The New Zealand Disability Strategy is the primary government strategy for people with disabilities. It provides an agreed way forward for everyone working in the sector and across central and local government.

Vital to its success is that the New Zealand Disability Strategy was developed after extensive consultation with the disability community, the wider disability sector and the public about what they wanted and what works best to progress their goals. Closely reflecting the needs and aspirations of the disability community, there is a high level of ownership by the community as well as government.

New Zealand Disability Strategy sets a vision for a fully inclusive society. We will know we have realised this vision when people with impairments can say they live in “a society that highly values our lives and continually enhances our full participation”.

“In my 19 years I have seen a lot of changes. There are changes happening for the better. It will get better because now [with the New Zealand Disability Strategy] we have a voice and we will be using our voices to get our messages out there.”

The vision is both aspirational and empowering. Achieving it will involve ensuring that people with disabilities have a meaningful partnership with government, communities and support agencies, based on respect and equality. It will mean that people with disabilities will be integrated into community life on their own terms. Their abilities will be valued, their diversity and interdependence will be recognised, and their human rights will be protected.

These aspirations are reflected in the Strategy’s 15 objectives and significantly overlap with the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and also the articles in the Draft United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Strategy’s supporting outcomes framework (see Fig.1.) acknowledges a ‘whole of life’ and ‘whole of life-span’ approach to disability, and helps organise and focus work across government and the sector. As with all aspects of the Strategy, people experiencing disability have identified the target outcomes. These focus on living an ordinary life, one that involves living in a family, in a community, in a society.

Such an ordinary life involves individuals taking personal responsibility for achieving these outcomes. But for people experiencing a disability it also requires accessing practical support from many avenues to remove barriers. Our framework not only identifies the outcomes sought by people with disabilities but also the range of enablers or influences pivotal to achieving these outcomes, and how support needs to be developed and provided.

Significantly, the need for such additional supports will diminish as we gain further ground in achieving an inclusive society; a society that delivers a better life for all New Zealanders.

Figure 1: Outcomes framework

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Importantly, the New Zealand Disability Strategy does not stand alone. It is a vital component of a comprehensive, integrated system of support.