Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - Te Manatu Ahuwhenua, Ngaherehere

Introduction

MAF informs, advises, regulates and delivers services relating to the agriculture, forestry, rural affairs, biosecurity and food safety portfolios.

"Contributing to New Zealand’s sustainable development … enhancing its natural advantage."

In doing so MAF contributes to the economic, environmental and social/cultural wellbeing of New Zealand.

It does this through the outcomes it seeks to achieve with respect to: the economic, environmental and social performance of the sectors, maintaining and enhancing New Zealand’s biosecurity status, providing health assurances to foreign governments for animals, plants and their products, protecting the health of consumers by ensuring the safety and suitability of food.

New Zealand is unique in the world in its dependence on a biological and natural resource-based economy and society. Sustaining and managing those resources will continue to be important to New Zealand as a society into the foreseeable future. It will mean significant challenges as the country faces the uncertainty of how the world and the markets on which it depends change in the future.

As MAF pursues its outcomes – whether in respect to the performance of the sectors, food safety or biosecurity – it looks to develop and implement well-informed sustainable development policies maximising the shared benefits and minimising the trade-offs between economic growth, environmental management and social and cultural aspirations.

For these reasons issues of sustainability are at the very core of MAF’s mandate and future direction.

Level 1 Activities: Universal responsiveness to disability issues

		Achieved / available	Planned this year	N/A
Accessible government information			Yes
Agency’s websites
	Meet e-government Web-Guidelines 2.1		Yes
	Tested for accessibility for disabled people		Yes
	Adapted to increase accessibility to disabled people		Yes
	Downloadable files available in HTML, not only PDF		Yes
Other publications and public information available in alternative formats. (eg key information available in easy-to-read English, Braille, NZSL video clips, captions on TV adverts, etc) (In your end of year report you will be asked to list the formats you have available)			Yes
Agency makes available alternative forms of contact (ie phone and fax numbers, email addresses, etc)			Yes
While MAF’s website was ranked second out of 25 public sector organisations by an E-Government Watch audit in Feb 2004, the plan for this year will be to ensure MAF is maintaining a high standard of communication.

Accessible government buildings and sites		Achieved / available	Planned this year	N/A
All agency’s buildings and sites meet statutory and regulatory access requirements (eg NZS 4121)			Yes
Agency’s buildings and sites have Building Code compliance certification			Yes
Agency’s buildings and sites audited for accessibility by Barrier Free NZ Trust			Yes
Agency’s buildings and sites accessible.
	Frontline staff receive training in disability responsiveness		Yes
	Reception areas accessible		Yes
	Counters lowered for wheelchair users		Yes
	Telephone staff familiar with using NZ Relay service1		Yes
	Other accommodations (please list) (eg signage, accessible lifts, hearing loops, etc)		Yes

Accessible government services	Achieved / available	Planned this year	N/A
Service policies and procedures include reference to disability issues (eg policies on the use of New Zealand Sign Language Interpreters)		Yes
Information / data on services provided to disabled people is recorded		Yes
Service staff receive disability responsiveness training		Yes
When contracting for new or up-graded IT applications and environments, contracts include a requirement to ensure accessibility by disabled users		Yes

Responsive government employment practices		Achieved / available	Planned this year	N/A
Human Resource policies and procedures include EEO issues for disabled people			Yes
Recruitment and selection of vacancies responsive to disabled people (eg vacancies advertised to the widest possible audience, vacancies list alternative forms of contact – phone, fax, email, etc)		Yes
Human Resource staff familiar with EEO issues for disabled people (eg staff receive disability responsiveness training, staff familiar with the Disability Perspective Tool Kit2, etc)		Yes
Disabled staff are supported
	Individual assessments of workplace accommodations or support are provided (eg work station assessments)	Yes
	Accommodations provided to disabled staff (eg work station adaptations, special equipment, New Zealand Sign Language interpreters, etc are provided)	Yes
	Disabled staff provided with opportunities for career advancement	Yes
	Agency supports a disabled staff network group			Yes
	Internal agency newsletters promote the positive presence of disabled staff people			Yes
	Other support provided to disabled staff (please list)

Information and data on disabled people is collected		Achieved / available	Planned this year	N/A
Information on agency’s responsiveness to disabled staff people
	Number of disabled people employed (we recommend you use the State Service Commission’s EEO disability information)		Unknown
	Data on disability related accommodations, adaptive equipment, etc, provided by your agency	Yes
	Number of disabled people employed under the State Service Commission’s ‘Mainstream programme’3.		None
Information on agency’s responsiveness to the disabled public
	Information and data on agency’s contact with the disabled public is recorded (eg consultation with disabled groups)			Yes
	Information / data on agency’s disabled client group recorded			Yes
This year two MAF worksites took part in the SSC Disability Mentoring Day. This was very well received and it is planned to have more worksites involved next year. The aim of participating in the SSC DMD is to raise awareness of staff and managers to the NZ Disability Strategy and the ‘mainstream programme’.
Information regarding a (new) staff members disability is rarely supplied

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1. For information on NZ Relay service.
2. The Disability Perspective Tool Kit is available on the Office for Disability Issues’ website
3. Information on the State Service Commission’s Mainstream Programme