Ministerial Committee on Disability Issues
The Government established the Ministerial Committee on Disability Issues in 2009 to provide visible leadership and accountability for implementing the New Zealand Disability Strategy and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and set a coherent direction for disability issues across government.
In February 2009, the Government established a Ministerial Committee on Disability Issues as a first response to the Social Services Select Committee Inquiry into the Quality of Care and Services Provision for People with Disabilities. The Ministerial Committee is designed to provide visible leadership and accountability for implementing the New Zealand Disability Strategy and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and set a coherent direction for disability issues across government.
The Ministerial Committee is chaired by the Minister for Disability Issues and has other key ministers as members. By having ministers from different portfolios working closely together, government agencies will better focus their activity and policy development on what makes a real difference in disabled people's lives. The Government wants departments to be smarter and work collectively on common areas rather than separately. This will help make the best use of limited resources.
Ministers are supported by the Chief Executives' Group on Disability Issues, which is tasked to lead and co-ordinate government agencies implementation of the Ministerial Committee's priorities on disability issues. The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development chairs the group. Other group members are from the Ministries of Health, Education, Justice, Transport, Business, Innovation and Employment, Foreign Affairs and Trade, ACC and Housing New Zealand Corporation.
Terms of reference
The role, function and membership of the Ministerial Committee on Disability Issues is described in its Terms of Reference.
Disability Action Plan 2012-2014 (focus on results)
On 2 May 2012, the Ministerial Committee on Disability Issues agreed that its Disability Action Plan would be updated to include three components:
- leading focus on results in three cross-agency shared outcomes of:
- Enabling Good Lives - disabled people have greater choice and control over supports, use more natural supports, and disability support funding is more efficiently uses
- Employment - an increase in the number of disabled people in paid employment
- Rebuild Christchurch - the Christchurch rebuild is inclusive of disabled people.
- promoting the Better Public Services results to be inclusive of disabled people
- business-as-usual actions by single agencies.
On 11 September 2012, the Ministerial Committee agreed that the shared outcomes work programme would include seven initiatives.
There will be reporting on the Disability Action Plan in the Minister for Disability Issues' annual report to Parliament.
Disability Action Plan - 2011 to 2012 (focus on Christchurch)
On 18 July 2011, Cabinet agreed to the Disability Action Plan and its implementation over the next eighteen months focused on the recovery of Christchurch. It directs collaboration by government agencies in the three priority areas, and outlines reporting on progress. Other work by government agencies also continues.
On 7 May 2012, Cabinet accepted a progress update on activity to promote the inclusion of disabled people in the rebuild of Christchurch.
Disability Action Plan - 2010
In October 2010, the Ministerial Committee agreed to the Disability Action Plan presented by the Chief Executives' Group, which focuses on three key areas where there are opportunities for rethinking how the government supports disabled people to live an everyday life.
These Disability Action Plan areas are:
- supports for living (how government funding of supports for disabled people can align with the Ministry of Health's new model for disability supports)
- mobility and access (what government can do to enable disabled people to move around their community and access the built environment)
- jobs (what government can do to promote disabled people getting into paid work).
These three areas were chosen based on what disabled people have said are important issues to them and which have not yet been addressed adequately by government.
The Ministerial Committee asked that the Office for Disability Issues use its public consultation on the draft report on implementation of the UN Convention (from November to December 2010) to get feedback from disabled people on the three key areas.
