Along with other New Zealanders, disabled people aspire to a good life.

The vision of this Strategy is a fully inclusive society. New Zealand will be inclusive when people with impairments can say they live in:

'A society that highly values our lives and continually enhances our full participation.'

This will happen in a country where:

• disabled people have a meaningful partnership with Government, communities and support agencies, based on respect and equality,
• we have moved forward from exclusion, tolerance and accommodation of disabled people to a fully inclusive and mutually supportive society<,
• disabled people are integrated into community life on their own terms. This means that equal opportunities are assured but individual choices are available and respected,
• the abilities of disabled people are valued and not questioned,
• interdependence is recognised and valued, especially the important relationships between disabled people and their families, friends, whānau and other people who provide support,
• human rights are protected as a fundamental cornerstone of government policy and practice,
• the diversity of disabled people, including their cultural backgrounds, is recognised, and there is flexibility to support their differing aspirations and goals,
• disabled people are treated equitably, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, type of impairment or when and how the impairment was acquired,
• community-based services ensure that disabled people are supported to live in their own communities, and institutionalisation is eliminated,
• the idea that society imposes many of the disabling barriers faced by people with impairments is widely understood and, therefore, legislation, policy and other activities enhance rather than disable the lives of people with impairments,
• the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are recognised.