In 2008, New Zealand signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), indicating a commitment to making disability rights real in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The UNCRPD says the government has to progressively realise the rights of disabled people, and that disabled people have to be part of monitoring that progress is being made.

In 2018, the Donald Beasley Institute (DBI) was appointed by the Disabled Persons Organisation Coalition (DPO Coalition) and the Government as the research partner to carry out monitoring research over six years. This research includes enabling disabled people to share their experiences of human rights, while also investigating systems and policies that have resulted in the violation of disabled people's rights.

New reports released

DBI, together with the DPO Coalition, have now released three monitoring reports (2018 - 2022).

The reports are available in Māori and NZSL, and in English as PDF, Plain Text, Large Print, Easy Read, Audio: Monitoring reports on the DBI website.

The conclusions from the reports are below:


My Experiences, My Rights: A Monitoring Report on Disabled Person’s Experience of Housing in Aotearoa New Zealand

This report has presented the findings of the 2019 Disabled Person-Led Monitoring of the UNCRPD in Aotearoa New Zealand. The purpose of this monitoring research was to understand how a selection of disabled people experience housing in Aotearoa New Zealand, specifically in relation to their rights under the UNCRPD.

While some of the housing experiences shared in this report were positive, the majority were not. Most of the stories shared by Interviewees were overwhelmingly negative, emphasising the challenges and human rights violations they faced when accessing adequate housing.

These experiences demonstrate how far Aotearoa New Zealand has to go in progressively realising the UNCRPD and ensuring that no one is left behind.

In particular, the limited awareness Interviewees had of their rights under the UNCRPD, together with the attitudes held by people in positions of power within the housing market, are reasons for concern and speak to the Government of New Zealand's failure to invest in generating awareness of the UNCRPD amongst both disabled and non-disabled populations.

Even so, though the findings of this report are bleak, the solutions, strategies, and tools for moving forward are clear, and can be found woven throughout Interviewee narratives. Even though Interviewees had limited knowledge of the UNCRPD itself, they still demonstrated a strong ability to advocate for themselves amidst intersecting challenges, providing expertise and strategies for effectively realising their rights. As the disability rights slogan says, ‘nothing about us, without us.’ Disabled people know what they are entitled to and what needs to change for their rights to be made real.

Not only does this report provide important evidence of housing challenges and rights violations, but it also offers a blueprint for moving towards greater equality within Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.

Read the full report


Housing for Disabled People: Family/Whānau and Close Supporter Perspectives

This monitoring report has only just begun to scratch the surface of the housing experiences of people with multiple and complex disabilities, with there being much more still to be learned.

Inequitable funding and support systems, barriers in all facets of life, and exclusion from the dominant disability narrative, all points towards something that most families and supporters already know: people with multiple and complex disabilities are amongst the most systematically marginalised groups in Aotearoa New Zealand, especially when it comes to housing.

Indeed, while Aotearoa New Zealand may have made significant progress since the days of mass institutionalisation, as a nation we are still a far cry from ensuring that all disabled people have adequate housing and an adequate standard of living.

Throughout the interviews, family/whānau members and close supporters articulated the challenges and barriers they had experienced and continue to experience - all of which had stopped their disabled family member from the full enjoyment of their rights.

From access to the housing market, affordability, in-home and community access, to physical injury and psychosocial distress, complex relationships with providers and people in positions of authority, and a lack of awareness about what supports their family member is entitled to under New Zealand law. The findings of this report closely align with the experiences reported by disabled people themselves. However, additional layers of complexities relating to the nature of impairment, the ability to exercise choice and control or express will and preference (with or without support), the often strained relationships with service providers, and carer exhaustion, all suggest that when it comes to the progressive realisation of the right to adequate housing for people with multiple and complex disabilities, the Government of New Zealand still has a lot to achieve.

Even so, much like the wider housing report, solutions to the reported challenges can be found in the wisdom of those who live through the aforementioned challenges every day.

Not only has this report highlighted rights violations and problematic accommodation arrangements that fail to align with the ethos of the UNCRPD, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Disability Strategy, and the Action Plan, but the report has also served to amplify the voices of people with multiple and complex disabilities through those who know them best - their family/whānau members and close supporters.

Throughout the Interviews a range of solutions and recommendations were provided as to how best progressively realise the housing rights of people with multiple and complex disabilities. Despite only having only scratched the surface, this report demonstrates the potential for disability and family/whanau/ aiga-led progressive realisation of the UNCRPD in Aotearoa New Zealand and a future where all people, including those with multiple and complex disabilities, can enjoy their rights, freedoms, and dignity in a full and meaningful way.

Read the full report


My Experiences, My Rights: A Monitoring Report on Disabled People’s Experiences of Health and Wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand

This monitoring report has provided a broad overview of disabled people’s experiences of health and wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Under Article 25 of the UNCRPD, disabled people “have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of disability” (United Nations, 2006). Even so, while Aotearoa may have made progress towards promoting disabled people’s rights (including the right to health) this research shows that we continue to fall short of ensuring disabled people can enjoy our right to the highest attainable standard of health.

Perhaps the greatest strength of disabled person-led monitoring is that it is, as the name suggests, led by disabled people who have first-hand experience of the injustices and disadvantages that have been reported by disabled people and their family, whānau and close supporters. In this way, disabled person-led monitoring brings life to Article 33.3 of the Convention, with every step of the research processes delivered by the disability community itself - from the researchers (Monitors), to the participants (Interviewees), transcribers, analysts, writers, editors, and translators.

While this cycle of monitoring was limited by external factors (such as COVID-19), the absence of important cohorts of the disability community (such as disabled children), and with further work needed to amplify the experiences of specific populations (for example Māori and Pacifica disabled people), this report has successfully progressed important conversations about the health and wellbeing experiences of our community, and the realisation of Article 25 in Aotearoa.

Throughout the interviews, disabled people and their family, whānau and close supporters articulated challenges and barriers they experience when it comes to health and wellbeing. From financial, physical, communication, mental and sensory access to population-based health programmes and specialist care, to the negative attitudes of health and wellbeing practitioners - barriers were present at every level of engagement with the health and disability system.

The findings, evidenced by direct quotes from Interviewees, were intentionally categorised into the six sub articles of Article 25 (Health) of the UNCRPD, in order to demonstrate key areas where the New Zealand Government has not fully realised its commitments under the Convention, some 13 years after its ratification.

A brief analysis of four key systems that underpin the adverse experiences of Interviewees was also included, which helped to identify where systemic change is needed. These included the failure of the health and disability system to uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi for tāngata whaikaha/ whānau hauā; inequitable funding systems; a lack of accessible health literacy; and problematic complaints processes. It was also recognised that the current health and disability system reforms have the potential to address some of the barriers reported by Interviewees, as well as the four systemic issues identified above.

However, it is important to acknowledge that if Article 25 of the UNCRPD is to be implemented in its entirety, there remains much room for improvement. While the concept of ‘progressive realisation’ indicates that some aspects of the Convention can be implemented over time, it has taken more than 13 years to begin to address disabled people’s right to the highest attainable standard of health.

Much like the earlier housing monitoring reports, solutions to the identified challenges can be found in the wisdom of those who live through the challenges identified in this report. Throughout the Interviews a range of solutions and recommendations were provided as to how best to realise disabled people’s right to the highest attainable standard of health.

Despite only having only scratched the surface, this monitoring report demonstrates the potential for disability and family/whānau-led progressive realisation of the UNCRPD in Aotearoa and a future where all people can enjoy their rights, freedoms, and dignity in a full and meaningful way.

Read the full report