DPA submission – Emergency Management Bill 2023

We made a submission for the Emergency Management Bill 2023. In our submission we sought further changes to the Bill to ensure disabled people are given the visibility needed given that we are disproportionately impacted in climate and other emergencies, due to barriers to accessing emergency information and evacuation and support and necessities during and after a disaster.  

The Emergency Management Bill should clearly make provision for disabled people to be included alongside central and local government emergency agencies in all levels of emergency management planning.  

We also identify that as many of the issues relevant to disabled people in emergency management are consistent around the country, an effective way of ensuring input could be via a national pan-impairment disability advisory group (with provisions to ensure tāngata whaikaha Māori representation). 

Read the full DPA submission the Emergency Management Bill 2023 [Word]