Spectrum Care

The same day we shared our thoughts on recent decisions affecting disabled people in Aotearoa, the Government introduced the Disability Support Services Bill.

This Bill changes what disability support is.

Not just how it is funded.
Not just how it is managed.
What it is.

It defines support as “a contribution”, provided “from within public funding available”.

It states that “families and whānau have responsibility in the first instance for the well-being of their members”.

And it says that before receiving support, people should use “their resources and any other support that is available to them”, including from “their family, whānau, and their community”.

That is a profound shift.

It moves disability support out of the system’s responsibility, and into something people are expected to piece together themselves.

Families already carry so much.

They carry it because they love their people.
Because they have to.
Because when support is delayed, reduced, or missing, someone still has to do the caring.

But love is not something the government gets to rely on to fill the gaps.

It should not be expected to make up for what the system chooses not to provide.

When the government steps back, that pressure doesn’t disappear.

It lands in homes.
In relationships.
In bank accounts.
In bodies.
In the everyday trade-offs people are forced to make just to keep going.

This Bill doesn’t sit on its own.

It comes at the same time as decisions on housing, transport, and funding that are all pointing in the same direction.

Less being provided.
More being expected.

That’s the shift.

And we'll all feel it.

Our mates at The D List NZ are running sessions, both online and in person, to help people understand the Bill and support them to make submissions on it.

If you want to learn more or have your say, this is a good place to start: https://thedlist.co.nz/were-under-attack-take-action-online/

Let’s get loud about this.

In the past few weeks, a series of decisions have been made that will have a real impact on disabled people in Aotearoa.

Kāinga Ora has scrapped its target of having 15% of new homes built to universal design standards, dropping from 562 accessible homes last year to just 97 planned this year.

The Lottery Grants Board is closing the Individuals with Disabilities fund, which has helped people for decades access things like mobility vehicles, essential equipment, and assistance dogs, removing a direct pathway for individuals to access this kind of support.

And changes to the Total Mobility Scheme are now being finalised, reducing subsidies and making it harder for people to qualify.

Three separate decisions. Same outcome.

Disabled people in Aotearoa already experience worse outcomes across many major measures of wellbeing. Housing. Income. Health. Safety.

This is why.

The systems that are meant to support people are becoming harder to access.

Harder to find a home that works.
Harder to get where you need to go.
Harder to get what you need for everyday life.

That’s not a coincidence. That’s direction.

And there’s a symmetry here that’s hard to ignore.

Spectrum Care supports people to live full lives in their communities. When transport becomes harder to access, those lives shrink.

Homes of Choice builds accessible homes because the need is already there. When accessibility is deprioritised, that need only grows.

Spectrum Foundation funds initiatives that strengthen the disability community. When individual access to funding is removed, the pressure builds.

We do what we can, with what we have.

But the responsibility is shifting in the wrong direction.

Away from the systems designed to support people, and onto the people themselves. And onto the organisations trying to hold the line.

This is the marginalisation of the already marginalised. And it’s not okay.

Lives are getting smaller.

And so, we have to become louder.

This is us doing that.

And in your own way, we encourage you to do the same.