Ministry of Economic Development

Introduction

The Ministry of Economic Development leads the development and implementation of the Government’s economic development agenda. The Government’s economic objective is to increase New Zealand’s growth rate so per capita income returns to the top half of the OECD and stays there.

Given the importance of income growth to the well-being of New Zealanders, and the Ministry's sphere of influence and operation, its primary focus is to ensure that the business environment promotes a higher rate of sustainable income growth for New Zealanders. For example, policies and programmes such as the Growth and Innovation Framework and the Ministry’s industry and regional development initiatives are focused on creating an environment for higher sustainable economic growth, and in this way make a significant contribution to improving the wellbeing of all New Zealanders.

Many of the economic challenges facing people with disabilities are also facing other New Zealanders and can be addressed through general economic development policies. However, there are some instances where general policy or delivery approaches will not suit the particular needs and values of people with disabilities.

The Ministry also delivers almost all its services to business via the internet. It therefore tries to ensure that its information is able to be accessed by people with disabilities)

The Ministry can impact on people with disabilities in a range of ways:

• in specific policy areas with a direct and distinct impact on people with disabilities (e.g. Regulatory Framework for the Building Industry);
• in the generic policy development process (by identifying any disability issues);
• Services for the Disability Community);
• Through business service delivery (e.g., access to our websites).

The challenge for the Ministry is to understand where “points of difference” justify distinctive policy or programme settings. The Ministry also works to ensure that programs targeted to business are designed and delivered in a way that makes them accessible to people with disabilities and other significant groups in the economy.

This strategy sets out the key areas for the Ministry’s involvement in areas related to people with disabilities (both internal and external to the Ministry) to ensure its contribution is targeted and adds value.

Currently our focus is mainly on developing our capability in-house so that disability issues are considered when developing policy or delivering services.

Level 1 activities: Universal responsiveness to disability issues

Accessible government information		Achieved/ available	Planned this year	N/A
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)
Agency makes available alternative forms of contact (ie phone and fax numbers, email addresses, etc)		Yes

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		N
Agency’s buildings and sites accessible.
	Frontline staff receive training in disability responsiveness	Yes
	Reception areas accessible	Yes
	Counters lowered for wheelchair users. The Ministry has good access for people with disabilities. While the reception counter has not been lowered there is sufficient space for the receptionists to see and interact with all visitors to the Ministry.	N
	Telephone staff familiar with the NZ Relay service1	N
	Other accommodations (please list) (eg signage, accessible lifts, hearing loops, etc) Lifts have audible floor count installed

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) The Ministry tends to use sign language interpreters as and when required.	N
Information / data on services provided to disabled people is recorded	N
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) Workstation assessments are provided for new staff and every two years for all staff.	Yes
	Accommodations provided to disabled staff (eg work station adaptations, special equipment, New Zealand Sign Language interpreters, etc are provided) Special equipment is provided on an as required basis e.g. any equipment recommended as a result of individual workstation assessments.	Yes
	Disabled staff provided with opportunities for career advancement	Yes
	Agency supports a disabled staff network group. The Ministry has supported a disability Network. However, the Network is inactive currently. This is in all probability due to the Ministry being responsive to individual need/requirements.	Yes
	Internal agency newsletters promote the positive presence of disabled staff people	N
	Other support provided to disabled staff (please list). Support provided to disabled staff as required.

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)	36
	Data on disability related accommodations, adaptive equipment, etc, provided by your agency Equipment/accommodations provided as part of the Ministry’s good employer/health and safety obligations Monthly statistics collected on the NZ Relay Service	Yes
	Number of disabled people employed under the State Service Commission’s ‘Mainstream programme’3.	2
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)	N
	Information / data on agency’s disabled client group recorded	N

Level 2 activities: Disability perspective included in ordinary work

Disability responsiveness training and resources	Planned this year	N/A
Disability responsiveness training offered to all staff (Where training is provided your end of year report should indicate who gave the training, when it was given, and how many staff and what kind of staff attended)	N
Promotion of the Disability Perspective Tool Kit4 within your agency (eg this website resource distributed to policy and strategic personnel, receiving training or advice on the use of this resource, etc) (Where known, your end of year report should indicate any training or advice received on the use of this resource, who gave the training and who attended) Managers have been provided with information on the Disability Perspective Tool Kit for distribution to staff.	Yes

Disability perspective included in ordinary work		Planned this year	N/A
Key documents to incorporate a disability perspective
	A. Cabinet papers Employees responsible for drafting Cabinet papers provide, where applicable, a disability perspective. Managers are aware of the availability of the Disability Perspective Toolkit as a resource
	B. Policy and procedure papers Managers are aware of the requirement to consider a disability perspective in developing policy and procedures
	C. Strategic documents (eg Statement of Intent, Managing for Outcomes and key strategies) The Ministry’s main focus is to assist the Government to develop and implement policies and services that promote growth, including leading work on the government’s economic transformation agenda.
	D. Legislation
	E. Consultation with disabled people/groups. F. There has been consultation with the deaf community around the design and implementation of the Relay Service. The Ministry is currently reviewing the effectiveness of the service and identifying areas for enhancement. A public document on the stakeholder review of the Relay Service is available on the Intranet..	Yes
	G. Other (please indicate)

Implementing the NZ Disability Strategy beyond your agency	Planned this year	N/A
Agencies, Crown Entities, boards, reference groups, etc, that your agency is responsible for are encouraged to consider disabled people and disability issues (eg staff / membership supports the inclusion of disabled people, compliance with level 1 activities is encouraged, your agency’s purchase agreements require compliance with the Disability Strategy, and where appropriate requires the provision of any data/information on disability issues/disabled clients) The Ministry has attended training delivered by the Human Rights Commission and the SSC on EEO responsibilities in relation to Crown Entities.	Yes

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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 is available at http://www.ssc.govt.nz/mainstream
4. The Disability Perspective Tool Kit is available on the Office for Disability Issues’ website