Total Mobility Review
Parents of Vision Impaired (PVI) has made a submission on the Government’s review of the Total Mobility Scheme, highlighting the importance of accessible, flexible transport for blind and low vision children and their families. Submissions are open until 22 March 2026.
Accessible transport is a fundamental enabler of participation. International human rights frameworks — including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child — recognise that disabled people and disabled children must be able to access education, healthcare, employment, and community life on an equal basis with others. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Enabling Good Lives approach also emphasises independence, choice, and participation for disabled people and their families.
For many families raising a child with vision impairment, reliable transport is essential for participating in everyday life – including education, healthcare, employment, recreation, and community activities.
Key points from PVI’s submission
Proposal 2a: Evidence requirements
PVI supports reasonable evidence requirements for accessing the scheme, provided these recognise existing medical documentation and do not create additional administrative burdens for families.
Proposal 2b: Periodic reassessments
PVI strongly opposes introducing ongoing reassessments for permanent disabilities such as blindness. Families already navigate multiple reassessments across the health and disability system, and additional requirements would be unnecessary, stressful, and inefficient.
Proposal 3: Caps on trips
PVI strongly opposes introducing caps on Total Mobility trips. Transport needs vary significantly depending on work, education, community participation, and family life. Arbitrary caps risk creating new barriers and may disproportionately affect families already experiencing financial pressure.
Parents also raised concerns that some of the examples used in the review failed to recognise that disabled people are parents and active members of their communities, with everyday responsibilities such as grocery shopping, taking children to activities, and participating in family life.
Proposal 4 and 5: Improving transport availability
PVI supports measures to increase the availability of accessible vehicles and transport providers. In particular, the availability of wheelchair accessible taxis remains limited in many parts of New Zealand, especially after hours.
Proposal 6: National public transport concession
PVI strongly supports introducing a national public transport concession for disabled people to ensure greater consistency across regions. This should be funded by central government so costs are not shifted onto already stretched regional councils.
Supporting participation and independence
Transport policies should support the independence, dignity, and participation of disabled people and their families. PVI will continue to advocate for transport systems that remove barriers and enable blind and low vision children to fully participate in education, family life, and their communities.
Why this matters
Accessible transport is a fundamental enabler of participation for disabled people and their families. Policies must recognise the realities of family life, employment, education, and community participation. PVI will continue to advocate for transport systems that support the independence, dignity, and wellbeing of blind and low vision children and their families.
Seventh periodic report on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
PVI has provided formal feedback on the New Zealand Government’s draft report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Our submission highlights gaps in how disabled children, young people, and their families are represented. While the draft report addresses many general civil and political rights, it does not explicitly cover accessibility, participation in public life, or privacy considerations for disabled citizens. PVI recommended that the report:
- Recognise disabled people, including children, young people, and their parents, in all relevant sections.
- Ensure information and consultations are accessible (Braille, large print, audio, Easy Read, online platforms).
- Guarantee accessible participation in civic life, voting, and advisory roles.
- Include disability-specific data and evidence to support decision-making and reporting.
- Consider intersectional barriers, including ethnicity, socio-economic status, and geographic location.
We welcome the government’s general efforts to strengthen civil and political rights but emphasise that disabled children and families must be explicitly included.
Read the full submission:
How you can get involved
An online survey to provide feedback is available through the Ministry of Justice’s public consultation portal, which you can access here. The survey is live until 19 March 2026.
Within the online survey, you can provide general feedback on the report, or you can select individual questions and leave your feedback on the parts of the report most relevant to you. Your input will play an important role in helping us further understand issues that are important to you.
Alternatively, you can email your feedback to: humanrights@justice.govt.nz
Budget Policy Statement
The Budget Policy Statement 2026 (BPS) sets out the Government’s priorities for the 2026 Budget. It explains the approach being used to develop the Budget and the broad parameters within which decisions will be made.
We are heartened by the changes to Disability Support Services (DSS) and welcome the shift to flexible funding and support. We are hopeful that the settlement with IHC and the Ministry of Education, and the associated Framework for Action will lead to better provision of inclusive education to all children. Nevertheless, the current state of affairs for disabled children remains grim.
The Budget Policy Statement 2026 prioritises efficiency in core services, and long-term productivity. Addressing the poverty and material hardship experienced by children living in disabled households directly improves education access/outcomes, health equity, and long‑term economic participation. This strongly aligns with the 2026 Budget priorities and supports multiple government goals simultaneously (social, economic, and human rights obligations).
PVI recommends that Budget 2026 prioritises and funds the following:
- Adequate and sustained investment in supports and services for disabled children across education, health, and disability systems, including supports for parents and whānau.
- Addresses chronic and historical underfunding affecting disabled children, recognising the cumulative impact of unmet need over time.
- Reduces child poverty and material hardship, particularly for families with disabled children, through adequate income support and targeted cost-of-living interventions.
- Implement the Government’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), including the most recent Concluding Observations already agreed to by Cabinet.
- Resource and embed the Enabling Good Lives (EGL) approach across the disability system, ensuring reforms align with its principles and are properly funded.
- Whole-of-government investment in accessibility and inclusion, so disabled children can participate as a matter of course, not exception.
- Strengthen public sector capability, ensuring disability perspectives are embedded in policy design, delivery, and evaluation.
We strongly urge the explicit incorporation of child poverty reduction into the Government’s Budget 2026 priorities, and that this is linked to disability policy outcomes. This means targeted investments that:
- Strengthen social security and income supports
– e.g., increasing benefit levels/thresholds, inflation indexing, and targeted payments for families with disabled children.
– Ensure families are not forced into material hardship due to inadequate income support. - Boost access to affordable, nutritious food
– Properly fund and expand universal free school meals and community food assistance programmes, with emphasis on accessibility for disabled households. - Prioritise food security and healthy nutrition within disability and child wellbeing strategies
– Include outcomes for dietary quality and food security in cross‑government reporting on child wellbeing and disability inclusion.
Read our submission in full here:
Education and Training
The Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill talks about efficiency, clarity, and oversight, but once you dig into it, the Bill fails to protect the rights and inclusion of disabled learners.
This is a problem, especially given the new settlement between IHC, the Ministry of Education, and the Minister of Education, and the Framework for Action: A Quality Education for All:
- The Bill makes big structural changes but doesn’t explicitly protect disabled learners
- The Government has already acknowledged systemic discrimination through the IHC–MoE settlement
- The Bill fails to reflect or embed the Framework for Action: A Quality Education for All
- Centralisation without safeguards risks leaving inclusion “to chance”
- Disabled learners shouldn’t lose protections because reforms focus on “efficiency”
Key points from PVI:
- Many families already have to fight for supports, access, and understanding
- The Bill risks increasing inconsistency across schools
- Centralised reform doesn’t help if inclusion isn’t enforceable
- Families shouldn’t have to be legal experts just to secure basic rights
PVI recommends that the Education and Workforce Committee:
- Undertake a disability and human rights impact assessment of the Bill, in partnership with disabled people and representative organisations, prior to further progression.
- Amend the Bill to explicitly recognise and give effect to the IHC–Ministry of Education settlement and the Framework for Action: A Quality Education for All, including alignment with the Crown’s obligations under the UNCRPD and UNCRC.
- Embed a clear statutory duty to uphold inclusive education for disabled learners across all system actors, including the Minister, the Ministry of Education, ERO, the Teaching Council, and any new regulatory or property agencies established under the Bill.
- Require that all new or restructured governance, regulatory, and oversight functions include disability expertise and lived experience, including formal mechanisms for engagement with disabled learners and whānau.
- Ensure that any transfer or reconfiguration of regulatory functions strengthens—rather than weakens—monitoring, accountability, and enforcement of inclusive education obligations, particularly in relation to access, participation, and outcomes for disabled learners.
- Mandate transparent data collection and reporting on disabled learners’ participation, access to supports, and educational outcomes, consistent with commitments made under the IHC–MoE Framework.
- Pause or reconsider reforms that centralise decision-making unless accompanied by explicit protections for professional autonomy and localised, learner-centred practice, which are essential for inclusive education.
Read our submission in full here:
