Media Publications

A new report is calling for a radical overhaul of ACC, the no-fault system set up in 1974 covers people injured in accidents and can't work - but leaves out people who are unwell or disabled.

OLIVIA SHIVAS speaks to two young women with similar complex disabilities. One has 24/7 care under ACC, the other is funded by the Ministry of Health and has trained herself not to use the toilet when she is home alone.

First responders risk their lives to protect us. But the Government, they say, won’t answer their own calls for help. Jehan Casinader investigates.

Disability advocates say the Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill doesn’t go far enough to make a positive and tangible difference to those with access needs.

The ongoing burden of long Covid will be one of this generation’s disability challenges, the Disability Rights Commissioner says.

A new Ministry for Disabled People will improve the “broken" disability system and the lives of the one in four New Zealanders who have a disability, the Government says. The new ministry, which will come into existence in July next year, will pull policy together from various ministries. Strengthening the mandate and resourcing of public leadership for the disability community was a Labour 2020 election manifesto commitment. Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said on Friday the disability system was “broken and puts too many barriers in place for disabled people and whānau”.

A WorkSafe-type body should be set up so disabled people can identify and remove access barriers, a new report says. The report calls for transformative legislative change to make Aotearoa more accessible for the one in four New Zealanders with a disability. “We want to get rid of disabling experiences, not get rid of disability,” the report says.

New Zealand’s “disability employment crisis” continues, with unemployment rising for people with disabilities, says the chief executive of Workbridge.

ACC law is biased against people who were disabled before being injured, analysis by ACC shows... In its fourth briefing paper on how ACC treats "priority populations" to its Minister Carmel Sepuloni, ACC said people left disabled by injury are treated far better and paid more compensation by ACC than those who are born disabled or become so through illness.

ACC is biased against women, Māori and Pasifika, a new analysis shows. Women are less likely to make ACC claims, more likely to be declined when they do, and they receive far less compensation than men, the figures show. Over the past five years it has become even harder for women - especially Māori and Pasifika women - to get an ACC claim accepted. The decline rate for women has increased from 2.2 to 2.6 percent. In comparison, the decline rate for men only increased from 1.9 to 2.1 percent. If women did get cover and were entitled to weekly compensation payments, they got a little over half the rate of men.