IHC welcomes disability change
IHC is welcoming today’s announced changes to the disability system that will make it more consistent, transparent, sustainable and fair.
The Government has announced a raft of changes that include consistency for Needs Assessments across the country and greater flexibility for individualised funding while holding firm on Enabling Good Lives principles.
IHC’s Director of Advocacy Tania Thomas says this is a big step forward for the sector and it’s great to see that more work has been done to make sure disabled people, their families and carers have a system they can trust and is easy to use.
“The announcement that in 2026 purchasing guidelines, including March 2024 amendments to them, will no longer apply is likely to go some way to helping some to rebuild trust,” says Tania.
“Under the new approach, flexible funding users will have more choice and control but will need to keep their spending within their budget.”
Minister Louise Upston also stated that longer-term work is being done to strengthen the disability support system to reflect the Enabling Good Lives vision and principles.
“Giving disabled people and their families and carers more clarity, certainty, flexibility, and choice is a welcome move,” says Tania. “But it’s a waiting game to understand the detail around how the new approach will make a positive change in the lives of people with disabilities.
“There is still more information to come about the new personal plans, purchasing rules, and what this means for individual people with intellectual disability. We look forward to seeing this in due course.
“We recognise that the changes and earlier announcements support the Enabling Good Lives principles of self-determination and being mana-enhancing.
Earlier this year the Government announced that Disability Support Services would change the way it paid residential service providers. The Community Group Home Pricing Model is simplifying and clarifying the process for residential service providers.
“It is crucial that government continues to prioritise creating spaces for the voice of disabled people in the decision-making processes around key decisions that impact their lives,” says Tania.
These changes are positive, but they come against a backdrop of stark inequality for people with intellectual disability, who are far more likely to live in hardship than other New Zealanders.
Across every measure of deprivation, households with intellectually disabled people are worse off. While the return to greater flexibility is something to applaud, there is still some way to go to address the deep and enduring financial inequities people with intellectual disability experience.
