Bites: June and July 2002

Research

DPA believes that there are many issues in the field of disability that require in-depth study so as to enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities. DPA will encourage such research and provide information as practicable.

Disability snapped by research

Five years ago DPA's then policy researcher, Owen Hughes, writing in the magazine "Able UPDATE", described an environment where there was a acute dearth of useful research into disability issues in New Zealand, where there was little systematic data on the most basic of questions: the prevalence of disability in the community. An environment where research was fragmentary, and research funding into disability was marginal indeed.

At that time DPA, under the leadership of former president, Ann Hawker, was a strong advocate for government research about the disability population.

After some negotiation over who would provide funding for this research, the government eventually agreed to fund the first major disability research development, the national Household Disability Survey carried out in May-June 1996 by Statistics New Zealand. Then came the 1996-1997 Disability Survey, and more recently, the 2001 Disability Survey.

The survey provides an overview of disability in New Zealand and makes available systematic data on basic questions such as the prevalence of disability in the community. It covers people living in households and residential care facilities.

Spending on the disability research, started in May 2000 and completed by June this year, has totalled $2.067 million.

Snapshots to be released

During this year Statistics New Zealand is releasing a series of nine snapshots of information on key facts about disability and as it relates to Maori, Pacific peoples, people in residential care, children, sensory disabilities, physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and psychiatric and psychological disabilities.

A technical report containing information about how the survey was conducted, and tables from the 1996—1997 and 2001 surveys, have been published and a technical report from the 1996—1997 survey, Disability Counts, is available free on the Statistics New Zealand website: www.stats.govt.nz.

Key facts about disability in NZ

The results from the 2001 New Zealand Disability Survey, which are comparable with those from the 1996—1997 Disability Survey, show that:

One in five New Zealanders has a disability.
Disability increases with age.
The majority of disabled people have more than one disability.
Physical disabilities are the most common type of disability; two-thirds of disabled people reported a physical disability.
The number of people with mild disabilities has decreased and the number with moderate disabilities has increased.
The number of people with disabilities living in intellectual disability units and mental health facilities has decreased.

Some 743,000 people have disability

The Disability Survey found a total of 743,800 New Zealanders reported some level of disability in 2001, an increase of 41,800 since 1996—1997. However, the overall disability rate of 1 in 5 has not changed.

One in five Maori have a disability, the same as for the total New Zealand population, while the disability rate for Pacific peoples is 1 in 7.

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DPA details

Want to know more?

If you need more information from the DPA National Secretariat on any item in Bites simply phone / ITTY us on (04) 801-9100, fax your request to (04) 801-9565, send it email: gen@dpa.org.nz, or to DPA (New Zealand) Inc, PO Box 27-524, Wellington or check our website www.dpa.org.nz

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