Speech notes for Minister for Disability Issues Ruth Dyson, address to Canterbury Deaf Society AGM, Canterbury, Christchurch

Rau rangatira maa,

tenei te mihi ki a koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te ra.

Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

 [Distinguished guests, greetings to you gathered here for this purpose today. Greetings once, twice, three times to you all.]

Emma Agnew

• Emma Agnew was a future leader of the Deaf community. She had special ties to the Canterbury Deaf Society: not only was she a member, but she worked part-time with the Society as an administrator, and designed the Society’s website.
•  Emma Agnew had been described as an ambassador for sign language.  It was a tragic irony that the media coverage of her death had the consequence of bringing the importance of NZSL to the attention of the general public.

New Zealand Disability Strategy

• The New Zealand Disability Strategy (NZDS), launched in April 2001, has the vision of a fully inclusive society that highly values the lives of disabled people and continually enhances their full participation. 
•  The Office for Disability Issues has responsibility for promoting and monitoring the implementation of the NZDS.  All government agencies are required to report to the Office annually on their progress in implementing the NZDS, and on their plans for implementing the NZDS in the year ahead. 
•  We have taken some large steps towards the Strategy’s goal, including the signing of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the ending of institutions, and repeal of the Disabled Persons Employment Promotion Act.
•  The Strategy has also led to greater knowledge and understanding of disabled people and disability issues within government agencies, a firm commitment to providing information and services in an accessible way, and a move towards whole-of-life planning.  There is increasing recognition that planning for an inclusive society is of benefit to everyone, and a fundamental change from seeing disabled people as “other” or “special”.

Implementation of the New Zealand Sign Language Act, and future plans

• NZSL became an official language of New Zealand when the New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Act became law in April 2006.
•  The NZSL Act confers the right to use NZSL in legal proceedings, provides guiding principles for government agencies in using NZSL to make their information and services accessible for Deaf people, and provides guidance for these agencies on consulting with the Deaf community in relation to NZSL and how it is used.
•  Each government agency now has responsibility for implementing the NZSL Act in relation to its specific work.
•  The Office for Disability Issues now requires all government agencies to report back on their work related to the NZSL Act as part of their annual report-backs on their implementation of the NZDS.  These report-backs must include both related work that they have undertaken in the past year, and on initiatives planned for the coming year. 
• The most recent reports, for the 2006/2007 year, acknowledge a number of NZSL-related initiatives including:
• the Ministry of Justice’s development of an Interpreters Strategy and Action Plan, setting out priorities and goals for the use of interpreters in courts
• the Ministry of Justice’s development of a pamphlet on “Using NZSL in Court”, and guidelines for staff regarding jurors who are Deaf
• ACC’s development of a DVD which uses NZSL and captioning to provide information about the ACC Scheme and how to access it
• the New Zealand Customs Service’s development of procedures for access to, and use of, NZSL interpreters

Future Plans

• Agencies’ plans for 20067/2008 also show a wide range of planned initiatives, including:
• Work and Income is to liaise with representatives of the Deaf community to develop a plan for the appropriate use of NZSL, to help its services and information to be accessed by the Deaf community.
• The Chief Electoral Office is to work with appropriate organisations to have sign language interpreters available at some polling places for the 2008 General Election.
• The Ministry of Health is producing a DVD on Ministry-funded funded disability services which will include the presentation of information in NZSL
• As well, the Office for Disability Issues is currently having prepared DVDs which present in NZSL information on the NZDS and on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  These should be available later this year.
• Section 11 of the NZSL Act requires a report to be prepared as soon as practicable after April 2009 on the operation of the Act and on any changes required to its scope or content.  The Act requires people or organisations representative of the interests of the Deaf community to be consulted for this report back.  These requirements mean that the legislation is kept under scrutiny to help ensure that it is effectively promoting Deaf people’s right to use NZSL.  The Office for Disability Issues is to begin planning for this later this year, and will involve the Deaf community in that.

Introduction of NZSL to the school curriculum

• The guidelines “New Zealand Sign Language in the New Zealand Curriculum” were released in March 2007.  These set the direction for teaching and learning NZSL, to help teachers in early childhood settings and schools who wish to plan and implement NZSL programmes with their children.  The curriculum positions NZSL as a language of choice, so that it can be learned by hearing students as well as Deaf students.
• The Ministry of Education developed these guidelines in consultation with the Deaf community, parents, and NZSL users as well as with educators and teachers.
• The Ministry of Education is developing a further resource to support teachers in the planning and implementation of NZSL programmes, as part of its “Learning Languages” series.  Learning Languages provides teachers with a multimedia resource specific to each language taught in schools, to further assist them in developing and implementing effective programmes.  The Ministry’s consultation with the Deaf community is continuing, with a reference group formed to advise the Learning Languages resource development.
• The Ministry of Education takes the position that New Zealand needs more people who are users of NZSL and have an appreciation of Deaf culture.  As Deaf people come to have a wider circle to converse with, our society becomes more inclusive.
• The crucial importance of the guidelines is that they firmly place NZSL into the mainstream of education.

Scholarships for interpreters

• At present there is a shortage of qualified NZSL interpreters.  The Auckland University of Technology (AUT) is the only tertiary institution offering a Diploma in Sign Language Interpreting.  About five to eight interpreters graduate every year, yet there are an estimated 7,000 people who are Deaf and who use NZSL. 
•  The Ministry of Education offers six scholarships a year for students of the AUT’s Diploma course.  These provide up to $3,000 per year for up to two years of study.  As from the beginning of 2008, applications for four of these scholarships will be invited from NZSL interpreter students fluent in a language in addition to English that is used by children who attend early childhood centres and schools in New Zealand.  The Ministry is particularly interested in receiving applications from students who are fluent in either Te Reo Māori or a Pasifika language.  Applications for the other two scholarships will be invited from all NZSL students.
• In March 2008, the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, David Cunliffe, announced that government is to fund 20 scholarships, totalling $100,000, for students of the AUT’s Diploma course.
•  The funding agreement requires the AUT to actively promote the Diploma in Sign Language Interpreting course and the availability of the new scholarships. 
•  The New Zealand Relay Servicewas established in 2004 to provide telecommunication for people who are Deaf, hearing-impaired, deaf-blind or speech-impaired, through the medium of a relay assistant. 
•  Later this year the government is to consult on a video relay service to enable Deaf people to communicate via sign language interpreters as part of NZ Relay.  Enough qualified interpreters need to be available to make this viable, and the provision of the new scholarships should help with this.