Skip to main Skip to search
Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People View our
NZSL name

Step 5: Incorporating disability into Cabinet papers, information and communications

In this step, you will write up your policy process (from Steps 2-4) and prepare recommendations for Ministers to consider.

The Policy Project's Policy Quality Framework external URL  sets out how to ensure any advice tells the full story to engage the decision maker in the issues that matter, including how to reflect diverse perspectives in your advice.

Finishing touches

Filling in the 'population' table in your Cabinet paper

This is where you summarise the implications of your policy proposals on disabled people.

Remember:

  • 1 in 4 New Zealanders are disabled. Have you identified the disabled people who will be impacted by the policy proposals in your paper? To what extent will they be impacted?
  • Disabled people are a population group which experiences discrimination and faces barriers to participation in society. How do the proposals in your paper change this? How do the proposals meet the different needs, expectations and priorities of different groups of disabled people?
  • Disabled people have the same rights as all New Zealanders. How do the proposals in your paper honour the rights of disabled people? Reflect on if and how your proposals give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) external URL .
  • The aim of the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016-2026 (the Strategy) is for New Zealand to be a non-disabling society - where disabled people have an equal opportunity to achieve their goals and aspirations across eight key outcome areas. Reflect on if and how your proposals give effect to the Strategy.
  • There is still limited information about disabled people. Explain how you will collect data on disabled people as you implement your policy proposals.
  • 'Nothing about us, without us’ is what disabled people want. Explain how disabled people were included in your decision-making processes.

Incorporating these points into the population section and throughout your Cabinet paper should reduce the risk of your paper being pushed back by Cabinet Ministers due to insufficient consideration of the disability perspective of your proposed policy.

Alternate formats

Make sure your Cabinet paper and any attachments can be accessed by everyone. Guidance on how to do this can be found in the Ministry of Social Development Accessibility Guide external URL .