Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People is a government ministry within New Zealand's Ministry of Social Development. Its mission is to improve outcomes for disabled people in New Zealand, reform the wider disability system, and coordinate the Government's disability policies. Whaikaha formally came into existence on 1 July 2022.

History

Background

On 29 October 2021, Minister for Disability Issues

Carmel Sepuloni Carmel Jean Sepuloni (born 1977) is a New Zealand politician and a member of parliament for the Labour Party. She was first elected to Parliament following the 2008 general election as a list member, becoming New Zealand's first MP of Tongan ...

and

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

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. 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 A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

's disability spokesperson

Jan Logie Heather Janet Logie (born 26 October 1969) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. She is a member of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Early life and career Logie was born in Invercargill in ...

. 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.

Launch

On 19 May 2022, the Government allocated NZ$108 million from the

2022 New Zealand budget Budget 2022, dubbed the Wellbeing Budget 2022, is the New Zealand budget for fiscal year 2022/23, presented to the New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives by Finance Minister (New Zealand), Finance Minister, Grant Robertso ...

to establishing the new ministry. 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. On 1 July 2022, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni and Minister for Disability Issues

Poto Williams Munokoa Poto Williams (born 7 January 1962) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician and a member of Parliament. She was elected in a 2013 by-election and is currently Minister of Conservation and Minister for Disability Issues in the Sixth ...

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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, and

New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL ( mi, te reo Turi) is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was t ...

. 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. 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.

Paula Tesoriero Paula Margaret Tesoriero (born 29 August 1975 in Wellington) is a former New Zealand paralympics racing cyclist and senior public servant. Early life Tesoriero was born with amniotic band syndrome, which caused mobility issues. She got her ...

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.

Notes and references

{{NZ Public Service Departments 2022 establishments in New Zealand Disability organisations based in New Zealand Social security in New Zealand New Zealand Public Service departments