Independent Review
The Minister for Disability Issues Hon Louise Upston external URL commissioned an Independent Review of the Disability Support System to strengthen its long-term sustainability.
As the Ministry of Disabled People - Whaikaha was facing cost pressures, the Minister wanted a full picture of the situation before considering any changes to the system.
The Independent Review included seven recommendations, which have been accepted by the Government.
The recommendations are unlikely to immediately impact the support disabled people or their carers currently receive. People will be consulted as we move through the process.
Cabinet also agreed to:
- transfer Disability Support Services (DSS) to a new branded business unit within the Ministry of Social Development. This is effective from the middle of September with other supporting functions for DSS moving before the end of 2024
- create a standalone department for the rest of the Ministry of Disabled People, to provide leadership and stewardship for disabled people across government by the end of 2024
- establish a cross-agency taskforce of senior officials within MSD to deliver the review’s recommendations for DSS. The taskforce will include experts in policy, finance, contract management, service delivery, risk management, auditing, and evaluation.
Work to implement the decisions from the Independent Review begins now, with initial report backs due by the end of 2024.
Minister's video announcement (15th August 2024)
Video transcript
Hello everyone.
I just wanted to reach out to you all personally as I announce some big changes to ensure the sustainability of our support system and services for disabled New Zealanders.
These changes take into account the results of an independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha.
I have released the review findings and recommendations as part of today’s announcement – I encourage you to take the time to read the material I’ve published online.
You’ll see clearly that disability support services in New Zealand need urgent attention with unsustainable costs and spending across the system, and a lack of fairness and transparency within its settings.
The review has also confirmed a lot of what I’ve been hearing in conversations with disabled people and representative groups across the community.
The reality is, it’s a real post-code lottery at the moment, with huge variation in the quality and consistency of disability services across the country.
Much of this comes down to the way the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha was established.
It was done too quickly, which led to ‘poor’ financial controls being put in place, ‘inadequate’ monitoring of expenditure, and a lack of the public sector disciplines and operational practices needed in a government agency responsible for delivering over $2 billion worth of services.
So, today’s announcement is about taking urgent action to make sure this government’s record $1.1 billion funding boost to disability support services goes to those disabled New Zealanders and their carers who need it most.
The big changes are:
- The Ministry of Social Development will become responsible for delivering disability support services by October.
- The Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha will be upgraded from an agency hosted by MSD to a stand-alone government department responsible for leading work to improve the lives of disabled people through policy advice, monitoring the effectiveness of services, education, and advocating for positive change.
- And a taskforce will be established at MSD to work through the review panel’s recommendations.
Again, there’s more information on Whaikaha’s website, but the review panel recommendations include a range of changes to review and control costs and introduce more robust processes for monitoring and accountability into the DSS and disability system.
I’ve also asked the taskforce to:
- carry out a rapid review of pricing, maintaining residential care and service provider funding at the current levels while this happens.
- And to reinstate indicative budgets and monitoring of Needs Assessment and Service Coordination organisations (NASCs).
The Government has also decided to pause the expansion of Enabling Good Lives while work is done to make access to support fairer and based on need – not location.
I know this will be quite big news for some of you, but I do want to stress three things.
The first is that nothing will change overnight – nobody’s support will be cut off and if your support needs have changed, please contact your NASC.
Secondly – and I can’t stress this enough – decisions about how to proceed with the recommendations on eligibility criteria for flexible funding will only be made after consulting the disability community.
Your voice and your insights are so important to getting this right.
There will be multiple points of engagement with the disability community and DSS stakeholders throughout the programme.
As such, opportunities will be created to enable disabled people, their whānau, and carers to provide input throughout the programme.
Following the public announcement, officials will communicate with the community and DSS stakeholders on decisions taken and what to expect.
Once the Taskforce is established, it will let the community know how best to engage with it and how you can be involved in supporting the long-term sustainability of disability support services in New Zealand.
Thirdly, and finally, this is a fresh start and a chance to get things right:
- to get spending under control
- to make Whaikaha a powerful voice and advocate for disabled New Zealanders across government.
- and to address all the long-standing issues I’ve been hearing about from across the disabled community once and for all.
We are determined to build a fairer, more sustainable support system that delivers better outcomes for disabled people, based on their needs.
Thank you.
View supporting documents
- View the Minister's Press Release on the Beehive website external URL
- View the Minister's Press Release on our website
- View the Independent Review Disability Support Services Phase One Report – 28 June 2024, including and feedback on the Review by Whaikaha CE Paula Tesoriero – 16 July 2024
- View Whaikaha Chief Executive's statement
- View Fact sheets:
- View Questions and Answers
- View Cabinet paper, 29 April 2024
- View the Rapid Assurance Review, May 2024
- View Cabinet paper, 12 August 2024
About Whaikaha
Whaikaha commissions a range services that supports approximately 50,000 disabled people and their carers each week.
Whaikaha also funds equipment and home and vehicle modifications for approximately 100,000 people each year to support disabled people to navigate their everyday lives.