Data-driven disability plan proposed

Improving the availability of quality information about New Zealand’s disabled community will lead to better decision-making by government agencies, Statistics Minister Craig Foss and Disability Issues Minister Nicky Wagner say.

The Ministers today opened consultation on the development of a Disability Plan to ensure government agencies have the data necessary to make informed, evidence-based policy decisions.

“The plan will help develop a shared understanding of the strengths and potential gaps in statistics about disabled people in New Zealand,” Mr Foss says.

“The first stage in this project is to develop ‘enduring questions’ — questions that identify the areas where more information is needed. The consultation process is focused on finding out if we have identified the right enduring questions.”

Ms Wagner says the need to improve data collection and statistics on disabled people is a key recommendation of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Independent Monitoring Mechanism.

“Monitoring the key aspects of the lives of disabled people compared with others helps to ensure the rights of all people are being upheld. It also builds understanding around the outcomes of disabled people over time.

“We’d really like to receive feedback from a wide range of people to help ensure the enduring information needs are understood and agreed as broadly as possible across the community.”

The consultation process is open until 9 September 2016.  For more information:http://www.odi.govt.nz/what-we-do/better-evidence/index.html