Disability Action Plan 2014-2018

These priorities emphasise actions requiring government agencies to work together, as well as with disability sector organisations and others.

On this page

• Read the latest Progress report
• What the Plan does
• Access the Plan
• Implementing the Plan
• How the Plan was developed
• Previous Plans
• Renewal of the Disability Action Plan 

Read the latest progress report

Disability Action Plan 2014 - 2018 Progress report: September 2018 [DOCX, 100 KB]

What the Plan does

In 2015, the first update of the Plan was carried out. It involved two rounds of public consultation to check in with the community that the prioritites and actions in the Plan remain current and relevant to disabled people. The updated Plan was approved by Cabinet in December 2015.

The Plan provides a cross-government mechanism to help progress action on issues that need more than one government agency to work together. These issues are usually more difficult and complex, in part because multiple organisations are involved. Other actions are important to disabled people, but these are the responsibility of a single agency and not included in the mandate of this Plan.

The Plan helps to progress actions through providing a consistent strategic direction, regular oversight of implementation, and insight from the lived experience of disability provided by Disabled People’s Organisations. It is centred on what disabled people say matters the most to them, with the vision of 'All New Zealanders experience equal rights of citizenship'.

Following the example of Better Public Services, the Plan focuses on action to achieve four shared results:

• Increase employment and economic opportunities - This shared result focuses on building employers’ confidence to employ disabled people and provide accessible workplaces, opportunities for work experiences, entrepreneurship, and education achievement and skill development. It recognises obligations in the CRPD, particularly Articles 24 and 27.
• Transform the disability support system - This shared result focuses on ensuring effective engagement with disabled people and coordination across sectors and across agencies to focus on outcomes and maximum progress from available resources. It recognises obligations in the CRPD, particularly Articles 19, 20 and 26.
• Ensure personal safety - This shared result focuses on promoting systems and practices to protect disabled children and adults in all settings. It recognises obligations in the CRPD, particularly Articles 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 23.
• Promote access in the community - This shared result focuses on: accessible buildings and spaces, transport, urban design; accessible information, communications; access to health services, justice services; and political and civic participation. It recognises obligations in the CRPD, particularly Articles 5, 8, 9, 21, 25, 29 and 30.

Governance oversight of the Plan is provided by joint meetings every three months of the Chief Executives' Group on Disability Issues and DPOs' leaders. Reporting on progress is included in the Minister for Disability Issues' annual report to Parliament.

Access the Plan

The updated Plan is available in NZSL, Easy Read and Braille.

Implementing the Plan

The Plan is jointly governed by Disabled People's Organisations and Government agencies. The governance happens at quartlery meetings together, where progress on implementation is reviewed and the working together relationship is discussed.

Second public consultation

In September 2015, a consultation document was released seeking feedback on the current Disability Action Plan's priorities and actions.

Disability Action Plan 2012-2014 (focus on results)

Disability Action Plan summary - Word file with images [Word, 301KB] [DOC, 305 KB] 

Disability Action Plan summary - text only version [Word, 43.5KB] [DOC, 42 KB]

Disability Action Plan - 2011 to 2012 (focus on Christchurch)

Read the July 2011 Cabinet decisions on the Disability Action Plan

Read the May 2012 Cabinet progress update on the rebuild of Christchurch [Word, 157KB] [DOC, 133 KB]

Disability Action Plan - 2010

Go to a diagram of the Disability Action Plan