributed in late 2009 (Ministry of Social Development)
• the publication of guidelines for government departments working with New Zealand Sign Language interpreters (Office for Disability Issues)
• the completion of New Zealand Sign Language versions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and of the New Zealand Disability Strategy (Office for Disability Issues)
• ACC’s implementation of policies:
  • to inform staff and clients of the iSign interpreter service (the online booking service for New Zealand Sign Language Interpreters) and to encourage its use when needed
  • to apply captions to all ACC’s DVDs, not only those for client/claim based information (ACC).

A number of initiatives were undertaken by the New Zealand Police in 2008/2009:

• New Zealand Police’s Tasman District:
  • prepared a guide on the use and provision of New Zealand Sign Language interpreters in the District, and guidelines on communicating with Deaf people
  • developed and trialled a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community Resource Pack, with the regional Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand office, that provides useful information on dealing with Deaf and hearing impaired people
• New Zealand Police’s Waitemata District developed a Deaf Awareness training package in association with the local Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand branch, and provided it to all its frontline staff.

The New Zealand Police also initiated engagement with Deaf and hearing impaired groups on the development of services: in particular in the Text to Emergency Communications Centre project, aimed at enabling people to text crime reports and calls for emergency assistance into the emergency communications centre. This work is continuing, with the project to be piloted to Deaf and hearing impaired communities before being rolled out to the general public.

Other planned actions to increase the accessibility of services for Deaf people include:

• working with Deaf people and government agencies to identify the best ways to ensure departmental services are readily accessible to Deaf people (Office for Disability Issues)
• the use of the iSign online booking system for New Zealand Sign Language interpreters by Work and Income, with related training on why sign language is important to the Deaf community: to be available by March 2010 (Ministry of Social Development).

Training initiatives

A new New Zealand Qualifications Authority Pasefika Unit Standard, unit standard 25987, was registered in August 2009. Developed by Careerforce, an independent Industry Training Organisation supporting the health and disability sector, this aims to equip frontline staff with the competencies in Pacific culture and the necessary skills to ensure positive outcomes when communicating with Pacific peoples with disabilities, their family members and caregivers. The Lu’i Ola Steering Group made input to its development in 2008/2009.

A number of departments are planning training for their staff in disability awareness, to help ensure responsiveness to disabled people and thus enhance disabled people’s access to the services they need. While some departments are planning to provide training on general disability awareness, more specific training is also planned, including:

• training in New Zealand Sign Language for departmental staff and/or training in working with New Zealand Sign Language interpreters and accessing interpreters
• training for the Ministry of Social Development’s frontline staff on effectively working with people on the Autism spectrum: this is to be rolled out across Work and Income by 30 June 2010.