Address to DPA Dunedin Accessible Transport Forum

Tënä koutou katoa.
Tënä koutou ngä tängata hauä me o koutou whänau, hoa, häpori hoki, tae atu ki te hunga e tautoko ana i te whakakotahi i a ngäi tätau.

[Greetings to all people with disabilities, their families/whanau, friends and communities, and all those who support a fully inclusive society.]

Thank you for inviting me to speak to you this evening. I bring warm greetings from my Dunedin colleagues, Pete Hodgson, David Benson Pope and Mahara Okeroa.

It’s great to see such a good turnout at this forum, and a wide range of speakers on the programme, including representatives from the Otago Regional Council, Dunedin City Council, United Taxis, and Otago Bus and Coach Association.

Central government can set the wider scene, develop national policies and provide funding.
But accessible transport will only become a reality when we work with local authorities, businesses, non-governmental organisations and people in the community to remove the barriers that prevent many of our citizens from moving freely around our towns and cities.

The latest disability survey conducted by Statistics New Zealand has just confirmed that one in five New Zealanders has a long-term disability. Add to that the number of older people, parents with young children, and others with short-term mobility difficulties who benefit from accessible transport and other public facilities, and the economic and social benefits are indisputable.

New Zealand Disability Strategy
The New Zealand Disability Strategy clearly states the government’s philosophy on accessible transport. Under objective 8 of the strategy, ‘ to support quality living in the community for people with disabilities’, is the sub-heading, ‘moving around the community’. Three actions are spelt out:
·requiring all new scheduled public transport to be accessible in order to phase out inaccessible public transport;
·encouraging the development of accessible routes to connect buildings, public spaces and transport systems; and
·developing nationally consistent access to passenger services where there is no accessible public transport.

These principles are also reflected in the New Zealand Transport Strategy, to be released later this year. The vision for that strategy is that “by 2010, New Zealand will have an affordable, integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable transport system”. Its five objectives are
·assisting economic development;
·ensuring safety and personal security;
·improving access and mobility;
·protecting and promoting public health; and
·ensuring environmental sustainability.

On close reflection, most of these objectives are directly relevant. Making public transport accessible will not just improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, and meet our human rights obligations. International studies also show that savings will be made in health, income support and other areas if people with disabilities can access employment and support services independently.

The significance of these strategies should not be under-estimated. Strategies were given a bad name by the last government because they never turned out to be very meaningful.

But we have not only been clear about where we are going and what we expect to achieve, we have also included specific plans of action and mechanisms for regular monitoring and reporting to chart progress of the stated objectives.

Indeed, in the year since the launch of the New Zealand Disabiity Strategy, it has become a powerful tool for change.
One of the things that has delighted me most is the number of people I have seen waving the document around at meetings, who seem to know it practically off by heart and are quoting from it directly to strengthen their arguments.

I am excited, too, by the way the strategy is instilling greater confidence about the future among people with disabilities, their families and service providers. People tell me that the document has given formal recognition to the things they have been saying for years; it validates their concerns and supports their activities.

For the first time, they can see a clear pathway towards an inclusive society; and they can see their part in that – with the knowledge that the government is right there with them.

When people feel recognised, supported and more confident about the future, they will make progress faster. They will be bolder and more creative. They will be prepared to open up new debates, push the boundaries and challenge the status quo.

Accessible transport and public facilities are not something that are going to appear overnight, but they will happen. Fortunately, most city planners and transport operators are more enlightened than the regional transport advisor who spoke at a meeting I attended last year in Palmerston North, organised by a network of disability organisations.

The man said (and, what’s more, he had slides to prove it) that the council was making good progress on accessibility - their buses used to have four high, narrow steps at the entrance and now had two low, wide steps. He did not seem to understand how insulting his attitude was to his audience, many of whom were wheelchair users.

Many urban bus companies are introducing kneeling and low floor buses as they replace stock. City planners are also beginning to consider the needs of all citizens when they design kerbing, signage, bus stops, parking meters, ATM machines and so on.

However, we still have a long way to go. Dunedin planning consultant Keith Hovell was quoted in the Otago Daily Times at the beginning of the year as saying that the Dunedin city council is not serving people with mobility problems well in the central city. Mr Hovell gained personal understanding of physical barriers when he had to use a wheelchair for several weeks after a car accident – a good example of how most people will need accessible facilities at some time in their lives.

He said he had found:
·wheelchair ramps which were ineffective or too steep;
·footpaths which sloped, some towards the road and others away from cash machines;
·footpath cutdowns with a tiny lip on them, making them unsafe for wheelchair users;
·crossing buttons in awkward places or at the wrong height for wheelchair users;
·inaccessible parking ‘pay and display’ machines; and
·brick paving which was slippery and wet.
I trust Mr Hovell remains a useful ally in your efforts to make Dunedin more user-friendly. Many of the facilities he talks about could be accessible at little additional cost - particularly if they were constructed from the outset with accessibility in mind.

The obvious solution is to involve people with disabilities at all levels before decisions are made, not as an afterthought or when things go wrong. And just to show you that I’m not picking on Dunedin, I’ll give you a Christchurch example of what happens when you don’t consult the experts. Braille timetables at the Christchurch central city bus exchange were hailed as a great leap forward when they were introduced last year – until it was discovered by the first user that they had been installed upside down!

In Auckland, people with disabilities are leading the way in getting alongside city councils and government departments to ensure a disability perspective on issues like health and transport - and that’s a big admission for a one-eye Cantabrian.

For example, the Auckland Disability Providers Network has developed its own blueprint for accessible transport in Auckland, with the fitting title of ‘Travelling towards Independence’. It is based on the principles of the NZ Disability Strategy and has four objectives:
·meet the regional challenge within the provided budget (for Total Mobility);
·all transport in the Auckland region will be accessible;
·educate the wider community; and
·have ‘buy-in’ from everyone.

The network is using the document to strengthen representation on its transport committee, develop relationships with the Auckland Regional Council and other transport service providers, and become recognised as an essential resource on transport issues in the region.

Total Mobility
One of those issues, which I have not mentioned yet, is Total Mobility, a key initiative for people with disabilities since its introduction in 1984.

The scheme is available to any person who has a disability that prevents them using a public bus service, or who requires the constant assistance of another person. Voluntary organisations such as New Zealand CCS and Age Concern assess eligibility and issue Total Mobility vouchers which entitle people to a discount on their taxi fare. People from one area can use their vouchers in other parts of New Zealand, although local conditions apply.

The scheme has been very successful, but a number of problems have emerged in recent years. Demand has increased significantly, due to growing numbers of older people and people with high support needs living in the community.

This has led to spiralling costs and moves by many councils to cap costs by imposing local limits - such as restricting vouchers to people who are eligible for the community services card, limiting the boundaries of travel they will subsidise, or trying to exclude certain groups such as people with intellectual disabilities.

This has understandably angered user groups, who are critical of the lack of regional consistency and want a more equitable system. The government agrees. In March, Cabinet decided that, as part of the New Zealand Transport Strategy, Transfund should be directed to review the Total Mobility Scheme to establish a system that is nationally consistent, portable and secure, and to report to the Minister of Transport by the middle of next year.

I have since written to my colleague Mark Gosche requesting that Transfund and the Ministry of Transport involve DPA in the review. I told him that I am keen to ensure that DPA and other key stakeholder groups in the disability sector are involved right from the beginning at the ‘development of options’ stage, and that I would like to see DPA have input into any consultation documents that are produced for the review.

Attitudinal change
Underlying everything I have said tonight is the need for attitudinal change. During consultation over the strategy, people with disabilities clearly identified not money, not physical obstacles, but negative attitudes and behaviour as the greatest barrier preventing them from participating fully in our communities.
This is a challenge for us all, and I want to assure you that I am committed over the next three years to introduce systematic programmes to bring about attitudinal change - including a multi-media campaign, disability awareness training for government departments and new contracting arrangements with disability organisations based on understanding, partnerships and trust.

There are many ways to change attitudes.

Firstly, events like this change attitudes. They bring people from different walks of life together and give them an opportunity to talk to each other. They educate and inform. They help build the profile of people with disabilities and the disability sector.

Secondly, communication changes attitudes. The Like Minds Like Mine media campaign, where high-profile New Zealanders share their experience of mental illness, is a powerful tool breaking down prejudice and misunderstanding, and I am keen to support a similar media campaign for people with disabilities.

Thirdly, education of key staff and decision-makers changes attitudes, which filter right through organisations. DPA Auckland, for example, is now physically located in the Auckland Ministry of Health offices, has taken responsibility for some projects and is involved in team meetings.

This is having a big effect on both parties. It’s giving departmental staff a day-to-day disability perspective, and it’s helping people with disabilities understand the challenges of working inside a bureaucracy.
The experience has also made DPA consider the gaps in its own relationships within the disability sector. The result has been a new organisation called DEAS which stands for disability empowerment, advocacy and support, and it has four arms – Maori, Pacific, generic, and family and parents. I have met with this group twice now, and have been very impressed both by what they have already achieved and their honesty about the difficulties they have faced along the way.

In order to ‘foster leadership by people with disabilities’, objective 5 of the New Zealand Disability Strategy, I have also set up a database of CVs of people with disabilities from all around the country, covering as many skill areas as possible. My aim is to nominate people with disabilities to every government board that is making new appointments, so if I haven’t got your CV, please send it to me.

Before I finish up, I would like to briefly mention a number of other initiatives I am working on at the moment.

New Office of Disability Issues
The biggest news is that a new Office of Disability Issues is to be set up inside the Ministry of Social Development on 1 July 2002.

The office will give policy advice on disability issues, lead the government’s implementation and monitoring of the New Zealand Disability Strategy, and report directly to me.

Advertising is already underway for the six full-time staff who will be employed initially, expanding to 10 full-time staff over the next five years.

The new office will address both the long-standing need for a cross-sectoral approach to disability issues, and concern about the inappropriate placement of all disability issues in a health context.

One of its roles will be to ensure that a disability perspective is included in relevant Cabinet papers. This will make a big difference. It will give us the opportunity to have guaranteed input into a wide range of government policies as they are being developed. The absence of such a watchdog role in the past has meant, for example, that the Telecommunications Bill was introduced into Parliament without any reference to the needs of people with disabilities.

Deaf relay service
Speaking of which, you may have seen the recent Human Rights Commission finding that the telecommunications industry should provide a relay service for people who are Deaf, or who have hearing or speech impairments.

A voice/text relay service enables a person to converse using a teletypewriter (TTY) to type text, which an intermediary converts into conversation for the person at the other end, and vice versa.

One of Labour’s pre-election promises was to ‘ensure that telecommunications providers fulfil their human rights obligations and provide access to services that meet needs’. Once again, it’s a question of accessibility. People need access to conventional telephone services not only in an emergency, but in order to participate fully in the community, the fundamental principle of the New Zealand Disability Strategy.

The government has been considering the most effective way to provide a relay service for some time. The commission’s finding that failure to provide this service constitutes discrimination under the Human Rights Act adds considerable weight to our efforts to resolve the issue.

Initial consultation has already occurred with telecommunications providers and other interested parties. Most providers agree in principle with the provision of a relay service, but there is debate over whose responsibility it should be to fund the setting-up costs and the teletypewriter equipment.

The government is currently considering whether the relay service should be declared a telecommunications service obligation (TSO), thereby requiring the industry to provide the service. A final decision on this will be made shortly.
NASC update
Also underway is a thorough evaluation of needs assessment and service coordination by the Ministry of Health.

The intention is not to throw out the baby with the bath water.

I support the original concept of NASC – putting the person with the disability at the centre of the equation, assessing their needs (as defined by them and their family) on an individual basis, and actively securing the best possible package of services to meet those needs.

However, in practice, the concept has become increasingly unworkable. It’s applied inconsistently throughout the country and is being used as a budget manager and rationing tool.

Alongside the evaluation, the ministry is developing evidence-based national guidelines for NASC to ensure that processes and outcomes are centred on the person receiving the service. This means that service users and their families must be involved in decision-making in a meaningful way. It will also help to bring about national consistency in service delivery for people with disabilities.

Conclusion
Thank you again for inviting me to speak to you this evening. I enjoy and value the challenges and support given to me by DPA all over the country. I appreciate the open exchange of views and I look forward to continuing to work with you this year to create a society which values all its citizens and encourages their full participation. And now I am happy to answer any questions.