An Aotearoa accessible for all
The Green Party will build an inclusive Aotearoa where everyone has what they need to participate fully in their community.
When we all have access to the services we need, like transport and good quality homes, it means everyone can participate equally in life and their communities.
Our current laws, policies, and social norms mean disabled people are often denied the same rights as others and are excluded from places and activities non-disabled people take for granted.
Nearly one in four people in Aotearoa are disabled. They’re often locked out of affordable and accessible housing. Disabled people also face significant barriers to healthcare, education, work and experience poverty at a higher rate than others.
Last year, we were proud to pass a new law that means disabled people cannot be denied things like a home or transport simply because they have a disability-assist dog. We have also secured extra funding for violence services that meet the needs of disabled people.
The Green Party will remove the other barriers faced by disabled people. The time is now to make Aotearoa a place where people with disabilities have equal access to education, work opportunities, health, incomes, and housing.
Our plan
- Introduce a minimum Income Guarantee where all people limited in their capacity to work due to a disability or health condition receive at least 80 percent of the fulltime minimum wage.
- Improve access to disability-related supports, including by doubling the Disability Allowance and expanding the criteria.
- Fund advocacy services that support people with disabilities to advocate for themselves; including Māori led support for tangata whaikaha.
- Co-design accessibility legislation with the disabled community, underpinned by enforceable accessibility standards and cultural requirements, to prevent and remove accessibility barriers.
- Reform the Building Code so new houses and buildings are accessible by design, unless specifically exempted; build more accessible social housing in all communities; and fund Māori led initiatives to provide accessible housing within papakāinga.
- Require television to provide media in an accessible format, including captioning, audio description and New Zealand Sign Language content, and to set a target of 100 percent captioning for all television programming in New Zealand.
- Eliminate the use of seclusion and put in place safeguards against the abuse of disabled people in state care or in disability services, including by training people to help identify and respond to signs of abuse and ensuring appropriate pathways for disclosure.
You can find our full manifesto here and a large print, screen-reader friendly version of our 2023 Manifesto here.