DPA New Zealand

DPA Bites – November/December 2009

A new era beckons – a final message from Gary Williams

We are at the end of 2009 and I am at the end of my time as Chief Executive Officer of DPA.

It has been my privilege to serve you.

If we look back at the last 11 years, we can all be proud of what has been achieved, such as the Disability Convention, the Disability Strategy and either repealing or enacting laws that give disabled people more rights. These are all great steps forward.

As an organisation, we have developed too by having a much more diverse membership.

But while we have earned ourselves a moment of self-congratulation, we must always remember that there remains unfinished business. Where we are now is nowhere near the end of our journey.

Fortunately, you will have a new CEO to drive DPA forward.

I wish them and you all well.

My last words are to acknowledge the people who have worked with and for me in the DPA National Secretariat. They include the current staff of Lorraine, Wendi, Robert and Alex, as well as all those others from the last 11 years: thank you so much for trusting in me and supporting me to do my job.

I sincerely wish you all a fantastic Christmas and restful New Year break and look forward to an exciting new era for all of us.

Farewell,

Our 2009 National Assembly – concluded three days of intense activity!

DPA's 2009 National Assembly was held at the Brentwood Hotel in Wellington on the 10th of October. The capital put on a display of bracing weather to welcome delegates from around the regions. It may have been wintry outside, but inside the venue, delegates were warmed by Julius Taniwha's welcome.

Then we got down to business. Here are some of the highlights:

Result of postal ballot:

Subscriptions

Following discussion about the level of subscriptions for DPA membership (the point was made by several delegates that the subscription rates are minimal and basically haven't been raised for about 20 years), it was resolved to increase the cost of subscriptions for next year. The increases are relatively minor: e.g. the cost of a subscription for an unwaged individual would increase from $13 to $15, and for a waged individual from $26 to $30, with proportional increases for organisations (e.g. an organisation with 26-100 members or clients would pay $80 instead of $60).

Life membership for Wendy Randall

Robyn Hunt nominated Wendy Randall for life membership of DPA. Robyn wrote in her nomination that "Wendy's long-term advocacy and activity for disabled people's rights and welfare has represented a sustained, substantial and outstanding contribution to the disabled community in New Zealand". The members agreed and Wendy's life membership of DPA was confirmed. Wendy accepted the honour "on behalf of people with mental illness who do not have a voice".

Education policy

Matt Frost sponsored a vigorous discussion about proposed changes to DPA's Education Policy. Various amendments were debated and the revised Policy was adopted. Bites thinks it's well worth setting this very sound and relevant Policy out in full here:

"Every disabled person has the right to quality inclusive education at every level of the education system, alongside their non-disabled peers. This means that DPA opposes any form of segregated education. Educational pathways must begin with early intervention and provide for lifelong learning, especially where educational opportunities have been delayed or disrupted.

  1. All education services for disabled people must uphold their ethnic, cultural and religious origins. The three official languages of New Zealand should be able to be accessed by all disabled people.
  2. Disabled people have the same right as other people to attend regular education facilities.
  3. Disabled people must have some say in where they are educated and, if appropriate, parents or guardians and whanau should be included in those decisions.
  4. Disability awareness programmes must be developed and implemented at all levels within the education system and community generally.
  5. Modern technology needed to assist people in their learning must be available as of right, and technical resource staff and maintenance personnel must be provided.
  6. Disabled people have the right to lifelong learning on an equal basis with others in a variety of education settings.
  7. Vocational and academic education must be available to disabled people. Appropriate support and personal assistance must be provided and adequately trained.
  8. Disabled people have the right to be educated with their non-disabled peers. In order to achieve this DPA emphasises the need for:
    a) The allocation of appropriate resources.
    b) Trained resource personnel to assist students and act as consultants to classroom teachers.
    c) Access to and within all education buildings and facilities.
    d) Access to all course material in formats to accommodate the learning needs of disabled people.
    e) Noise level control and adequate lighting in classrooms to meet the needs of those people with sensory impairments.
    f) Individualised educational programmes being available to maximise learning outcomes.
    g) Inclusive education to be a core component of all teacher training curricula and all in-service training."

Presidency tenure

Members agreed in principle to have a four-year DPA presidency tenure by electing a President-Elect for a one-year term, after which he/she serves a two-year term as President and then serves a one-year term as Immediate Past President. The main advantage would be that a President-Elect would be supported to learn the role by the President. All required changes to DPA's Constitution will need to be agreed at a Special General Meeting early next year so that the first President-Elect can take office at the 2010 National Assembly in Invercargill.

A good open forum discussion followed and the whakawatea included a waiata for Gary Williams by Rongomaiwahine Higgins, and Julius Taniwha closed the AGM.

Workshops a great success

On the day preceding the National Assembly (9th October), two highly successful workshops were held to upskill delegates around the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Human Rights Act; and the Health and Disability Commissioner's Code of Consumer Rights, including the rights of people living in residential services.

Anne Hawker, President of Rehabilitation International, and Gary Williams, DPA CEO, presented the workshop on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Both have been closely involved with the Convention. Here is a summary of the workshop:

Anne and Gary talked about three main areas: the context of the Convention; the rights disabled people are entitled to under the Convention; and its implementation.

Context of the Convention

The Convention began to take shape in 2001, when the UN set up a committee to decide if a Convention was needed for disabled people and to agree on wording. A lot of work went on before the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention in December 2006. New Zealand, among many other nations, signed the Convention in March 2007. The Convention formally became part of international law in May 2008 and the New Zealand Government ratified it in September 2008, thereby officially agreeing to abide by it in domestic law.

Disabled people had a role in the Convention's development, including in government delegations. There were many issues to iron out, including coming up with one definition of 'disability' among 192 countries with differing understanding of what 'disability' is. The final text of the Convention defines disability as: "Those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others."

Rights for disabled people under the Convention

Overall, the Convention, which represents a paradigm shift by putting disabled people at the centre of decision making about our lives, has a number of themes, including community inclusion; changing attitudes; and accessibility. It has no new rights for disabled people.

The Convention is based upon a set of general principles (listed in Bites – November 2008 issue); and reinforces the right of disabled people to:

These rights apply to all disabled people, regardless of where we live and our socioeconomic status.

Implementing the Convention

How the Convention is implemented is in the hands of disabled people, partnered by governments. It will require us to develop creative approaches to policy and service development to provide us with access to justice, support to make our own decisions, accessibility and reasonable accommodation.

Successful implementation of the Convention also involves robust monitoring, including (internationally) the role of the official UN Convention monitoring committees and fora. Nationally, we can monitor the Convention through approaches such as:

We need the will to make it work and transform the Convention into reality for our lives!

Further information:

The 'Human rights for disabled people' section of the workshop was presented by Robyn Hunt, the Human Rights Commissioner, whose presentation was subtitled 'The law and the reality'.

Robyn began by outlining the fascinating history of international human rights law, beginning with the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which set out a common definition of human dignity and values.

'Human rights', as Robyn explained, mean that everyone is entitled to a dignified life. Human rights are also inter-related; e.g. a person's right to vote may be affected by being able to exercise their rights to education, freedom of opinion and information, and personal mobility.

Human rights are the basis for the relationship between the individual and the state. They deal with relationships among and between individuals, groups and the state. They are also about how we live together and our responsibilities to each other.

Robyn described a number of existing international human rights covenants and conventions, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, as well as the 'disability' Convention.

New Zealand's Human Rights Commission – Te Kahui Tika Tangata, is mandated to protect the human rights of New Zealanders on various grounds (e.g. disability; race; sexual orientation) and in various areas (e.g. access; employment; education; provision of land, housing and accommodation). Unlawful discrimination occurs where an individual's rights are breached in terms of these grounds and areas.

Robyn discussed the six elements of a human rights-based approach to policy and programme development:

She described the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in terms of human rights – it is the first convention to involve disabled people and their organisations, and national human rights institutions – in its development. It is based on rights included in existing international law; it spells these rights out in a way that guides states on how the Convention should be implemented and provides for international and national monitoring. "The Convention gives voice, visibility and legitimacy to disabled people and their issues."

Further information:

The alternative workshop on the Code of Consumer Rights and residential services was facilitated by Tania Thomas, Deputy Commissioner – Disability, with the Health & Disability Commissioner, and Valerie Smith, Senior Advisor in Disability Policy at the Ministry of Health.

Tania facilitated a workshop session on the Code of Consumer Rights, where participants were set tasks and held discussions. For example, groups of participants were asked to talk about the last time they visited a health professional or disability support worker and received a fantastic service; what was it about the service that was so good; and to list three things that participants believed were essential to having great health or disability support services. In another task, participants were asked to match the 10 rights under the Code to several fictitious, but representative complaints. To remind people who weren't at the workshop, the Commissioner's 10 rights under the Code are: Respect, Fair treatment, Dignity and independence, Appropriate standards, Communication, Information, Choice and consent, Support, Teaching and research, Complaints.

Valerie's presentation centred around the new booklet Community Residential Support Services – What you need to know. This booklet has been published by Disability Support Services, with significant input from the late Sue Merrilees, and is available in an Easy Read version. It contains really good information for disabled people living in or thinking of living in community residential support services, their families and whanau.

Eleven years of outstanding service – poroporoaki for Gary Williams, our CEO

A 'surprise' farewell for our departing CEO, Gary Williams, was held on the evening of 9th October at the Brentwood Hotel, following the day's absorbing workshop sessions. We were welcomed to Gary's poroporoaki by Peter Mason. Mike Gourley, a past DPA President, responded and acted as 'MC' for the acknowledgements which followed of Gary's outstanding contribution to improving the lives of disabled people over 11 years as DPA's chief executive. These speakers, who had been closely involved with Gary over the years included: Anne Hawker, President of Rehabilitation International and former DPA President; Jan Scown, Director of the Office for Disability Issues; Geraldine Woods, former Deputy Director-General of Disability Services at the Ministry of Health; and Ruth Dyson, Minister for Disability Issues under the previous Government. They were passionate in their praise of Gary's work and in their support for DPA.

Gary's parting words were leavened with his customary dry wit. He highlighted his development as an advocate by telling of some of his experiences in residential facilities as a disabled teenager; then as a university student in Wellington and employee of the DSIR. He spoke of his introduction to DPA at its first AGM in Hamilton in 1983; and how his concerns with the fledgling DPA Constitution began his fight to ensure DPA would become a truly democratic organisation and an effective voice for disabled New Zealanders, at a time when institutional injustices toward disabled people were common and disabled people generally were not allowed to speak for ourselves.

Gary served as the Wellington DPA President for three years before serving on the DPA NEC from 1995 to 1997, including a year as Vice-President. Twelve months later, he was "tracked down while on holiday" by then DPA President Paul Gibson and asked to apply for the CEO job, which had suddenly become vacant. The rest, as they say, is history…

Gary summarised the highs and lows over his tenure as DPA's chief executive. The lows were around revitalising the organisation and stabilising its precarious finances. The "fantastic stuff" has been: DPA's regional fora; publishing Our Vision and Inclusive Communities; having great conferences; helping to set up the Pacific Disability Forum; building DPA's profile and reputation; forging respectful relationships with allies; making gains for disabled people by working with the fifth Labour Government; and being respected by peers. The zenith for Gary was working on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with a strong team of New Zealanders and seeing it become international law and be ratified by many countries, including our own.

Finally, Gary thanked everyone for supporting him in his role and looked forward to starting anew in Christchurch with his beautiful wife, Ruth.

Summary of NEC meeting 8-9 October

International issues

DPA's CEO, Gary Williams, attended the Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the UN in New York in September. His experience as a disabled person travelling to this conference was not pleasant and reinforced the reason why the Convention was needed. His main observations from the conference were:

Youth issues

Beverley Grammer and Matt Frost spoke about ongoing issues regarding young disabled people. Their key points were:

Fundraising

John Scully reported on the complexities in this area. The immediate future may present opportunities to look for additional sources of funding so that we can do more.

Involving disabled people in monitoring the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The NEC discussed how disabled people might be involved in monitoring the UN Convention, and identified three opportunities for DPA:

  1. Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs) provide feedback directly into New Zealand's Convention monitoring report that would go to the UN. DPA could coordinate this because most other DPOs are also DPA members.
  2. DPA could coordinate the development of a shadow monitoring report from New Zealand disability NGOs that would go to the UN. This report would contain the perspectives on the Convention from disabled people, as opposed to the 'official' report, which might lack this perspective.
  3. DPA could be the New Zealand DPO that feeds into the Pacific hub of the Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI) project, to monitor:
    • individual experiences of disabled people;
    • systemic issues affecting disabled people (e.g. the legal system);
    • the media's portrayal of disabled people.

The information collected would also inform reports to the UN.