1 New Zealand Disability Strategy 2001, p3.

2 Various models and definitions of disability have been debated by national and international advocacy groups and academics over the last two decades. The general aim has been to reframe our understanding of disability, to promote consideration of strategies that address disability issues beyond the welfare/charity and medical/health policy contexts.

The New Zealand Disability Strategy adopts the ‘social model’ of disability. This draws on a human rights discourse, defining disabled people as an excluded or oppressed social group. It distinguishes between the impairments that people have, and the barriers to social participation that they experience. It shifts the problem of disability from a focus on a person’s impairment.

The disadvantage or restriction of activity is caused by contemporary social organisation which takes no or little account of people who have ... impairments and thus excludes them from the mainstream of social activities. (Oliver, 1990)

However, it is acknowledged by most disabled people that:

Impairment and disability are not dichotomous … Disability is a complex dialectic of biological, psychological, cultural and socio-political factors, which cannot be extricated except with imprecision. (Shakespeare, 2004)

Reflecting the common use of language, many people with impairments may refer to themselves as having a disability.

The New Zealand Disability Strategy, the Human Rights Act 1993 (see endnote 14) and Statistics New Zealand have all adopted inclusive approaches to disability, which span a wide range of impairment types. This contrasts with some historic notions of disability and some current eligibility mechanisms for support services.

3 All estimates are based on data gathered in the Post-Census Disability Survey conducted by Statistics New Zealand in 2001. Findings are published in ‘Disability Counts’ on www.statistics.govt.nz They are analysed in more depth by the Ministry of Health and published in ‘Living with Disability’, available online at www.moh.govt.nz

Statistics New Zealand defines disability as any self-perceived limitation in activity, resulting from a condition or health problem that will continue for more than six months, and will result in a reduction of independent function to the extent that ongoing support is required. The list of types of limitations or impairments includes hearing, seeing, speaking, agility, mobility, intellectual, psychiatric/psychological, learning, remembering and other.

4 Over more than two years the National Health Committee undertook seminal research into the lives of adults with intellectual disabilities. This was published in September 2003 as To Have an Ordinary Life: Community Membership for Adults with an Intellectual Disability.

5 New Zealand Human Rights Commission, 2004, p8.

6 See endnote 4.

7 This statement was made by the Disabled Persons Assembly in their foreword to the 2003/2004 Disability Strategy Progress Report, presented to Parliament in October 2004.

8 Making a World of Difference: Whakanui Oranga, Ministry of Health, September 2000 – a discussion document that invited people who experience disability, along with other interested individuals and groups, to contribute to development of the New Zealand Disability Strategy.

9 Consultation around the development of both the New Zealand Disability Strategy and the Pathways to Inclusion Strategy, during the year 2000, found that a priority issue for disabled people was better access to employment. Smaller-scale consultation undertaken by the Office for Disability Issues since 2002 has seen this priority re-confirmed many times.

10 See endnote 8.

11 The ‘Like Minds, Like Mine’ Campaign has been underway for more than six years. It involves mass media advertising as well as a diverse range of capacity-building, advocacy and awareness-raising initiatives. Much of the process has been evaluated, providing useful information about how to improve the campaign. Significant findings have supported the use of mass media, careful and inclusive strategic planning, increased targeting, increased participation of people with an experience of mental illness and increased advocacy using a human rights model.

Attitude-tracking surveys have found that public attitudes towards people with mental illness have improved as a result of the campaign’s mass media advertising. Also, an in-depth survey of people with mental illness found that over half of the participants reported reduced levels of stigma and discrimination from family, mental health services and the public (see www.likeminds.co.nz).

12 The term ‘disability sector’ is often used in discussion of policies for disabled people. The Office for Disability Issues uses the term to include three distinct groups: disabled people, their families/whänau and organisations representing them, and other organisations providing services to disabled people (often referred to as ‘providers’).

13 Quinn and Degener, 2000.

14 Section 29 of the Human Rights Act 1993. Section 21(1)(h) defines disability as including the following impairments:

• physical disability or impairment
• physical illness
• psychiatric illness
• intellectual or psychological disability or impairment
• any other loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function
• reliance on a guide dog, wheelchair or other remedial means
• the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing illness.

The Human Rights Act 1993 protects disabled people from discrimination in employment, education, accommodation and the provision of goods, facilities and services. Any affirmative or proactive measures need to be consistent with the Human Rights Act 1993, and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.

15 The Treasury’s Guidelines for Contracting with Non-Government Organisations for Services Sought by the Crown is a useful resource that signals Government’s expectations of agencies and their relationships with non-government organisations. It signals a need to avoid disempowering practices. Ideally, mechanisms used to involve the disability sector in the work of government should help facilitate co-operation, add value, and complement and support the work of individuals and their organisations in the disability sector. The guidelines are available at www.treasury.govt.nz/publicsector/ngo/download.asp

16 Hurst, 2000.

17 The rights-based approach that sits behind the New Zealand Disability Strategy is being mirrored in various ways. For example, the European Union adopted a Disability Rights Directive for all member states in 2002. The United States passed the Americans with Disabilities Act 1990. The United Kingdom set up a Disability Rights Commission and has also developed a Disability Strategy with some similarities to New Zealand’s. There are also relevant developments in Canada, Australia, and many other countries.

18 The 2001 Census found almost 28,000 people use NZSL, including both deaf and hearing people. Estimates of how many of these people are deaf range from at least 2,500 to possibly 7,000.

19 See endnote 4.

20 New Zealand delegations to the UN ad hoc committee in New York have included effective partnerships between officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Office for Disability Issues, and disabled New Zealanders representing the Human Rights Commission, the Mental Health Commission and the Disabled Persons Assembly. New Zealand’s contributions have also been informed by more general consultation with disabled people.

21 Bites, the December 2004 newsletter of the Disabled Persons Assembly:

The strong support for a UN Convention is an enormously important tangible expression of the real values of the New Zealand Government and its commitment to fostering an approach to disability which is about action rather than mere words.

22 The systems for delivering supports to disabled New Zealanders have gone through evolutionary and at times more radical structural change over the last few decades. In 1994, the ‘New Deal’ reform transferred funding from the Department of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Health to regional health authorities. The new purchasers were required to incorporate a number of attributes into their purchasing plans, including the ability to co-ordinate disability supports with other services, such as income support and personal health services. They were also required to incorporate an innovative and flexible approach to supports.

A review published in 1998, entitled Building On The New Deal, reiterated the need for improvements in flexibility, consistency, intersectoral collaboration and appropriate services for specific groups.

23 See endnote 8.

24 Living with Disability in New Zealand, Ministry of Health 2004.

25 See endnote 24.

26 See endnote 8.

27 IHC was funded by the Health Funding Authority to provide care in the community for intellectually disabled people. IHC entered into caregiver contracts under which intellectually-disabled people were cared for in the homes of caregivers. Mr and Mrs Hill had contended that IHC had breached the Human Rights Act 1993 on the grounds of family status, by disallowing their application to be paid caregivers of their son.

28 In general terms, families have primary responsibility for the wellbeing of their members. As the wellbeing of individuals is related to the wellbeing of their families, government is committed to protecting families from hardship, helping them to be part of their communities, helping them to achieve economic security and independence, and supporting them in meeting the needs of family members.

Government recognises that family caregivers of disabled people face costs exceeding those that families can ordinarily be expected to face. In order to mitigate the negative impact of these costs, government is committed to:

• ensuring that families caring for disabled people are protected from financial hardship and are able to be part of their communities
• working across sectors to ensure that families caring for disabled people have access to a wide range of provision that meets their specific needs
• minimising barriers to families’ access to provision that will assist them in providing care for disabled people
• encouraging holistic approaches to supporting families caring for disabled people, so that due attention is given to the wellbeing of the disabled person, the family, and the family caregiver
• ensuring that provision for family caregivers of disabled people recognises cultural preferences
• helping families caring for disabled people build their capacity for providing care, to complement that provided by professional support workers
• assisting families to explore all options to promote the maximum independence and participation of disabled family members, including options for care outside the family.