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Step 2: Engaging with the disability community

This section explores ways you could gather the different views of disabled people and relevant experts from across the disability sector.

Step 2: Engaging with the disability community (DOCX 60KB)

The disability community is complex and diverse. People have a broad range of impairments and disabling experiences. The disability community includes:

  • disabled people
  • tāngata whaikaha Māori
  • Deaf people
  • turi Māori
  • children and youth
  • the elderly
  • rainbow communities
  • family and whānau.

Engagement is an important tool for connecting with and understanding these experiences. Engagement informs the entire policy process — from identifying and understanding the problem to developing solutions, implementing them, and monitoring and evaluating. Engagement works best when it starts early and is ongoing.

Engagement is most effective when you spend time considering the 'who' and 'how'. It is not a tick box exercise and should not be rushed through as a ‘requirement’. This is particularly relevant when engaging with the disability community.

As tāngata whenua, Māori have explicit rights and the Crown has explicit responsibilities under Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi). Engagement on Te Tiriti is how government agencies can give effect to Articles One (kawanatanga) and Two (rangatiratanga). 

Read information and guidance on how to consider, and give effect to, Te Tiriti in your policy work on:

Why is it important to engage?

Disabled people are often left out of policy processes, and their needs are not recognised. Many people assume that a one-size-fits-all solution will benefit disabled people along with the whole population. This is not necessarily true. People with different impairments have different needs. For example, beautifying a town centre with planters, bollards and connecting metal chain may be visually appealing for many people. But these changes could cause problems for blind and vision-impaired people, wheel or powerchair users, or people with mobility impairments. 

Consultation with disabled people at the early planning stage can help identify risk and avoid unintended consequences.

Meaningful engagement is key to developing solutions and policies that are universally effective. Engaging and consulting with the disability community contributes to the Government’s commitment to giving effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

The New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026-2030 is a key tool for moving us towards an equitable and accessible New Zealand where disabled people and their whānau thrive, contribute, and choose the lives they want to lead.

New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026-2030

Government agencies are obligated to give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) when developing policy. The two Articles within the UNCRPD that are particularly important to this step are:

Article 4(3) states that:

In the development and implementation of legislation and policies to implement the present Convention, and in other decision-making processes concerning issues relating to persons with disabilities, States Parties shall closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organizations.

Representative organisations

In New Zealand, organisations that represent disabled people are called Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs). There is a wide range of DPOs across the country.

Several DPOs come together regularly as the DPO Coalition to provide advice and guidance to government agencies on disability issues.

DPO Coalition

This Coalition also forms part of our International Monitoring Mechanism.

Framework to promote, protect, and monitor implementation of the Convention

Article 33(3) states that: 

Civil society, in particular persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, shall be involved and participate fully in the monitoring process. 

Articles 4(3) and 33(3) describe the need for active involvement of disabled people in decision-making and the development of policies and legislation relevant to disabled people. 

The disability community is affected by all government policies. All issues are disability issues. With disabled people being 17% of our population, engagement is essential.

In 2018, the United Nations issued guidance clarifying obligations around Articles 4(3) and 33(3). General Comment Number 7 explains that consulting disabled people leads to laws, policies and programmes that contribute to more inclusive societies and environments.

General Comment Number 7 external URL

General Comment 7 provides concrete recommendations on how to undertake consultation with disabled people through their representative organisations. The recommendations include: 

  • developing accessible information about decision-making processes
  • establishing inclusive methodologies
  • ensuring organisations of disabled people have access to national and international funding for their functioning and advocacy. 

What level of engagement with disabled people does your policy process need? 


Policy engagement can range from simply informing the public or those groups affected by a policy, through to targeting diverse experience and inviting co-design of policy options. The IAP2 spectrum explains in more detail.  

IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum external URL

It is important to work out what level of engagement you need and can achieve. This may vary between projects and different points in the policy process. It can be helpful to check in with disabled people’s organisations before you start, to ensure you are on the right track. 

Who should you engage with?

Consider which groups might be affected by your policy. Understanding this will help you target your engagement. For example, consider additional impacts on Deaf people, disabled people, and tāngata whaikaha Māori. Seek advice at this early stage, as your proposed policy may affect the disability community in ways that are not obvious.

DPOs

Start by contacting relevant DPOs and the DPO Coalition. DPOs are membership-based organisations, usually led by Boards made up of disabled people. Engagement with these organisations should provide a broad perspective of the membership they represent. 

Other organisations

There are other organisations or groups that you can contact which are not part of the DPO Coalition. If you need a regional perspective or have a focus on service providers, consider contacting:

  • local council/s
  • Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
  • Disability Support Services (DSS) within the Ministry of Social Development. 

Many have disability advisory groups that you can connect with.

Tamariki and rangatahi/children and youth

Remember to include children and youth. For more information on engaging with children and youth, read:

Listening to the voices of disabled children in New Zealand

I.Lead – a New Zealand disabled youth movement external URL  

Whānau, carers and others

Engaging with people who work with disabled people – or who are advocates, family members, whānau, or carers – will give you valuable perspectives. This is especially true for those that care for and assist non-speaking disabled people.
 
Family, whānau, and carers play a significant role in the life of a disabled person. The wellbeing of a disabled person affects the wellbeing of their family or whānau. Likewise, the wellbeing of the family or whānau affects the wellbeing of the disabled person.

Start your engagement with disabled people. They are the experts in their own lives. Do not ask family members, carers, or service providers of disabled people for advice on policy instead of engaging with disabled people directly. 

Some people may prefer or ask for whānau members or carers to express their preferences on their behalf, as they trust them to understand and communicate their individual needs and communication methods. Ask how a disabled person wants to be engaged with, then ask permission from the person to gather the information you need. 

Engaging with people with communication needs

Always check back with the groups, organisations, or individuals you consulted or sought advice from. This helps with transparency and accountability and makes sure that the policy is going to work for disabled people.

Valuing consultation and expertise

Government agencies should consider any costs associated with engaging with:

  • Deaf and disabled people
  • tāngata whaikaha Māori
  • representatives from DPOs and tāngata whaikaha Māori-led organisations.

Expert advice from tāngata whaikaha Māori-led organisations, DPOs, or the DPO Coalition is essential to make sure government policies and services work for disabled people. 

Asking disabled people or their representative organisations for their advice, or to join reference groups, advisory groups or working parties, can create extra costs for them. 

Asking disabled people or their representative organisations for their advice, or to join reference or advisory groups, can create extra costs for them. 

Disabled people and those representing tāngata whaikaha Māori-led organisations, DPOs, or the DPO Coalition are usually not paid from other sources for giving advice or joining reference or advisory groups. They may need to take leave from work to take part. 

Before the reference/advisory group starts, government agencies need to negotiate payment terms with relevant individuals, tāngata whaikaha Māori-led organisations, the DPO, or the DPO Coalition.

Whaikaha provides funding for the DPO Coalition to meet regularly in Wellington. These meetings are usually held over 2 days every 6 weeks. 

Government agencies can request to meet with the DPO Coalition during these meetings at no additional cost to agencies. This approach is ideal for for getting input from disabled people through their representative organisations at the start and end of your policy process.

Consulting the DPO Coalition at one of their regular meetings should not replace the inclusion of paid positions for disabled people on reference/advisory groups. 

DPO Coalition: how to meet with us external URL

Examples of costs

The funding agreement Whaikaha has with the DPO Coalition for regular meetings includes payment of daily meeting fees. These are benchmarked against the Cabinet Fees Framework and are currently set at $380 per day for DPO Coalition members. Whaikaha also pays for preparation time if needed before the meeting; travel, accommodation, and expenses incurred by each DPO Coalition member.

Some DPO Coalition members need other reasonable accommodations so they can fully and effectively participate, which Whaikaha funds. They may include:

  • costs for meeting assistants
  • New Zealand Sign Language Interpreters
  • translation of information into alternate formats.

If your agency wants to engage with the disability community or specific groups, think about payment terms early. This includes paying for reasonable accommodation costs. Make these decisions before:

  • starting a reference/advisory group
  • asking for advice and expertise.

What should you consider when engaging with disabled people directly?

  • Good engagement has accessibility and inclusion built into the consultation process.
  • Consult with disabled people as people. Let them know you want to understand their experiences.
  • Provide safe ways for disabled people to have their say, e.g. disabled people should not have to share personal information to be heard.
  • Check whether disabled people need reasonable accommodations to engage, and provide them. This approach will increase effective participation and is necessary to enable diverse representation Examples of reasonable accommodations include:
    • translation of consultation material into alternate formats (audio, Braille, Easy Read, large print or NZSL)
    • NZSL interpreters
    • meeting assistants
    • allowing for remote attendance
    • factoring in time for people to formulate or compose a response to a question (this is particularly important for people using assistive communication technology).
  • Involve disabled people at different ages, stages of life, cultures, backgrounds, and regions. Different groups will have different perspectives, experience and values, which are all useful to get a fuller picture to inform your policy.
  • Cultural perspectives on disability can mean that disability is under-reported by some groups. Based on current data, 21% of Māori and 16% of Pacific people are identified as disabled people. Make sure your engagement acknowledges diversity within the disability population and consider if and how you might tailor your engagement to capture diverse representation.
  • Allow enough time for discussion to take place and check in with people to ensure that they have contributed to the meeting.

Tips for graphics depicting disabled people in media and communications content

If you are using images or graphics, make sure these show disabled people as part of society and not creating an impression of disabled people being separate or special. Images should be age-appropriate and respectful.

Use images of disabled people in everyday social situations and work environments to show they are part of the community like everyone else.

Show that disabled people are diverse. They can be any ethnicity and have any family or relationship status.

Some impairments are not visible or obvious, and you must not accentuate a person’s disability in photos/images.

Any image used should have a visual description next to it so those that are blind or low vision can access the images. 

Using images, diagrams, graphs, and tables accessibly

More information 

Before you start your engagement, read: 
Supporting the dignity of disabled people – things to know and do

Read more information about engaging with disabled people: