Preface, Acknowledgements and Executive Summary
Preface
This is a report on the rights of disabled people. We use disabled people rather than people with disabilities deliberately in this report. The name disabled people fits with the politics of the disabled peoples rights movement in New Zealand and with the philosophical underpinnings of the New Zealand Disability Strategy (the Strategy) (2001)
The Strategy provides a framework to guide government agencies making policy and services impacting on disabled people, The Strategy is a founding document for the development of disability legislation in New Zealand. A philosophical model of disability activism known as the Social Model of Disability (the Social Model) underpins the Strategy. According to Social Model theory a person has an impairment and the way that society is set up and organised disables the person with the impairment. From this perspective it does not make sense to use the label “person with a disability” as disability is something that happens to a person because of the social structures that surround them, not something that the person possesses.
Fifteen objectives are set out in the Strategy and broad cross-party support for the Strategy exists with a large number of crown entities and territorial authorities willingly taking part in its implementation. However, as the New Zealand National Interests Analysis on ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“the Convention”) states:
Despite the significant progress achieved through the New Zealand Disability Strategy, there remain many barriers experienced by disabled people in New Zealand that prevent their full participation in society. It remains a high priority for government to identify and remove these barriers. The Convention will provide a new impetus and practical focus to removing these barriers. It will reinvigorate activity to implement the New Zealand Disability Strategy and the commitment to ensuring full rights of citizenship for disabled people.
It is not surprising that such support for the Convention exists in New Zealand. During negotiations around the Convention; from the beginning the NZ delegation was one of a few to consist of State officials and disabled people. New Zealand ratified the Convention on 26 September 2008.
Legislation is the beginning of a process towards the realising of human rights. Having ratified the Convention there is now recognition that effective monitoring requires transparency and accountability. The Convention recommends a framework to promote, protect and monitor the rights of disabled people, including at least one mechanism independent of government. Seeking to evaluate the implementation of the Convention to date, this report fulfils that recommendation. In line with the Conventions’ recommendations, for the most part, the organization, interviews, analysis and presentation of this report have been undertaken by disabled New Zealanders.
Acknowledgements
The Minister for Disability Issues, Hon Tariana Turia for her support, encouragement and understanding of what nothing about us without us means
Dr Jan Scown for pursuing the vision of including disabled people in the monitoring and for seeking ways for this to happen
Professor Marcia Rioux of DRPI whose monitoring framework and huge training expertise gave shape to the NZ project
Convention Coalition representatives Wendi Wicks (Coalition chair) Rachel Noble Barbara Hart, Graeme Parish, Mary Schnackenberg and Nigel Ngahiwi. Wendi Wicks, Rachel Noble, and Rose Wilkinson (an original member of the Convention Coalition) formed a 'Rapid Response' Team to respond to urgent day to day issues. Collectively they put in many extra hours to ‘get the show on the road’
Robert Cameron of DPA for the money management when things were not straightforward
Dr Martin Sullivan for his advisory role Project Co-ordinator Gary Williams, Data Analyst Dr Michelle Mars, the Data Analysis Team and Transcribers. The Project Co-ordinator and the Data Analyst in particular ensured the project kept on course despite many obstacles
All of the Site Co-ordinators and Monitors who put in such commitment to find the 'real oil' from their fellow disabled New Zealanders
Project Summary
Summary of the project, the Disability Rights Promotion International framework, and key findings
The aim of the monitoring project is to provide robust information that Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) and government can use to formulate better disability policy.
The project was undertaken using an international monitoring instrument developed by Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI). DRPI is a collaborative project working to establish a comprehensive and sustainable international monitoring system to address disability discrimination globally.
Ninety eight interviews undertaken with disabled people by disabled people provide the information contained in this report. The monitoring project sample encompasses a cross section of impairments.
The interviews were analysed using NVIVO a qualitative data analysis package.
Extensive quotes are used in the report to better represent the voice of disabled people.
Social participation by disabled people in society emerged as by far the biggest single issue in the monitoring project. This was followed by negative experiences with regard to health. Lack of employment is also a major issue for the monitoring project participants, with high living costs and gender and ethnicity compounding the issues.
One phrase repeated in meetings over the course of the monitoring project is ‘the resilience of disabled people’. This is reflected in the participants’ analysis of the human rights implications of their everyday experience. Training and consciousness raising as a means of demystifying disability and changing negative attitudes to disabled people is the most pervasive theme in these results. Bureaucracy as disabling practice is another persistent theme in the monitoring project. In general, disabled people report human rights violations however, they are reluctant to cause a fuss in the workplace and are less likely to report transport issues with regard to public transport as it is perceived that nothing will be done. Most violations of human rights are reported.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Social participation includes tangible issues like work, transport and communication. However, it also includes drivers for true social participation, taken for granted in non-disabled peoples’ lives, such as friendships and other social networks and access to the social and cultural world. Social participation is often limited by ignorance of the realities of disabled peoples’ lives. The first recommendation is that New Zealand undertakes an awareness campaign.
Disabled people reported that the major barrier for them was bureaucratic structures that hinder rather than help, with many instances of institutionalised disablism reported in the study. The second recommendation is that key performance indicators be created and monitored for all public services and that disabled people are able to be part of a monitoring process.
With regard to work, there is a large resource of well-educated disabled people who are unable to access employment. It is recommended that reasonable accommodation is promoted and enforced for disabled people.
Leaving home for short or extended periods of time remains an issue for disabled people with discrimination unlikely to be reported in this area. The final recommendation is that an industry standard (similar to the tourism industry’s Qualmark) signalling a non-disabling environment and universal design features be developed.