DPO Coalition Key Messages September 2023 to December 2023

DPA -

Lateness of September-December 2023 Key Messages: This set of Key Messages covers DPO Coalition meetings held from September to December 2023 inclusive. Gemma Griffin resigned as our Secretariat to move on to new chapters in her life. Our recruitment to fill the position took several months which impacted on our workload including delays with producing our Key Messages. Gemma kindly provided the DPO Coalition some behind the scenes support during recruitment and until our new Secretariat commenced in January 2024. There is more about our new Secretariat in our February Key Messages.

The DPO Coalition meets with a wide range of agencies. The objective of our meetings with officials is always to get improved outcomes for disabled people. We regularly discuss the need to ensure accessibility and to uphold the rights of disabled people under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“the Disability Convention”).

Te Hiringa Mahara | Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission

The DPO Coalition discussed Inpatient Mental Health options for young people including whether the adult service model is fit for purpose. We emphasised the need for Te Hiringa Mahara to do more to strengthen our communities and to ensure that disabled people are included in Mental Health Unit monitoring.

Te Hiringa Mahara plan to connect with the DPO Coalition again to discuss the inclusion of disabled people in its work.

Disabled People Led Monitoring | Donald Beasley Institute

The Coalition receives regular updates on the work Donald Beasley is doing on its behalf. An outline of progress for the each of the three strands of work includes:

Strand 1 | Re-engagement with Disabled Leaders: The second round of interviews took place in October 2023.

Strand 2 | Focus Group Analysis: Analysis includes identifying key themes across the transcripts from Focus Groups and establishing a formal set of codes. These codes will be applied and checked by the monitoring team.

Strand 3 | Questionnaire Data Collection: The DPO Coalition’s contributions include circulating through our networks and respective communities the invitation for disabled people to participate in the questionnaire. Everyone’s support assisted Donald Beasley Institute reach its target of 100 responses.

Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM)

The Coalition along with our IMM partners (Human Rights Commission and Office of the Ombudsman) agree it is time to review the IMM Terms of Reference. IMM partners shared what they are doing for tāngata whaikaha Māori. The DPO Coalition is working with Te Huia Bill Hamilton and getting advice and guidance in this area. All IMM partners will come together for a workshop in March 2024 to review the terms of reference.

The DPO Coalition have reviewed its representatives to the IMM. The following four people from the DPO Coalition are appointed to the IMM through to late 2024: Alexia Black Chair Balance Aotearoa, Jonathan Godfrey National President Blind Citizens NZ, Rachel Hargreaves Policy & Advocacy Manager Deaf Aotearoa, and Rose Wilkinson Chief Executive Blind Citizens NZ.

Maritime NZ

The DPO Coalition met with Daniel Twaddle (Senior Adviser, Regulatory Policy) to discuss regulations about the design, construction and equipment rules for domestic and commercial ships. We discussed the scope of Maritime NZ’s review and the importance of including the needs of disabled people. Getting on and off passenger ships, good signage and colour contrast, and being able to easily move about were amongst topics raised. Maritime’s ordering of work influences the timeframe for looking at disability-related policy development. This is planned to happen and Maritime NZ will continue to engage with the DPO Coalition as the policy is developed.

Ministry of Justice

The Coalition met with a number Ministry of Justice officials on the following topics:

  • accessible information around the care of children, Family Court and family violence. people around the care of children, Family Court and family violence - there is a new section on the Ministry of Justice’s website with accessible formats of resources and information;
  • Victims Survey and the inclusion of disabled people – it was acknowledged by officials that more could have been done to engage with disabled people when the Victims Survey was held and therefore there are gaps in their data.
  • including disabled people in definitions of hate speech.

Ministry of Justice officials are committed to continuing to engage with the DPO Coalition.

Crown Response Unit Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry

The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry moved from information gathering to report writing. Part of the report writing focuses on solutions for the care system. Meeting with the DPO Coalition was an opportunity to talk about shaping possible solutions. The DPO Coalition’s feedback includes the importance of, and need for disabled people being recognised when the Crown makes its apology.

The Coalition also addressed the following topics with the Crown Response Unit:

  • Guidance principles for records holders.
  • Retention and disposal roles for care records
  • Having a central website about care records.
  • Having a records support service
  • Cataloguing and indexing care records held at Archive New Zealand.

Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People | Ben O’Meara Deputy Chief Executive Policy, Strategy and Partnerships | Sheryl Pinckney, Group Manager Partnerships and Stewardship

The Coalition met with Whaikaha officials during September to December inclusive. Some of the topics the Coalition and Whaikaha officials talked about include:

  • The DPO Coalition’s position about Whaikaha’s proposed partnerships and the establishment of six categories of groups.
  • The Government and | or DPO Coalition attending the Conference of State Parties in June 2024.
  • The need for Whaikaha employees to be well-informed about the DPO Coalition and ways the Coalition can assist.
  • Procurement plan for Disabled People Led Monitoring work. The contract with Donald Beasley Institute comes to an end mid to late 2024. 
  • Suggestions for approaching work that involves replacing the current Disability Action Plan 2019-2023 and the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2019-2026. 
  • Government’s commitment towards addressing the 2022 Concluding Observations from the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
  • Regularity of DPO Coalition meetings with the Minister for Disability Issues and getting these in place.
  • Provision of a Briefing for the incoming Minister for Disability Issues (BIM).
  • Status of the Accessibility Charter and making sure this remains active. Government agencies have signed up to the Charter which is a way of informing and educating key people within government about accessibility of information and services for disabled people.

Government agencies have signed up to the Charter which is a way of informing and educating key people within government about accessibility of information and services for disabled people. Government agencies have signed up to the Charter which is a way of informing and educating key people within government about accessibility of information and services for disabled people.Government agencies have signed up to the Charter which is a way of informing and educating key people within government about accessibility of information and services for disabled people.

Government agencies have signed up to the Charter which is a way of informing and educating key people within government about accessibility of information and services for disabled people.

Total Mobility Scheme Review

The DPO Coalition met with Ministry of Transport officials and from MRCagney Bridget Doran Principal Researcher and Paul Brown Researcher. MRCagney have been engaged by the Ministry of Transport to complete work relating to the review of the Total Mobility Scheme.

In December the DPO Coalition held a workshop with Bridget Doran and Paul Brown to provide feedback about the engagement process. Discussion papers are to be written and will be available in alternate formats. Engagement is planned to happen during the first six months of 2024. Engagement includes getting feedback from disabled people about their experiences of the Total Mobility Scheme.

The DPO Coalition will hold regular meetings with MRCagney about the review and engagement with disabled people.

Representation

 If you are interested in being considered as a DPO Coalition representative on advisory groups about a particular topic, please contact your DPO.

Voice of disabled people

The DPO Coalition is the first place that the Government goes to when wanting to engage with the voice of disabled people. We are continually looking for new member organisations to join the DPO Coalition to increase our coverage across the disability community. New members must represent disabled people who are not already represented by an existing member.