HOME: New Zealand Disability Strategy / Outcome 5 - Accessibility
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We access all places, services and information with ease and dignity.
What our future looks like
Action - Increase accessibility of government information
Action - Understand the journey through the justice sector
Action - Investigate opportunities for technology
Action - Develop framework for understanding costs of disability
Action - Implement transport stocktake recommendations
Action - Implement the accessibility plan - public buildings
Action - Understand the impact of disability on housing needs
Data on Accessibility
Photographic identification
Our future and what needs to happen
We have access to warm, safe and affordable housing that meets our needs and enables us to make choices about where we go to school or work and to fully participate as members of our families, whānau and communities.
We can get from one place to another easily and safely, for example from home to school, work or to a friend's house. We can also access all public buildings, spaces and facilities with dignity and on an equal basis with others.
We feel safe taking public transport to get around and are treated well when we do so. Our needs are also appropriately considered when planning for new transport services. Private transport services are responsive to and inclusive of us. For those of us who need it, there is access to specific transport options that are affordable, readily available and easy to use.
Information and communications are easy for us to access in formats and languages that are right for us, including in our country's official languages of Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language. This helps us to be independent because we do not have to rely on other people. We use technology on the same basis as everyone else; those of us who need specific technology solutions will have access to these in a way that is innovative, progressive and helps to eliminate barriers. The evolving opportunities presented by new technology helps us to achieve our goals.
Our accessible communities are free of barriers (for example, access to shops, banks, entertainment, churches, parks, and so on), which enables us to participate and contribute on an equal basis with non-disabled people.
Disabled people are consulted on and actively involved in the development and implementation of legislation and policies concerning housing (home ownership, social housing and private rentals), transport (public and private), public buildings and spaces and information, communication and technology.
Universal design is understood, recognised and widely used.
All professionals involved in accessibility have a good understanding of the principles of universal design and the needs of disabled people and take these into account in their work.
We enjoy and are fully included in artistic, cultural, sporting and recreation events whether as spectators or as performers.
Decision-making on issues regarding housing, transport, public buildings and spaces and information, communication and technology is informed by robust data and evidence.
Print this action
The action outlined below will help achieve this outcome. This work was started under the existing Disability Action Plan.
9. Priority: Increase government services' responsiveness to disabled people
9 A: Increase accessibility of information across government agencies.
The purpose of this work is to improve disabled people's access to government information
We will involve our Working Group and Stakeholders
The Senior Officials Group and DPOs will oversee this project
Consistently accessible information is the desired outcome of this work
What is included in the scope of this project
Follow up with agencies and DPOs
Reporting and key milestones
Resources to inform this work
Is there any research or information which represents the lived experience of disability?
Progress update to September 2018
Status: On track - Green (restarted after a delay in progress)
Action Milestones:
Develop a positive statement for CEs to sign up to about what we want to achieve (September 2016) [on-going, original timeframes pushed back by 8 months]
Accessibility Charter launched on the 15 February 2018 by Brendan Boyle, CE of MSD.
The expectation is that most agencies, CE, IT and Communications Managers sign by 12 April. Report to the Minister has been sent and she sent out letters to thank those who have signed.
Following CE support, engage with stakeholders on 14 November 2017 [Completed]
Meet with our DPO and agency stakeholders to discuss:
the case for change, including the priorities DPOs have identified
current practices to meet their obligations and how they would rate themselves
accessibility tools/resources they use or have tried to use
their successes and frustrations with current resources
additional support they may need to improve the reach of their communications.
Agencies to complete a stocktake of existing accessibility resources [Ongoing]
To be completed by individual agencies as part of implementing the signed Charter
Part of each agencies development of their Action Plan
A report to be sent to the Minister in December on each agencies progress.
Develop a package of resources and include it in the Lead Toolkit [October 2018]
Developing a package of materials:
- Guidelines for creating accessible material
Training package for IT and Communications personnel in government agencies.
Presentation to the Digital Inclusion Forum
Follow up with agencies and DPOs [date TBC]
Continue to follow up with agencies to see how they are incorporating the tools into their communications.
Seek feedback from DPOs to see whether they notice changes overtime.
Lead: Ministry of Social Development
DPOs lead: Blind Citizens
The revised scope of this action was approved by the governance meeting of the Chief Executives' Group on Disability Issues and Disabled People's Organisations on 19 August 2016.
Lead: Ministry of Social Development and DPOs.
1 The purpose of this work is to improve disabled people's access to government information
The purpose of this work is to improve disabled New Zealanders access to information provided by government agencies for the public. It also aims to provide disabled people with a consistent experience when accessing information.
By working with other agencies and stakeholders we will be seeking to develop a shared understanding and commitment to producing accessible communications, as government expects its information to be accessible and useable by as much of the public as possible.
We will identify and provide clear, practical advice to support agencies to meet minimum accessibility requirements for all their communications with the public. This includes identifying the types of communications products that need to be accessible.
2 We will involve our Working Group and Stakeholders
Advice on this action will be sought from:
DPOs: Association of Blind Citizens, Deaf Aotearoa, People First, Deaf Blind and Kapo Maori
Government agencies: the Ministries of Health, Social Development, Culture and Heritage, and the Department of Internal Affairs.
We will also involve other stakeholders, including:
The State Services Commission, MBIE and DPMC
Local Government New Zealand
Office for Seniors
Blind Foundation
National Foundation for the Deaf
Age Concern New Zealand.
3 The Senior Officials Group and DPOs will oversee this project
Governance and oversight of this project will be provided by the Senior Officials Group on Disability Issues and Disabled People's Organisations.
4 Consistently accessible information is the desired outcome of this work
We are seeking to deliver the following:
Disabled people consistently experience improved access to government information produced for the public
Government agencies understand that the information they produce for the public is required to be accessible to as many people as possible
Government agencies know where to find the tools and supports they need to build their capacity and ensure their communications are accessible to a wide audience.
5 What is included in the scope of this project
To achieve the desired outcomes, we have identified the following key phases to this work.
Engage with our stakeholders to get their buy in
Work with DPOs to develop a common accessibility statement for the CEs Group on Disability Issues to sign up to.
Following CE agreement, engage with key stakeholders to get them on board. We have extended our list to include SSC, MBIE and DPMC (with its emergency management hat on). When we meet with agencies and DPOs we will discuss:
the case for change and the priorities identified by DPOs
their understanding of their obligations
current practices when it comes to making communications accessible – how would they rate their performance?
any tools/resources they may be using or aware of and what works and doesn't work
additional support they may need to deliver more accessible communications.
Work with DPOs and government agencies to identify common problems and priorities for change
Identifying common accessibility problems experienced by disabled people, including the types of communication products that need to be accessible. This will help us to build our case for change when we engage with agencies.
Working with DPOs and agencies to identify key priorities for change. Which changes would make the biggest difference for disabled people? If we are able to identify priorities to be our first cabs off the rank, what would they be?
Working with agencies to understand whether they have an accessibility policy, understand their obligations, and what they are currently doing to make their communications accessible to as many people as possible. Identifying where might they need further support and any barriers/frustrations that make it difficult for them to be accessible.
During this phase it would be useful to know which agencies/organisations are considered by DPOs to be exemplars and champions of accessible information.
Find out what accessibility resources and tools already exist
A stocktake of existing tools/resources available to agencies and publishing houses. When we engage with agencies, it would be useful to know whether they use these tools, and if not, why not?
We will also link in with the NZ Sign Language Advisory Board, which has a priority on promoting greater use of NZ Sign Language; and the work on Better Public Service Result 10: New Zealanders can complete their transactions with the Government easily in a digital environment.
Develop a package of practical resources and discuss it with stakeholders
Develop/collate a package of accessibility guidelines and support tools for communications' teams to discuss and use.
The shape of the package will depend on the existing tools and any gaps we identify.
Potential to host a 'best practice' workshop involving government and non-government stakeholders, particularly those who work in communications teams. This would be an opportunity to share excellence in this area, but also to look at how making your information accessible should be business as usual.
These stakeholder discussions would include targeting your audience and using appropriate communications products to reach as many people as possible.
Add the guidelines/tools to the Lead Toolkit.
6 Follow up with agencies and DPOs
Follow up with agencies after the launch of accessible communications package/workshop to find out what changes they are making, or how useful they find the package/champion examples of best practice
Check in with DPOs to see whether disabled people are noticing a difference.
New funding and NGOs are not within the scope of this project
New funding for the production of accessible communications products is outside the scope of this project, as it should be business as usual.
Communications products produced by non-government organisations, that receive funding from government, are not within the scope of this project. However NGOs will be encouraged to use any of the resources developed in order to better meet their public service obligations to disabled people.
7 Reporting and key milestones
The key milestones for this project are outlined beneath each of the phases of work.
Develop a positive statement for CEs to sign up to about what we want to achieve
Work with DPOs to develop a positive statement about what we want to achieve and why it is important. This statement will also reference existing public sector obligations on accessible information. At their next scheduled meeting in September, we will ask the CE's group on Disability Issues to support and sign a 'common accessibility' statement.
Following CE support, engage with stakeholders
Once we have the support of the CE's group, we (MSD and DPO reps) will begin meeting with our stakeholders.
Meeting pre-work for agencies: Prior to meeting we will ask agencies to complete a template to record relevant information, e.g. their understanding of their obligations, whether they have an accessibility policy, the communications tools they have used, as well as any successes or difficulties they have experienced.
Meeting pre-work for DPOs: before we meet with agencies we will ask DPOs to identify:
common accessibility problems experienced by disabled people
the key priorities for change
examples of agencies/organisations that provide consistently accessible communications.
During our meetings we will discuss:
accessibility tools/resources they are aware of and use or have tried to use
Complete a stocktake of existing accessibility resources
After we have met with agencies and DPOs we will complete a stocktake of existing accessibility resources.
Following the stocktake, we will assess which tools make it easy for agencies to meet their obligations and produce accessible information, highlighting these tools as 'the ones' to use.
Develop a package of resources and include it in the Lead Toolkit
Following the stocktake, we will have developed a package of accessibility resources for communications' teams to use to make government information more accessible. These guidelines should be incorporated into business as usual over time.
We will host a 'best practice' workshop involving government and non-government stakeholders, particularly those working in communications teams, and include the package in the Lead Toolkit.
We will continue to follow up with agencies to see how they are incorporating the accessibility tools into their communications. We will also seek feedback from DPOs to see whether they notice changes overtime.
This check in process will be an opportunity for us to see what is working and what we might need to change.
8 Resources to inform this work
Is there any research or information (whether qualitative or quantitative) informing this action?
United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2014. "General comment number 2 (2014) Article 9: Accessibility".
Office for Disability Issues, 2011. "Make your communications more accessible: Quick tips for writers, communicators, designers and production houses".
People First, 2014. "A guide to making Easy Read information".
Department of Internal Affairs, 2013. "Web Accessibility Standard 1.0" and "Web Usability Standard 1.2".
Human Rights Commission, 2012. "Better Information for Everyone: Disabled People's Rights in the Information Age".
9 Is there any research or information which represents the lived experience of disability?
Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities (http://printdisability.org/).
New information on what is reasonable accommodation of disabled people's needs http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/system/paperclip/document_files/document_files/1120/original/imm_reasonable_accommodation_guide.doc?1448405458
In employment specifically: http://www.odi.govt.nz/what-we-do/making-it-easier-to-employ-disabled-people/index.html#Providingreasonableaccommodationforemployees2
10 Related work
Is there any other work in the Disability Action Plan 2014-2018 that this action relates to or which contributes to this action? None.
Is there any other work (outside of the Disability Action Plan) that this action connects with or which contributes to this action? Better Public Service result 10: New Zealanders can complete their transactions with the Government easily in a digital environment.
9 B: Understand the journey through the justice sector for disabled adults, disabled children and their families.
Progress update to
Status: Major risks to achieving milestones - Red
The scope of this action was not clearly understood or agreed when it was added to the action plan. However, progress has been made towards understanding the interactions of disabled people with the justice system. The Ministry of Justice has developed a major new survey – the NZ Crime and Victims Survey – which includes questions designed to identify people with disabilities. This will for the first time provide detailed data on disabled people's experiences of crime in NZ. The 2019 NZ Crime and Victims Survey will also include a one-off module on Social Wellbeing and Institutional Trust which will ask people how they have interacted with the various parts of the justice system, how positive their interaction was, whether they were treated fairly, etc. It will be possible to report on how these measures vary by disability status, and detailed results should be available in March 2020.
Lead: TBD
DPOs contact: Kāpo Māori & Disabled Persons Assembly
Scope to be developed.
9 G: Investigate opportunities for technology to increase disabled people's participation in work, community and political life, including through both assistive and access to mainstream technology.
Status: Minor risks to achieving milestones - Orange
Progress has been delayed since June due to significant resource pressures at ACC. The work remains substantially complete, and new resource has been allocated, to ensure completion by the end of 2018.
Scope approved [complete]
The scope was agreed with agencies and DPOs.
Draft synthesis piece (November 2018) [on-going]
The report has been edited to ensure a plain English approach. Agencies have provided feedback and the report is expected to be circulated to the DPO Coalition in October/November 2018.
Research Survey (October 2018) [on-track]
ACC worked with the DPO Coalition, an external research provider, and partner agencies to develop a survey. The purpose of the survey was to understand the types of technology disabled people use and their views on funding frameworks and access pathways.
The survey was conducted by UMR Research between November 2017 and January 2018. It was made available in three formats – online, hard copy (standard English and Easy Read), and telephone.
The summary and full report for the survey has been circulated to agencies and will be circulated to the full Working Group, Reference Group and DPO Coalition in October 2018, before presentation at the DSS Consumer Consortium in November.
Lead: ACC
DPOs lead: Disabled Person's Assembly
Scope approved. The scope was agreed with agencies and DPOs.
9 H: Develop a framework for understanding the costs of disability and mechanisms for meeting these.
The office for Disability Issues will pursue discussions with government agencies and DPOs on opportunities for this action.
10. Priority: Increase the accessibility for disabled people of the built environment and transport services
10 A: Implement the recommendations agreed by the Chief Executives' Group on Disability Issues, which were identified through the stocktake on the accessibility of public transport.
Status: On track - Green
Progress has been made across three of the five recommendations with others on track to meet milestones and timeframes.
Recommendation 1- Consider issues of access to public transport, including for those with a disability, when developing the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS) 2018-2021 [completed]
Ministry of Transport: The Government Policy Statement (GPS) team have engaged with DPOs regarding the draft GPS.
Recommendation 2 - Further develop the Transport Agency's Guidelines for public transport infrastructure and facilities to provide best practice guidance on the provision of information and signage for public transport [on-going]
New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA): This recommendation required linking disability groups directly with Councils, a direct channel for this is yet to be established.
Recommedation 3- Investigate how the training of bus drivers can better guide them in interacting and assissting passengers, including how the guidance specifically related to those with impairments and disabilities can be further developed [on-going]
NZTA: Contact has been made with:
Auckland Transport (AT)
Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) and
the Bus and Coach Association on training incentives.
GWRC have indication that it has engaged with CPO representatives on what should be included in relation to driver training for people with a disability in new contracts that will come into force in 2018. We are currently waiting on response from Auckland Transport.
Recommendation 4 - Investigate how many councils have formally adopted and incorporated into their codes of practice the Transport Agency's Pedestrian planning and design guide and the road and traffic standards for facilities for blind and vision impaired pedestrians (RTS 14) [on-going]
NZTA: This recommendation requires linking disability groups directly with Councils, a direct channel for this is yet to be established.
Recommendation 5- Investigate what data is already available reguarding the trips made on public transport by those with a disability and look at how we can use this more effectively to measure people's accessibility [unknown]
Ministry of Transport.
Disability Data Evidence working group - The Ministry is closely involved in the ODI led work on the stock take of data across Government and sit on the Disability Data Evidence working group.
The Household Travel Survey has included accessibility questions since 2015. Results from the 2017 survey provides information on the percentage of the population (by age and gender) who have difficulties that sometimes or always prevent them:
driving a vehicle
being a passenger in a vehicle
independently using public transport
independently walking 500m unaided.
Lead: Ministry of Transport, Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency
10 B: Implement the Accessibility Plan: Public Buildings.
Context: brief background, what is this action intended to achieve?
Proposed scope
Contributors/partners with lead – who is involved in this action?
Reporting – key milestones/deliverables
Impact – what are we trying to achieve?
MBIE has reallocated resourcing to ensure it makes significant progress on key phases of the Accessibility Plan, but action is behind original timelines. Further decisions on rephasing/reprioritising aspects of the Plan will be considered by early 2019.
Key messages agreed with DPOs November 2016 [completed]
Implementation Plan to be finalised [unknown]
MBIE's management considered a proposed implementation plan to ensure progress is made on key deliverables in 2018. (January 2018)
The first intervention identified in the Accessibility Plan is a Guide to Accessible Public Buildings. This guidance has been identified as the key priority as it will enable MBIE to progress a number of other interventions identified in the Accessibility Plan. (Late 2018)
MBIE will reprioritise/rephrase the remaining aspects of the Plan in the first half of 2019 to incorporate any issues identified during the UN Periodic Review regarding accessible buildings and any issues identified during consultation with the sector and industry on the Guide to Public Buildings. (Early 2019)
Draft Guidance Document completed [June 2018]
MBIE has contracted Barrier Free New Zealand Trust, a national charitable trust, to consult with key stakeholders and develop the Guide to Accessible Public Buildings along with recommendations for promotion of the Guide.
The initial draft Guide was received by MBIE at the end of June.
Draft Guidance Document consulted on with the disability sector and building industry [June 2018]
Barrier Free undertook consultation and testing of the Guide with the disability sector and building industry between June and September 2018.
Sector awareness campaign [November 2018 to early 2019]
Details of the awareness campaign will be determined following consultation and feedback from the disability sector and building industry as part of the development of the Guide to Publicly Accessible Buildings.
Lead: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
DPOs lead: Blind Citizens, People First, Disabled People's Assembly.
1 Context: brief background, what is this action intended to achieve?
The Accessibility Plan: Public Buildings is a programme of work to achieve the intended goal of Equitable access to and use of publicly accessible buildings by all New Zealanders.
The plan arose out of a review into the effectiveness of legislation for accessibility of public buildings. The review was jointly commissioned by the Office of Disability Issues (ODI) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in late 2013. It was developed with input from an external Access Reference Group that was established to provide advice during the review.
The plan is structured around the four separate phases of building design, consent, construction, and occupation.
The first steps in implementing the plan is to review the problems and difficulties with achieving accessibility, develop and categorise actions to address the problems, then identify the expected outcomes of the actions and their impacts.
The review of the effectiveness of New Zealand building legislation for accessibility to public buildings concluded that problems largely arise from lack of understanding by property owners, developers, building designers, and building managers, about the need for accessibility and the needs of people with disabilities with respect to building accessibility. The plan is intended to provide information and experiences which will improve the levels of understanding among those who own, design, build and manage public facilities.
This is an action which is new to the Plan, but based on a prior mandate from the joint Ministry Review into the Effectiveness of New Zealand Legislation for Accessibility of Public Buildings.
2 Proposed scope
The purpose of this action is to provide building owners, designers, consenting authorities and managers with information, understanding and skills to fully comply with the requirements of the Building Act with the intention of achieving Equitable access to and use of publicly accessible buildings by all New Zealanders.
Included in the scope of this action are:
Development of general guidance material on accessible public buildings
Development and implementation of a plan to promote guidance on accessible public buildings
Development of guidance for building owners and developers on their obligations to provide accessible public buildings
Development of effective media messages on building accessibility for public information.
Development of guidelines on accessibility for building designers and consenting officials. These will include clarification of legal requirements on accessibility.
Development of design solutions for accessibility, including using standards and acceptable solutions to the Building Code.
Upskill designers and building officials through seminars and hosting on-line chat rooms.
Development and implementation of curriculum models for architecture and design schools and for architects' continuing professional development modules.
Strengthening enforcement of compliance, developing confidence in building officials. Developing and implementing agreed sanctions for non-compliance.
Using media to raise consumer awareness of human rights for universal access.
Strengthening the regulatory system with up-dated and rationalised acceptable solutions to the Building Code. Updating the Building Code performance.
Excluded from the scope of this action are revisions to the Building Act and the Building Code. Technical updates to relevant Building Code clauses and their Acceptable Solutions will be included with guidance publications.
Implementation of the plan is scheduled for completion by 30 June 2018.
Draft outline for guidance - 31 August 2016
Plan to promote guidance - 31 October 2016
Education programme for building owners and developers - 30 June 2017
Education programme for building designers and officials - 30 June 2017
Programme for upskilling designers and officials - 30 September 2017
Strengthening enforcement and compliance - 31 March 2018
Strengthening the regulatory system - 30 June 2018
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will provide in-house building design and technical advice relating to the Building Act and the Building Code, in-house development of communications documents and programmes, briefing and commissioning of media and publications agencies.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is the lead agency for the project. Governance is shared with the Office of Disability Issues.
The Access Reference Group established for the development of the plan, will be referred to for advice on the progress of the plan.
Decisions on this action will be directed to the Disability Action Plan governance: DPOs and Senior Officials Group, and the DPOs and Chief Executives' Group on Disability Issues.
This action is also responsible to governance arrangements for the Building Act and Building Code.
3 Contributors/partners with lead – who is involved in this action?
Developing the plan will proceed with direct reference to nominated representatives of The Association of Blind Citizens New Zealand, and Deaf Blind New Zealand. There is also an Access Reference Group with members representing the following organisations.
The Blind Foundation
CCS Disability Action
The Association of Blind Citizens of New Zealand
Disabled People's Assembly
Barrier Free New Zealand Trust
Aged Concern
The Hearing Foundation
Acessible Options
Pynenburg and Collins Architects
The organisations listed above assisted the Office of Disability Issues and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in developing and drafting the scope of this action.
This action will be led by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in partnership with the Office of Disability Issues. The organisations listed above will be involved in implementing this action. Also involved in implementing the action will be professional architecture, design and engineering institutions, building owners and managers institutions, building consenting authorities.
4 Reporting – key milestones/deliverables
The lead agency is responsible for reporting every three months to the Office for Disability Issues, as requested, on progress against milestones listed in this section.
5 Milestones
Develop draft outline for guidance on accessible public buildings - 31 August 2016
Implement plan to promote guide on accessible public buildings - 31 October 2016
Guidelines for building designers and officials - 30 June 2017
Upskill programme for building designers and officials - 30 September 2017
Strengthen enforcement of compliance - 31 March 2018
Strengthen regulatory system - 30 June 2018
6 Risks
What are the risk to progressing this action, and what mitigations will be put in place against those risks?
Risk: Delays in progressing some items of the programme through unavailability of suitable expertise. Mitigation: The programme is being progressed across multiple fronts so that resources can be reassigned to keep the overall programme on schedule.
Risk: Lack of cooperation from professional groups or consenting authorities. Mitigation: Wide consultation at the early stages for agreement and commitment.
Risk: Unavailability of media resources when scheduled. Mitigation: The programme will use a range of media to reduce the impact of one medium not being available for the programme
7 Impact – what are we trying to achieve?
The impact will be achievement of equitable access to and use of publicly accessible buildings by all New Zealanders
Measurement or evaluation of indicators.
Building owners and developers will have a clear understanding of the requirements of the Building Act as evidenced by their proposals for new building works and the management of their existing premises.
Building designers will submit Building Code compliant proposals for consent.
Consistent and informed building consenting on accessibility by building officials.
An effective regime for enforcement of Building Act requirements.
8 Evidence base
The programme of work is to address the findings of the review into the effectiveness of legislation for accessibility of public buildings which was jointly commissioned by the Office of Disability Issues (ODI) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in late 2013.
9 Related work
Designing for All – a disability awareness programme for designers. The Designing for All programme is supported by Think Differently, Ministry of Social Development; Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment; Massey University.
10 C: Understand the impact of disability on housing needs and influence the social housing reform programme to meet the needs of disabled people.
MSD's Housing Policy team is still working with ODI to scope out how to improve housing outcomes for public housing tenants with disabilities. This includes work to better identify the needs of disabled people on the housing register.
Lead: Office for Disability Issues & Ministry of Social Development
5.1 Disabled people have equitable access to all places, services and information across New Zealand
Findings of the General Social Survey (2018) indicate disabled people have less ease getting to places in comparison to non-disabled people.
Only 79% of disabled people reported having easy and very easy access getting to the doctor, in comparison to 89% of non-disabled people.
85% of disabled people could easily, or very easily get to the supermarket, compared to 93% of non-disabled people (General Social Survey, 2018).
90% of disabled people reported being able to easily get to the nearest park or green space, compared to 96% of non-disabled peple
The survey also found that disabled people face disparities when it comes to accessible housing. For example, 75% of disabled people reported having minor, or no repairs needed for their home, compared to 82% of non-disabled people.
Census (2018) also shows disabled people have less access to telecommunication systems, including:
Less disabled people have access to a cell phone or mobile phone (86%) compared to non-disabled people (95%)
Only 77% of disabled people had access to the internet, compared to 92% of non-disabled people.
The Kiwis Count Survey (2019) also indicates that less disabled people were satisfied with the accessibility of a site or digital service they recently used (90%), compared to non-disabled people (95%).
Explore a clickable dashboard that demonstrates inequality in accessibility for disabled people.
5.2 Government takes the lead in raising accessibility across all areas.
The Access 2020 survey, conducted by Be.Lab, demonstrate that accessibility seems to vary across key aspects of public life. For example, only 13% of respondents, reported having accessible employment opportunities, compared to 35% reporting accessible education opportunities.
58% of disabled people reported it being easy or very easy to use public transport, compared to 68% of non-disabled people (The General Social Survey ; 2018).
The Kiwis Count (2019) survey, provides further breakdowns, including:
91% of disabled people reporting had high quality service when dialling the 0800 number for health information, compared to 93% of non-disabled people
A higher proportion of non-disabled people (63%) reported having had good quality service when they applied for, used or had asked for information about a building permit, compared to disabled people (at 53%).
There is very little data on progress in accessibility for disabled people.
Data from the Kiwis Count Survey (2016-19) does indicate improvements, with for example, growing satisfaction with the accessibility of a site or digital service recently used from a service provider (87% in 2017, 94% in 2019).
No suitable data to track progress is currently available.
Explore a clickable dashboard that demonstrates progress in accessibility for disabled people.
The impact of photographic identification requirements on people without common photo ID
The disability sector brought it to our attention that there are many disabled people, older people, people going through the corrections system and others, who do not have common forms of photographic identification (photo ID) such as a driver's licence or passport. This may be because a person is:
ineligible to apply for a driver's licence,
may have had their driver's licence revoked
may not wish to travel so a passport is expensive to only prove identity
may have a low income and cannot afford to pay for a passport.
We understand that not having these two commonly accepted photo IDs is a barrier for people to prove their identity to access services and places. For example, without photo ID people had experienced difficulties with opening a bank account, making a hire purchase or entering Work and Income offices. We also heard that often other IDs such as a HANZ 18+ card, a SuperGold card and a Community Services Cards are not always accepted.
You can read a summary report here titled "The impact of photographic identification requirements on people without common photographic documents"
Download the summary report in word format
Read the summary report online in html format
In June 2017, the Department of Internal Affairs and the Office for Disability Issues held a workshop to bring relevant stakeholders together to understand this problem.
We found that:
People without common photo ID have more difficulty accessing some services
Businesses require photo ID to manage internal identity-related risks and to meet legal obligations
A key driver for photo ID requirements is the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism regime
The Department of Internal Affairs and the Office for Disability Issues will be continuing to work on this issue through a number of actions
Short-term action
The Department of Internal Affairs increasing awareness about what can be used as photo ID through engagement with retailers, financial institutions and bankers etc.
Medium-term action
Exploring the opportunity to have a new photo ID which appeals to a wider range of people. The Department of Internal Affairs are engaging with the private sector about this including Hospitality NZ who issue the HANZ 18+ card.
Long-term action
Continuing to monitor whether the problem has been addressed by the private sector by December 2019 and if not, considering further action.
New Year Honours for those in the disability sector
Congratulations to everyone on the New Year Honours List – especially to those who were chosen for their work with disabled people.
Office highlights since 1 July 2022
A snapshot of all our work since the ODI became part of Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People
Conference challenged to be more inclusive of disabled people
Missing out – why aren't our children going to school
An Education Review Office report released in November 2022 on school attendance provides important insights on the school attendance of New Zealand children, and looks at attendance barriers for disabled children.