I'm delighted with Cabinet's decision to administer funding for disability support services centrally, until we know the outcomes of the strategies for disability issues and older people.

I don't believe disability support services and health services should be lumped together. Many people with disabilities focus on human rights, participation and independence. The medical model has limited their development of a separate identity and philosophy. At the same time, we must balance that identity and philosophy with integration of all services, a goal I'm sure we can achieve.

Also in this issue of Participate is a summary of Cathy Wylie's Special Education 2000 report. The proposal to disband the Specialist Education Service has attracted a lot of attention, and Associate Minister of Education Lianne Dalziel has now called for more submissions.

I can assure you that we are not looking at cost-cutting or taking services away from parents. We want to make sure that special education is delivered in the most effective way from the point of view of children with special needs.

Last month I hosted a one-day meeting in Wellington of Australian federal and state Disability Ministers. While much of the day was spent discussing (and mediating on!) internal Australian politics, it was interesting to see how disability issues are being addressed across the Tasman.

There are some things we can learn from our Aussie neighbours. Several states already have their own disability strategies, for example. But I ended the day feeling very grateful for New Zealand's size and accessibility, political structure, and strong networks within our disability communities.

Congratulations to Chris Sinclair and Simon Thurston, two young people who will be actively promoting disability issues when they spend two days at the end of August as Youth Parliamentarians.

And, finally, a big thank you to the disability reference group for their help in developing the discussion document for the New Zealand Disability Strategy. The document will be launched at Parliament in September (see below for details) and I would like to extend a warm invitation to all readers of Participate to attend. Please let my office know you are coming by phoning (04) 470 6570 by 1 September.

Hon Ruth Dyson
Minister for Disability Issues

Launch of disability discussion document

The discussion document for the New Zealand Disability Strategy will be officially launched at Parliament at 11 am on 6 September in the Banquet Hall of the Beehive. Making a World of Difference: Whakanui Oranga opens public debate on the strategy.

The document has been produced by the Ministry of Health with a 15-member reference group representing people with disabilities. It identifies key issues to achieve our vision of a fully inclusive society, and suggests desired actions and outcomes.

Public workshops will take place throughout the country in September and October. More details will be available in the next issue of Participate.

Disability funding to stay with MoH

Cabinet has decided that funding for disability support services should continue to be administered centrally, not through District Health Boards, until the Disability Strategy and Ageing in Place Strategy are developed.

Responsibility for DSS funding will be transferred from the Health Funding Authority to the Ministry of Health, which has set up a separate disability directorate.

Minister for Senior Citizens, Lianne Dalziel, and I will make further recommendations about disability funding by March next year. The disability and older people strategies will help us to decide the best way to fund disability support services.

The Public Health and Disability Bill, which has been introduced into Parliament, will still require district health boards to consider disability issues. Boards will be required by law to set up disability support advisory committees. They will also have to report in their annual plans on how they intend addressing the health needs of people with disabilities and the disability support needs of their population, in so far as they are responsible for doing so.

Public to have say on SES fate

The Government is calling for more public input into a proposal to disband the Specialist Education Service. The proposal came out of a review of Special Education 2000 policy conducted by education expert Cathy Wylie, released on 31 July.

The review says the Specialist Education Service is seen as increasingly ineffectual, fragmented and distanced from schools and parents of children with special needs. It recommends replacing the service with a national network of district support and resource centres under the Ministry of Education.

These centres would include specialist support, therapy, resource materials, equipment, professional development, advice and support for parents and co-ordination with relevant services such as health and social services. They would also act as fund holders.

More than 1200 submissions were received during the review. However, the recommendation to axe the SES was on the boundary of the terms of reference, so people will be given another chance to have their views heard.

The review includes more than 70 recommendations, including:

• A transition period for special education units for three years while all aspects of the review are considered.
• Expansion of the continuing resourcing scheme for children with high or moderate needs.
• Creation of a profound-needs or total-care category to provide extra funding to cover total personal care for completely physically dependent children, estimated to number about 300.
• Simplifying the verification of needs process to make it easier for parents to understand.

The Ministry of Education has set up an 0800 phone line (0800 422 125) to answer questions about the review. Submissions on the fate of the Specialist Education Service close on 26 September. Send your submissions to Lianne Dalziel, Associate Minister of Education, Parliament Buildings, Wellington. No stamp is needed.

Young people with disabilities head for Parliament

Chris Sinclair and Simon Thurston, two young people with disabilities, have been chosen as Youth Members of Parliament.

Chris, who is my representative, is a sixth form student at van Asch Deaf Education Centre. He's keen on soccer and wants to get a sports-related job when he leaves school. Chris has already prepared two speeches on communciation issues and the inclusion of people with disabilities in the wider community. He hopes to promote the cause of deaf people at Parliament.

Rotorua MP Steve Chadwick has appointed Simon, a 17-year-old student at John Paul College who was born with spina bifida. Simon hopes his experience at Parliament will be the beginning of his political career. He believes the first job of the Minister for Disability Issues should be to set up an awareness campaign showing that people with disabilities are normal, intelligent people with hopes and aspirations.

Youth Parliament, a three-yearly event, will sit on 28 and 29 August. It involves 120 youth members, each selected by an MP, and a youth press gallery. While in Parliament, the youth members will debate the pros and cons of decriminalising marijuana for personal use.

Vocational services review

The terms of reference have been finalised for the review of vocational services for people with disabilities. The review, which was announced by Minister of Social Services and Employment Steve Maharey in May, will be limited to vocational services funded by the Department of Work and Income, except where boundary or transitional issues affect other government agencies.

The review will consider:

• government's objectives;
• the sort of needs being met/supported;
• the range and type of services that should be available;
• whether services are driven by demand or subject to restrictions;
• whether criteria for service eligibility, including age, are appropriate;
• the funding responsibility of government and others such as the community, individuals with disabilities, and family/whanau/support people;
• the management of inter-agency boundary and transition issues (including programmes for young people with severe needs leaving school);
• how to address the needs of Mäori and Pacific people with disabilities;
• how to measure outcomes in terms of community and labour market participation; and
• how to improve the involvement of individuals and communities in service delivery.

The Department of Labour will oversee the review, with a working group made up of a range of government departments. Agencies already have a wealth of information about vocational services provided by people with disabilities and the sector during previous consultation exercises. This information will be included, and people will also have new opportunities to provide input.

The review will be carried out over the next six months. A draft report will be available for public comment in October, and a final report will go to Government in February 2001.

For more information, contact Kate Lynch at the Department of Labour, phone (04) 915 4005, fax (04) 915 4040, or best of all, e-mail: kate.lynch@lmpg.dol.govt.nz

HFA to review travel and accommodation assistance

The Health Funding Authority wants feedback on the financial help people get when they have to travel out-of-town for specialist medical or disability care. At the moment, five regional policies exist, leading to variations in the amount of assistance and the way the scheme is run.

The HFA has produced a draft national policy which will give people who need to travel for specialist treatment similar access to financial help across the country.

The policy will apply to everyone who needs to travel for publicly funded specialist medical, surgical, disability or mental health services or treatment. It will not cover travel to primary care services such as GPS, privately funded specialist services or overseas travel for treatment.

Copies of the consultation document, and details of public workshops in late August and September, are available on the HFA website: www.hfa.govt.nz or by calling 0800 ENQUIRE (0800 367 8473). Submissions close on 30 September.

Palliative care strategy

The Ministry of Health, HFA and National Health Committee have developed a 5-10 year strategy for palliative care, with the help of an expert advisory group.

The key focus of their discussion document, released in mid-July, is to ensure that people who are dying and their family/whänau have access to all essential services, and that these services are provided in a co-ordinated and culturally appropriate way.

Copies of the New Zealand Palliative Care Strategy discussion document are available on the Ministry of Health website at: www.moh.govt.nz or by phoning (04) 496 2350. Submissions close on 25 August 2000.

Disability directorate starts up

The new disability issues directorate began operating on 1 July. Many staff working in the disability area from the HFA and Ministry of Health are now working together on the first floor of the Ministry of Health building in Wellington, though a number remain in the HFA building on Lambton Quay and in the regions.

The team developing the New Zealand Disability Strategy, headed by Kevin Allen, former chief executive officer of New Zealand CCS, is also part of the new directorate.

Deputy-Director-General Carol Searle spends Mondays and Fridays in the directorate and the rest of the week in the HFA. Carol will continue as the HFA's general manager of disability support services until it officially disbands in November.

Health and disability bill introduced into House

The New Zealand Public Health and Disability Bill was introduced into Parliament last week and will be referred to the health select committee.

Under the bill, 21 district health boards will replace the 23 existing Hospital and Health Service boards by late 2001. The HFA will be disbanded and its functions absorbed by the Ministry of Health.

The district health boards will be crown entities, not companies. They will have up to 11 members - seven elected and up to four appointed by the Minister of Health. The boards will be elected next year at the same time as the local authority elections.

Each board will be required to have at least two Mäori members - more in areas with high Mäori populations. Board meetings will be open to the public and media in the same way as local council meetings are now.

Over time, the district health boards will develop specific goals relating to the health needs of their individual communities. This will happen in the wider context of the New Zealand Health Strategy.

Information on the submission process for the bill can be found at the website: www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz/publications/submission/contents.html