Part One: Office for Disability Issues and government news.

01: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Award 2007

New Zealand has won the award in recognition of the progress made in advancing the participation of disabled people across New Zealand society over the last thirty years.

His Excellency The Honourable, Anand Satyanand, PCNZM Governor-General of New Zealand and Mike
Gourley, President of Disabled Persons Assembly travelled to New York to receive the award in a ceremony held on 6 May 2008. Special guests attending the ceremony included the Secretary-General of the United Nations , Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute; Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the World Committee on Disability; and the Ambassador for New Zealand to the United Nations.

For more information:

02 Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline launched 2 April 2008.

The New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline was launched at Parliament on World Autism Day - 2 April 2008.

The NZ Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline (ASD) is based on overseas and New Zealand evidence, experience and practice. It has information for people with ASD, their families, health professionals, support service providers and those involved in education. It covers diagnosis and treatment of ASD, supporting and teaching children and adults with ASD, employing people with ASD and living with ASD.

A summary of the guideline is available on the Ministry of Health website.

For more information:

03 Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline applications for Implementation Advisory Group 16 May 2008.

 The Implementation Advisory Group is being set up to advise the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education on how to implement the New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline recommendations.

People interested in being on the Implementation Advisory Group are invited to apply. Applications close 16 May 2008.

For more information:
Contact: Stephanie Dixon, New Zealand Guidelines Group
Postal: PO Box 10 665, Wellington

04 Carers' Strategy and Five-year Action Plan 2008 launched 28 April 2008.

 The Carers' Strategy and Five-year Action Plan 2008 was launched in Parliament on 28 April 2008 by the Hon Ruth Dyson, Minister for Social Development and Employment. The vision of the Strategy recognises the value the contribution of carers make to New Zealand society. The Five-year Action Plan will help deliver the vision for carers so that they will have more choices in their lives and stronger voices in decisions that affect them.

 Postal: Ministry of Social Development, P O Box 1556, Wellington 6140
Phone: 04 916 3300
Fax: 04 918 0099

05 Minimum age for Very High Needs School Leavers lowered 3 March 2008.

  On 3 March Cabinet approved changing the age at which very high needs students are eligible for transitional services funding from 21 years to the same minimum school leaving age that applies to other students. This means that very high needs school leavers will no longer have to stay at school until they are 21 in order to get transitional services funding.

06 Review of Long-term Disability Supports.

 The review of long-term disability supports was established to advise government on how to improve disability support systems.

On 18 February 2008 Cabinet agreed to the review's recommendations in a paper "Improving Long-Term Disability Supports - maintaining momentum". 

Cabinet noted that there is significant work under way across government to improve the provision of disability supports, and agreed to an outcomes framework as a statement of the governments direction and a basis for monitoring progress across government, and Cabinet has asked government agencies to work towards:

- greater flexibility of supports, better tailored to the specific needs of individual service users
- simplifying or reducing the assessment processes for small and low-cost disability supports
- greater use of direct funding approaches
- accelerated workforce development and training initiatives for the   disability sector
- improving how new and existing policies and programmes fit together
- making sure the social services non-government organisations (NGOs) services are inclusive of disabled
  people
- simplifying and standardising contracting arrangements
- investigating the feasibility of an accessible website for government information on disability supports via a
  single entry point
- access to mainstream services for disabled children and young people.

07: International youth video competition – Is privacy your business?

 The Office of the Privacy Commissioner in New Zealand has teamed up with the other Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA) in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and Korea to launch an international video competition for secondary school students to find out what students think about privacy in their lives. Students have been asked to make a short video about privacy.

The competition closes 25 July 2008 and is for students in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
Prizes include a video camera and gift vouchers. The winners will be announced during Privacy Awareness Week 24-30 August 2008.

For information on privacy issues:
New Zealand: www.privacy.org.nz  and  www.netsafe.org.nz
Hong Kong: http://www.pco.org.hk/english/privacy_zone/privacyzone.html

For more information and copies of the competition forms:
Postal: Competition, Office of the Privacy Commissioner, PO Box 10094,
The Terrace, Wellington.
Phone: 04 474 7610

08: The 2008 New Zealand Mental Health Media Grants 30 May 2008.

 Applications are open for journalists and creative artists with an interest in mental health to submit a proposal for a media project that can help reduce the incidence of stigma and discrimination for people with experience of mental illness.

Applications close 30 May 2008.

For more information:
Contact: Mental Health Foundation
Phone: 09 300 700

09: Health Research Council Funding results 2007.

 A list of projects recieving Health Research Council funding can be found on the Health Research Council's website.

For more information:
Website: http://www.hrc.govt.nz/root/Research
Funding/HRC_Funding_Results.html

10: State Services Commission launches igovt service 29 April 2008.

The igovt service was officially launched by the Minister of State Services at the Managing Identity in New Zealand conference on 29 - 30 April 2008 at Te Papa, Wellington.

The igovt service is secure. It lets you identify yourself online so you can safely access government services such as applying for a student loan or viewing your rates account with your city council.

Ultimately, most government agencies will use igovt. Comments, or feedback about the site are invited.

For more information:

11: Education Portal Website.

The education portal website www.edcentre.govt.nz was launched to assist users find online education information and services quickly and easily, through establishing a gateway or portal across education agency
websites. There are currently 28 websites supported by education agencies, 14 other government sites with an education component, and hundreds of other sites having some education content. Confronted with this maze of sites, the question for a first-time or infrequent user seeking information or services was – where to look?

The portal is a starting point for people looking for education information. The participating agencies in the portal’s development were Career Services, Education Review Office, the Ministry of Education (lead agency), National Library, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, the Teachers Council and the Tertiary Education Commission.

For more information: