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Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People View our
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The Disability Four-Point Plan

The Disability Four-Point Plan or Te Kairangi Tūrama Muri external URL is a foundational plan to embed opportunities for tāngata whaikaha Māori and disabled people in the Public Service.

It was developed in conjunction with Whaikaha, Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission, Ministry of Social Development, and We Enable Us – an all of government disabled employee network. Whaikaha is the lead agency for the plan.

Background 

We know that disabled public servants face ongoing challenges and inequities. Te Taunaki external URL (Public Service Census) was carried out for the first time in 2021 and the findings and the Disability Deep Dive external URL research reports developed using the data gained from it, has given us greater insight into the experiences of disabled public servants. 

Public servants with functional disabilities are: 

  • less likely to feel positive about their development across all areas asked about (access to opportunities and encouragement and support for those opportunities) 

  • less likely to say their skills matched well with the work they do (45% vs 51% for non-disabled)

  • more likely to say they needed further training to do their job well (24% vs 16% for non-disabled). 

 
Note: We are working to create a more fulsome picture of the number of disabled people working in the Public Service. Te Taunaki 2025 will provide updated data and findings. 

The four outcomes of Te Kairangi Tūrama Muri 


We will work across government to achieve the following outcomes.  
 
1. The visibility of and information about, tāngata whaikaha Māori and disabled people in the Public Service has increased in the two years to July 2025. 

2. Accessibility is improved for tāngata whaikaha Māori and disabled people in the Public Service 

3. The number of tāngata whaikaha Māori and disabled people has increased across the Public Service 

4. Inequities have been identified and closed (e.g pay gaps) as measurement allows for tāngata whaikaha Māori and disabled people in the Public Service 

 
Within each of these outcome areas actions are being developed and more information will be shared here soon.

Next steps 

There is work to do to ensure that all people are included in the Public Service. Agencies are being asked to take a focused approach to disability in their work, using the Four-Point Plan. 

We are developing guidance on how we can better support disabled people in the Public Service by removing the barriers that inhibit their ability to thrive at work. This will include toolkits, accessible recruitment guidance, internship programmes, and new networks. 
 
This page will continue to be updated, if you have any questions, please email communications@whaikaha.govt.nz

Te reo Māori name

Te Kairangi Tūrama Muri (The Backlit Pounamu) informs us that we respect the mana of the member agencies and like pounamu, we greatly value each other’s collective leadership and unique attributes that are brought to the working group and the Papa Pounamu external URL programme.

The kupu ‘Tūrama’ charges us with the responsibility of shining a light on tāngata whaikaha Māori and disabled people within the Public Service who are metaphorically hidden within the pounamu and are visually obscured in te pō, but with care and respect, we illuminate them with light and convey them to a place of safety.

Te putanga i te pō ki te whaiao, ki Te Ao Mārama - the emergence from darkness to the world of light.