Neo Notes
ALL POLICY ISSUES ARE DISABILITY POLICY ISSUES By Zandra Vaccarino National Executive Officer NZDSA
Kia Ora, The Disability Sector Election Event was themed “All policy issues are disability policy issues” which really resonated with me as I believe that legislation and every Government policy, plan or guideline will serve to include, enhance or exclude participation and leadership of disabled people in society. I also believe that all qualitative and quantitative reports, not just government reports, become vehicles to drive and influence change. Whilst we know that all Government policy should be developed with a disability perspective lens and should consider the needs and aspirations of disabled people and their family and whānau, we still see policy that fails to reflect how the rights of disabled people outlined in United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People are facilitated, protected or upheld. The value of changing legislation, policies and plans is that it makes universal change and if done correctly, can bring about transformation which will see all people, including disabled people enjoying full citizenship rights. So I was delighted to see that through the
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ongoing work of Access Alliance and all their supporters that the Cabinet Social Wellbeing Committee agreed on the 28 July 2020 to push ahead with drafting an accessibility legislative framework. This new legislative framework will act as a vehicle for progressive implementation of accessibility.
Significant policy changes The past three months has also seen other changes to legislation, policies and plans. I will not mention everything, but I will highlight a few that you might be interested in exploring further. Education and Training Act 2020 The Ministry of Education states that the Education and Training Act is the “biggest rewrite of education legislation in decades". It aims to give all children and young people a high-quality, culturally responsive, seamless and inclusive education from early learning, through schooling, and into tertiary education, vocational training and employment. I feel that transformational changes in the education system are still needed before we can say that the education system works for all children.
