Strong Voices

People with intellectual disabilities make up a small percentage of people in New Zealand with disabilities. How small? No one really knows because no one is counting them properly.

New rules about using physical restraint at school are a huge step in the right direction.

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Young Porirua people charged with offences no longer have to stand in the dock while lawyers and judges use language they can’t understand and make rules they are unable to follow.

Ask Carlos Biggemann what needs to change in the world, and he starts with global issues – war, poverty and the destruction of the rainforests – before coming to his disability.

The Law Commission is reviewing the legal powers people are given to make decisions for others, something disability advocates say is well overdue.

A trial Companion Card programme is enabling people with disabilities to take part more easily in activities in Palmerston North.

The Ministry of Health has announced changes to disability-funded carer support. Carer support claims are going online in early 2022.

Banks have put even more distance between them and their more vulnerable customers by ending cheques.

Bus fares will be free for disabled people in the Bay of Plenty by July.

The New Zealand Disability Support Network (NZDSN) says money laundering legislation and the phasing out of cheques by banks require new approaches and practices from everyone involved.