"Our role is to support you and keep you in touch with the disability sector"

One in five New Zealanders is disabled. In 2001, this amounted to a total of 743,800 people. Disabled New Zealanders are a diverse group, representing all sectors of society and a wide range of impairment types.

The experience of disability occurs when people with impairments are excluded from places and activities most New Zealanders take for granted. Many disabled people are seriously disadvantaged by exclusion, and are unable to participate in society on an equal basis with others.

As the Minister for Disability Issues, you are an advocate for disabled people. You make broad policy decisions that lead the direction of government engagement with disability issues. Your position also allows you to evaluate policies presented from other portfolios from a disability perspective and you have a statutory role, under the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000, to inform your colleagues of progress and trends.

A primary function of the Office for Disability Issues is to support and advise you in this role. In doing so we recognise the views, experience and wisdom of disabled New Zealanders and their families, and we provide a channel for the disability sector to raise issues with government. We have a leadership role across government agencies, and between them and the disability sector.

In this briefing we provide an overview of disability issues, including key concepts of what disability is and the current experience of disabled people. We highlight their aspirations and describe progress government has made in response. We also outline challenges and opportunities for further work.

The messages on the next page are a summary of the priority challenges we believe government faces in improving the life experience of disabled New Zealanders.

We look forward to working with you.

Dr Jan Scown
Director
Office for Disability Issues