Bites: March and April 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.
GM matters to disabled people
It's quite likely that emerging new genetic technologies could have a potentially large and inimical impact on people with disabilities. That's what DPA told the finance and expenditure parliamentary select committee hearing submissions on new legislation being introduced following the government's decisions on recommendations from last year's report of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification. The committee of MPs was during February considering the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Genetically Modified Organisms) Amendment Bill.
The government's position on the controversial GM issue aims to preserve opportunities while proceeding with caution. DPA's position is also one of caution, because we believe the medical and ethical considerations in gene technology are not an uncontested 'good'.
And as a considerable body of genetic research and development is biomedical in nature, disabled people are caught up as 'recipients'. Because we are much more likely to be affected by such technologies and modifications, disabled people need to be much more involved in the development of policies and any decisions about GMOs (genetically modified organisms).
While DPA expects to have substantive involvement in ongoing matters concerning genetic engineering, we were concerned and surprised that the new legislation as written had no statement of human rights implications.
2002 National Assembly for Garden City
Pencil in an October Labour Weekend booking for DPA's AGM in Christchurch this year. More details will come later but the National Assembly is a highlight in DPA's two-year programme and well worth the effort.
The DPA National Assembly meets every two years for a weekend gathering that usually has an exciting session schedule. An ordinary AGM is held during the intervening year. Last year Dunedin hosted a great AGM; in 2000 an extraordinary, well-attended National Assembly and AGM was hosted by the exceptionally wellorganised Waikato DPA team. So keep this year's Labour Weekend free for a visit to Christchurch.
DPA forms trading company
DPA has started up a new business consulting arm to take advantage of the upsurge in interest in disability issues, particularly in relation to the implications of the NZ Disability Strategy. MAXEQ Consulting Ltd is the new limited liability company owned by DPA as a profit-making venture that will also relieve the pressure on DPA in servicing the needs of consultants, government departments, and private organisations around disability issues.
The directors of the new company are Bill Wrightson, Lorna Sullivan, Dave Henderson, Gary Williams and Ron Entwisle. There will be central office and MAXEQ will run a register of disability consultants.
DPA chief executive, Gary Williams, says the opportunities for consulting work far exceed DPA capabilities. Now the consulting work that DPA is expected to do for free can be passed on to MAXEQ.
One area where MAXEQ will have a role is to help organisations understand and implement the NZ Disability Strategy. As the Disability Strategy kicks in, government departments, local authorities and private businesses will need more advice about how to implement the strategy.
All DPA members are invited to register as MAXEQ consultants with the DPA National Secretariat.
Regular political chats on agenda
Total Mobility and the Disability Issues Unit of the Ministry of Social Development (the reincarnation of WINZ and the Ministry of Social Policy) were on the agenda for discussion at the first of DPA's regular six-weekly meetings with Disability Issues Minister, Hon Ruth Dyson, held in February.
DPA president, Bill Wrightson, chief executive, Gary Williams, and Policy Researcher, Wendi Wicks, attended that meeting with the Minister. While DPA enjoys an excellent relationship with first Disability Issues Minister, Gary Williams says DPA will schedule meetings with representatives of other political parties also.
Youth leadership camp planned
A DPA youth leadership development camp is being planned for next summer at Hamner Springs, North Canterbury. The camp will be scheduled for a time in January 2003 and is designed to foster and encourage leadership among young people with disabilities.
Disability students surveyed
The State Services Commission is surveying graduate students with disabilities about their knowledge and perceptions of the public service as an employer.
Disability Issues Minister, Hon Ruth Dyson, says people with disabilities get very frustrated having to deal with different government departments to meet different needs. She has been heartened, as one result of the Disability Strategy, to see more cross-sectoral projects, such as collaboration by the Ministries of Education and Health to improve support services for children with autistic spectrum disorder and to develop services for people who are deaf-blind.
NASC to be improved
The Needs Assessment and Service Coordination (NASC) has increasingly been inconsistent and used as a budget manager and a rationing tool says Disability Issues Minister, Ruth Dyson. She says the message she has been getting is that it's the main obstacle to people receiving good services rather than being the entry point for services.
The original concept of NASC was good — putting the person in need of support services at the centre of the equation, assessing their needs (as defined by themselves and their family) on an individual basis, and actively securing the best possible package of services to meet those needs, she says.
So she has given the Ministry of Health the goahead to undertake a thorough evaluation of NASC, including an examination from a user's perspective.
The Ministry is also developing evidence-based guidelines for needs assessment services. One of the key aims of these guidelines will be to ensure that needs assessment and service coordination is based on input from the users of services, to ensure that processes and outcomes are centred on the person receiving the service. This means they must also be involved in decision-making in a meaningful way.
Ruth Dyson believes NASC should be much more community driven, integrated and individually responsive as a result of the review, though more funding and trained staff is needed in some areas.
Pathways to Inclusion
Providing genuine employment opportunities for people with disabilities is the stated focus of the government vocational services document, Pathways to Inclusion: Improving Vocational Services for People with Disabilities at http://www.dsw.govt.nz/keyinitiatives/pathwaystoinclusion.html. Pathways to Inclusion says greater participation of people with disabilities in employment and our communities will be the twin goals for vocational services. As well, the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion (DPEP) Act is being repealed with any changes phased in over five years.
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.