Emphasis back on the NZ Disability Strategy
Inquiry into the quality of care and service provision for people with disabilities
Report of the Social Services Committee Forty-eighth Parliament
(Russell Fairbrother, Chairperson)
September 2008
Presented to the House of Representatives
Key recommendations
The Social Services Committee recommends to the Government that it
• appoint an appropriately funded lead agency with responsibility for disability issues,
accountability for the disability sector, and a role monitoring the sector (page 15)
• make the new lead agency responsible for ensuring that the New Zealand Disability
Strategy is put into action effectively, and establish a national plan of action to ensure
that the strategy is implemented without delay by the appropriate agencies (page 17)
• establish an independent disability commission if this arrangement has not achieved
significant change within six years (page 15)
• investigate the appointment of an independent disability commissioner, possibly
within the office of the Health and Disability Commissioner. Any required legislation
should also expand the areas the commissioner may examine to include, for example,
access to services and individual funding issues. The commissioner should be
responsible for considering disability issues in relation to health, education, social
development, and housing, and promote the recognition that disability is a fact of life
and not primarily a health matter (page 36)
• establish a new entry point in the community for people seeking disability
information, in the form of an agency with the additional role of building community
capacity and support, along the lines of the local area coordination system established
in Western Australia. We also ask that progress reports on this matter be provided to
the Social Services Committee every 12 months (page 24)
• change the role of existing Needs Assessment and Service Coordination agencies to
ensure there is no duplication with local area coordination, and that they focus on
meeting the needs of individuals, rather than those of service providers. All Needs
Assessment and Service Coordination agencies should have a clear separation from
service providers. We also ask that progress reports on this matter be provided to the
Social Services Committee every 12 months (page 23)
• direct the relevant ministries to ensure that funding is provided in a way that allows
people with disabilities more choice about their day-to-day living arrangements. They
should have better access to supported independent living and individualised
funding. We also ask that progress reports on this matter be provided to the Social
Services Committee every 12 months (page 26)
• ensure that evaluations and audits of disability services focus on the quality of life
and the opportunities for people with disabilities. Evaluations and audits should be
focused on development and satisfactory outcomes for people with disabilities rather
than on compliance with minimum standards for audit purposes. Teams must have
the freedom and the responsibility to talk with all stakeholders involved in services.
We consider this should be in place within 12 months (page 34)
• introduce legislative change to strengthen and expand the scope of Government funded
advocacy and complaints services for people with disabilities. This should
enable the independent disability commissioner to oversee access to disability
services (page 36)
• establish a strategy for improving training, pay rates, and working conditions for the
caring and support workforce in the disability sector, including those funded through
Vote Health. Such a strategy should include a structured career path, a skills-based
pay system, values-based training for all staff, and consistent and appropriate
conditions of work, including health and safety, safeguards, and paid training. The
funding should take into account the requirements and costs of training. The
relevance and appropriateness of all current training programmes should be reviewed
immediately in the light of our recommendations. We also ask that progress reports
on this matter be provided to the Social Services Committee every 12 months
(page 40)
