Supporting oranga for disabled people

We want to work with disabled people who have lived experience of care and protection and/or youth justice services, and the people who support them.

One of our most important goals is to make services better for all disabled people we work with – that includes disabled tamariki, rangatahi, parents, caregivers and their whānau. 

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Oranga Tamariki needs a clear vision describing the ideal future for disabled people we work with. We also need a strategy, or roadmap, to show us how to get there.  

We want to work with you to create an Oranga Tamariki disability strategy. This will give us the opportunity to uphold equal rights for disabled people we work with, especially tangata whaikaha Māori (Māori disabled people).

Thank you for your interest in the disability kaupapa and the Oranga Tamariki Disability Strategy. Phase 1 involved developing a Vision Statement for the Disability Strategy which was done in partnership with disabled people, their champions, tāngata whaikaha Māori and care experienced rangatahi.    

The Vision is:

'The mana of tāngata whaikaha me o ratou toa (disabled people and their champions) is enhanced by meeting their needs, upholding their rights and supporting their hopes and dreams.' 

To achieve this Vision, we have identified 4 Shifts that need to occur: 

1. How we see disability. 
2. Systems work for people. 
3. Disability competent and confident workforce. 
4. Oranga Tamariki is safe and proactive. 

During the engagement we also heard some ideas on how to achieve these shifts.  

There is more detail on the Vision, the Oranga Tamariki working definition of disability, the 4 Shifts and the activities to achieve those shifts here:

Disability strategy research and insight summaries

We're partnering with organisations that may already be working with disability communities to host workshops and interviews where you can share your thoughts.

Visit the Workshops and interviews page for more information about our next round of engagement workshops:

Disability strategy workshops and interviews

You can share your thoughts on a future Oranga Tamariki disability strategy in several ways, including by making an individual submission in writing or by audio or video recording.

To make an individual submission, please read over the below information and then access our individual submission form [WORD, 60 KB] . You can then share your thinking with us in your preferred format, whether that be filling in the text boxes in the individual submission form or recording your feedback via video or an audio file.

Please email your submission to us at: disability.strategy@ot.govt.nz

Making an individual submission

We want to hear your ideas and insights on how we can best achieve the Vision and the Four Shifts. You do not have to work through all 4 Shifts; you can pick those that interest you if you prefer. From the Vision and Strategy document, read through the section on the Shifts you want to focus on. 

Working through each Shift and the ideas on how to achieve them we have 3 questions:

• Do you agree with the ideas already recorded? 
• Are there any gaps or ideas you would like to add? 
• What would your 3 priorities be?

Alternate formats of individual submission form:
How to make Individual Submissions (Large Print) [WORD, 101 KB]
How to make Individual Submissions (New Zealand Sign Language) - video