Annual Report | Pūrongo ā-tau 2025/2026
The Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha Annual Report 2025/2026 outlines progress towards our Strategic Intentions and reports on our financial and non-financial performance for the year ended 30 June 2026.
Alternate formats
Alternate formats of the Annual Report are being prepared and will be available shortly.
Chief Executive foreword
Mai i te tirohanga ki te whakatinanatanga
Mai i te whakatinanatanga ki ngā putanga
Mai i ngā putanga ki te oranga
Ka whakamaua kia tina, tina!
Haumi ē hui ē tāiki e!
Arise, arise, the spark of inspiration
From vision to implementation
From implementation to outcomes
From outcomes to wellbeing
We bind, fix and unify
We are bound in this intention!
E ngā mana, e ngā reo
E ngā kārangatanga maha, e ngā tāngata whaikaha
E ngā tāngata whaikaha Māori me ō koutou whānau
Waihoki, me ngā uri whakatupu kei te haere mai
Kia pua, kia puanga, kia puāwai ana i Aotearoa
To the many respected voices and connections
To the disabled people of tāngata whaikaha Māori and your whānau
To the future generations to come
May you grow, flourish and thrive in New Zealand
Nō reira tēnā koutou katoa
Nau mai haere mai ki te rīpoata-a-tau mō
Te Manatū Whaikaha
And so; I send greetings to you all
Welcome to our Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha annual report
The vision of the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha (the Ministry) is disabled people thriving in New Zealand. This means disabled people and tāngata whaikaha Māori have choice and control over their lives, can participate fully in their communities, and have opportunities to achieve their goals and aspirations.
We are making progress towards this vision. In recent years, we have seen more disabled people participating in education and employment, fewer disabled people having no qualification, and some improvements in disabled people’s housing quality. However, significant challenges remain. Disabled people continue to experience poorer outcomes than non-disabled people in areas including employment, health, income and life satisfaction. These inequities are often greater for tāngata whaikaha Māori, Pacific disabled people and some people with different types of impairments.
The 2025/26 year was the Ministry’s first full year as a standalone public service department. We continued to build our capability and influence as the steward for disability issues – a unique role that allows us to shape work across government. We worked in partnership to support progress across the 6 strategic outcomes in our Strategic Intentions: accessibility, education, employment, health, housing and justice.
The year had 2 parts. In the first part, we focused on setting direction. We led the development of the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026–2030 and, with the New Zealand Sign Language Board, the New Zealand Sign Language Strategy 2026–2036.
With our direction in place, our focus shifted to practical action. We began delivering both strategies with the disability community, the New Zealand Sign Language Board and other government agencies.
We continued to deliver work to improve employment opportunities for disabled people. We launched OneinSix.nz, a resource hub to help employers successfully employ disabled people. We delivered the first all-of-government summer internship programme for disabled graduates, and we partnered with the New Zealand Disability Employers Network to build disability capability across the public service.
We established the Accessibility Work Programme to understand and address barriers that matter to the disability community. This included launching the Access Activator pilot with Creative HQ to support practical, community-led solutions to accessibility barriers – all while promoting disabled people as entrepreneurs and employers.
Alongside these milestones, we continued to strengthen alternate format services, improve access to disability data and evidence, and support other government agencies by bringing a disability lens to their work.
At the same time, we strengthened Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) and other organisations by awarding $1.68 million through our community grants programme. This helped us meet one of our key objectives: fulfilling New Zealand’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), by involving disabled people in decision-making and ensuring their participation in political and public life.
Our progress depends on strong relationships and working collaboratively. We have worked closely with disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori, their families and whānau, and with iwi and hapū Māori, our advisory groups, community organisations, businesses, and our partners across government. I am grateful to everyone whose knowledge, experience, leadership and commitment have shaped our work.
There is much more to do. However, we end our first full year with a clear direction, stronger foundations and practical work underway. We will continue working to drive real and meaningful change and achieve our vision of disabled people thriving in New Zealand.
Paula Tesoriero MNZM PLY
Secretary for Disabled People and Chief Executive | Te Tumu Whakarae
Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha