DPA New Zealand

DPA Bites – November 2008

NZ Government ratifies Convention

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first human rights treaty of the 21st century, which establishes an international legal framework so that disabled people's rights are valued on an equal basis with others, has been ratified by the New Zealand Government.

This means that the Government is now bound by the Convention and strategically, New Zealand was among a select group of countries that determined the very future of the Convention when Government officials attended the first session of the Conference of the States parties to the Convention in New York. The Conference elected 12 members to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – the body of independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention.

Just before we went to print, our CEO Gary Williams reported that the New Zealand delegation at this Conference of States parties did not include us, disabled people. "We need to be conscious that despite all our and their good work so far, our Government will take some time to remember it's 'nothing about us without us'," said Gary.

"It is fitting that ratification happened on 26 September, Dominion Day, which itself marked a change in status for our country towards greater self-determination," said Mike Gourley, DPA Immediate Past President.

The Government signalled ratification with the passing of the Disability Bill. It meant various laws were amended to ensure consistency with the UN Convention. The amendments remove outdated references to disabled people and make explicit certain obligations in the Human Rights Act regarding accommodating the needs of disabled people.

Speaking in Parliament on the passage of the Bill, the Minister for Disability Issues, Hon Ruth Dyson said: "New Zealand has made significant progress. However, there's still more work required before we can provide a fully inclusive society for disabled people. The Convention is a useful tool to help us in this work, and to ensure all New Zealanders enjoy their rights of citizenship and lead highly valued and productive lives."

Gary Williams spoke at Parliament on the eve of the ratification and while acknowledging that the Convention is a fantastic achievement, he cautioned: "The text of the Convention was created by disabled people talking about real life experiences that the UN turned into a one-dimensional text. Implementation of the Convention means taking the text again and turning it into multi-dimensional outcomes. Its implementation cannot be an impersonal tick-the-box exercise, but a real attempt to support disabled people to have our human rights and fundamental freedoms met."

The Convention, now in force in New Zealand, will highlight progress – or the lack of it – in implementing our Disability Strategy.

Remember to vote on November 8th – it's our right!

Bearing in mind that there are countries where disabled people are still denied the right to vote, let's make our votes count on Election Day! You can check the disability policies of the various political parties contesting the election against the requirements of Government set out in the newly released DPA vision document, Our Vision 2009-2012.

Bites chatted with Mike Gourley, our Immediate Past President, at the National Assembly and Conference about things political and his personal views about the disability landscape. Mike said that things like the Disability Strategy, the Convention and the Office of Disability Issues have cross-party support. He voiced his concern that while there are good words in place, they need to make a difference in people's lives. "We still hear stories about people not being able to choose who they live with and inaccessible facilities," said Mike. He said it's where the 'rubber meets the road' that counts; for example the Ministry of Education has to report on its progress with the Disability Strategy, but schools, where disabled children are, don't. "We need supports for our kids," said Mike. "It's the same with Health," he said. "The Ministry of Health reports on the Strategy, but hospitals don't." The challenge ahead, for Mike, is to build on what we have and use the Convention to leverage real change in people's lives.

Our brilliant National Assembly

From the opening karanga to the final photos, the sun shone on Christchurch for the weekend (October 10-12) of the 2008 DPA National Assembly and Conference. We celebrated the successes of the recent past and pooled our considerable experience and talent to come up with strong directions for the new National Executive Committee (NEC) to decide upon over the coming months.

The Conference on Saturday 11th was an intense and fascinating affair, with the facilitators introducing the technique of Open Space Technology to engage the passion and responsibility of members to create our own agenda and topics for discussion. With the help of this process, we were able to describe powerful and practical directions for "our brilliant future". The hot topics that emerged from the discussion sessions, according to the Book of Proceedings, included:

Sixteen year-old May Appleton, who 'appeared' at the Conference, had plenty to say about her experience of current disability laws and service provision and took the opportunity to share her ideas with Hon Ruth Dyson when the Minister visited the Conference. Bites chatted with May – a fine example of the voice of disabled youth that the Conference discussions said we need! May said if she could be granted one wish it would be that we should make sure that agencies (like Children, Young Persons and their Families Service) know the law. She was impressed by the Conference and said it was a great forum for raising issues: "You need to turn to people who understand and have the power to advocate on my behalf and try to get some action," she said.

During the 'business' part of the Assembly, Gary Williams announced the results of the postal ballot to elect new DPA leaders and NEC members. A new DPA President was chosen – Eamon Daly will take up the mantle from Mike Gourley. Our Vice-president is Wendy Neilson, who was elected unopposed and the NEC welcomes three new members: Hemi Hema, Matt Frost and Sean Parker.

Eamon, after his investiture as President, in acknowledging past members and leaders, said we need to continue to build on the work that's been done, especially to utilise the opportunity presented by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Award to tell our stories to the rest of New Zealand. Another crucial area, said Eamon, would be to get back to what we were originally set up for: "Personally, I want to work in DPA towards empowering disabled people to live the lives they want to live." Even with supports, said Eamon, it can be difficult to have an ordinary life.

He spoke about reinvigorating the regions and supporting the opportunities they have as Regional Assemblies to promote issues relevant to them. And he wants to see the national organisation communicate better with its membership, so that DPA members know that it is working for them.

"It's also important to celebrate the UN Convention and its benefits for New Zealand, while remembering we need to make sure our voices keep getting heard, so it is vital for disabled people to vote at the General Election."

Anne Hawker leads Rehabilitation International

Rehabilitation International's 21st World Congress and Governing Assembly, which took place over five days (August 23-28) in Quebec, Canada had the overall theme of "Disability Rights and Social Participation: Ensuring a Society for All".

More than 142 members from over 34 countries attended the Assembly, which took place over the first two days. Participants included disability rights advocates, service providers, experts in a range of disability-related fields, Government representatives and leaders of civil society. What was particularly notable and exciting for us was the official welcome of our very own Anne Hawker as the new President of RI – and also the first woman to hold that position.

The Assembly was about RI membership, decision making, discussions and visioning. The global RI membership engaged in comprehensive talks on strategies to continue advancing the goals of RI, including collaborating with partners in the disability community, governments and the UN to ensure that the Convention is fully implemented. The Assembly also launched an initiative to develop an RI Charter for Rights Implementation, which will articulate RI's vision for implementing the Convention.

Interviewed at the DPA National Assembly and Conference in Christchurch, Anne said the Assembly was an emotionally charged occasion: "Being 'awhi'd-in' by my DPA colleagues; watching the 15-minute DVD "Our Story", on the history and role of the DPA, which showed RI who I am and where I come from and especially the words from Mary Stott and the image of her husband, the wonderful John Stott, former paralympian and RI President – it was really something."

Anne emphasised the need for everyone to know the eight guiding principles that underlie the Convention: "They should roll off everyone's tongues," she said. So, here at Bites, we're going to accept her challenge and list them!:

The UN Convention naturally dominated the RI World Congress, which followed on the heels of the Assembly, with more than 800 participants from all regions of the world. The Congress consisted of plenary sessions and technical presentations around best practice in developing strategies and actions to build a more inclusive world. It was also was a key opportunity to network and strengthen partnerships. A Global Summit on the Rights of Women with Disabilities was also held in conjunction with the Congress. One participant was heard to 'complain' that there was too much great stuff going on and it was almost impossible to choose!

Anne said the other standouts of the Congress were the opening address by Gerard Quinn, who helped develop the Convention, who cautioned everyone about the risk of complacency following the euphoria of achieving the Convention. He noted that the optional protocol allowed for individual cases to be taken to the International Committee. These cases will need to be strong, he said, because if they fail they will undermine the Convention. Anne agreed with Gerard that we need to have creative policy and service solutions and reiterated that we need to find ways to ensure the Convention is valued and is not tokenism. She also talked about understanding situations and having more than one approach to them in our toolkit. "We need to continue to develop a mature approach to resourcing. We had a great collaborative approach to resourcing around the disability sector with the census disability question in New Zealand," said Anne. We also need disabled people telling their stories; powerful stories are a great way to inspire and motivate people. This will enable us to reach out to everyone and not just preach to the converted – ourselves!, said Anne.

She said it was also fantastic to be leading an organisation that differentiates so clearly between governance and management. "There's an important lesson in there for all of us," said Anne. "Governors shouldn't manage and managers shouldn't govern."

Mike Gourley, attending his last international event as DPA President, and CEO Gary Williams were there representing us and they weren't only supporters; Mike has been invited onto the international panel to investigate how disabled people and their issues are portrayed in the media and Gary is helping develop the RI strategic plan.

Report from the NEC meeting 9-10 October

Ken Talbot's summary of the minutes from the NEC meeting, reported to the Regional Assemblies, reveals the following key points:

New NEC members have their say

Matt Frost, interviewed at the DPA National Assembly and Conference in Christchurch, expressed his concern about the state of the national coffers: "It's like, we'll give you tax cuts, but we don't know how we're going to pay for special needs teachers," he said. Matt talked about how important support for disabled people from Government is. "And there's also a balance to be struck between autonomy and support," he said.

As Chair of the New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Implementation Advisory Group and the Policy and Information Researcher at CCS Disability Action, Matt said he brings a broad disability kaupapa to discussions.

Matt said he feels really privileged to be on the NEC and that he will add strategic nous: "I know how Wellington works," he said. He said he understands the difference between governance and management and the role of NEC to provide governance and direction and articulate members' issues. Matt said the challenge in the next two years, especially in the light of the DPA review, was for DPA leaders to set clear directions and priorities and make a call. "It's all about maintaining and developing the trust that exists between the NEC and the Secretariat," he said.

Hemi Hema spoke to Bites and said he was privileged to be elected onto the NEC and sees his focus as representing Maori and making those networks stronger (Hemi is the Chairperson of Te Roopu Turi O Waitaha Inc), as well as strengthening DPA itself. It's the same for youth: "Where are the disabled youth?" asked Hemi. So, according to Hemi, we need more contact with the disabled youth community and he will be well placed for this role as he is strongly connected with his local community in Christchurch, as well as nationally as the Vice-president of the Deaf Association of New Zealand. Clearly, Hemi has a big heart. We are going to need plenty of this quality: "People need to be proud to be involved in DPA," said Hemi.