History
Background
On 29 October 2021, Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni and Minister of Health Andrew Little announced that the New Zealand Government would establish a new Ministry for Disabled People within the Ministry of Social Development to reform the country's disability support system and improve outcomes for disabled people. Sepuloni justified the creation of the new ministry on the grounds that the current disability system in New Zealand had "broken down" and that consolidating these services within a single agency would improve disabled people's outcomes. [1]
The proposed disability ministry and legislative framework were welcomed by Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero, Te Ao Mārama chair Tristram Ingham, New Zealand Disability Support Network chief executive Peter Reynolds, and the Green Party's disability spokesperson Jan Logie. Disabled Person Assembly chief executive Prudence Walker welcomed the Government's efforts to prioritise the needs of disabled people but expressed concerns about funding and the need for disabled leadership of the new entity. [6]
Launch
On 19 May 2022, the Government allocated NZ$108 million from the 2022 New Zealand budget to establishing the new ministry. [7] [8] Sepuloni stated that the new ministry would be responsible for leading and coordinating strategic disability policy across the New Zealand Government, reforming the wider disability system, and improving disabled outcomes in the areas of employment, education, health and wellbeing. [9]
On 1 July 2022, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni and Minister for Disability Issues Poto Williams formally launched the new government department as Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People. During the official launch, it was confirmed that Whaikaha would be the first government department with names in the country's three official languages: English, Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language. They also confirmed that the organisation's chief executive would be a disabled person. Since the candidate was unavailable due to personal circumstances, Geraldine Woods was designated as the interim chief executive. Williams was also designated as the Minister responsible for the new organisation. [2] Whaikaha also assumed the functions formerly delivered by the Ministry of Health's Disability Directorate. It was also tasked with reforming New Zealand's disability system in line with the Government's Enabling Good Lives (EGL) approach. [10]
Paula Tesoriero was announced as the first chief executive of Whaikaha on 30 August 2022 and is the first disabled person to lead a New Zealand public service department. [11] [12] [13]
2024 respite care cutbacks
In March 2024, the Ministry of Disabled People abruptly announced that it would reduce respite care funding for families with disabled children. Disability Issues Minister Penny Simmonds said funding was set to run out in "days", although she first knew of funding issues back in December 2023. She said the National-led coalition government was not going to increase funding for disabled people and their families "because the Government’s coffers are not an endless open pit". [14] On 20 March, Simmonds said Whaikaha had done an inadequate job in conveying changes to disabled people's funding. She also questioned how the money has been spent and suggested some families were wasting their funding on “massages, overseas travel and pedicures”. The changes have caused widespread anguish within the disabled community, with a petition opposing the changes attracting more than 10,000 signatures in 24 hours. [15] In response to criticism, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis summoned Ministry officials and Simmonds for an urgent briefing, after families were blindsided by news of cuts to respite care. Willis said that news came as a surprise, and she had not been told how dire the situation was before news broke. [16]
On 26 March 2024, Willis announced that future decisions about the Ministry's funding would go to the New Zealand Cabinet to be signed off, with the disabled community being consulted. Willis criticised the previous Labour Government for allegedly allowing the Ministry to overspend for several years. The opposition Labour Party described the new decision-making directive as a "massive vote of no confidence" in Simmonds's role as Disability Issues Minister. [17]
2024 spending controversy
In mid April 2024, disability advocate Jane Carrigan called on the Auditor-General to investigate the Ministry after it spent nearly NZ$10 million on hiring contractors and consultants. In response to Newshub's report, the Ministry said that it was a new agency and needed to hire contractors to fill temporary roles while building the organisation. Disability Issues Minister Penny Simmonds confirmed that the Government would conduct a review of disability support services in New Zealand. [18] In late April 2024, The New Zealand Herald obtained a confidential briefing to the-then Finance Minister Grant Robertson from September 2023 detailing the Ministry's problems. Key problems included the rapid transfer of functions, responsibilities and personnel from the Ministry of Health to the new ministry, poor financial management and monitoring capabilities, ageing IT infrastructure and business practices, and workforce shortages (with 97 vacant positions in September 2023). While the Ministry for Disabled People now had a new operational model to match its mandate, its operational budget did not meet the NZ$2.2 billion needed for its operational functions. [19]
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