'Meaningless, toothless' - Accessibility bill skewered

Poto Williams speaks at a media stand up.

A bill aimed at addressing systemic accessibility barriers for disabled New Zealanders has been roundly panned at a select committee today, with a paralympian saying it "tramples on the mana and self-determination of disabled people".

The comments were made by oral submitters on the Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill, who presented to the Social Services and Community select committee today.

The bill is sponsored by former disability issues minister Poto Williams. It sets up an accessibility committee which provides advice to the Minister for Disability Issues. The minister appoints the roles, based on the provisions in the proposed act. The bill states the "majority" of the committee should be disabled people.

It also allows for the committee to set a "work programme" which would be approved by the minister "after making any necessary amendments".

Among concerns emerging about the bill are that while sorely needed, it lacks enforce-ability to ensure the public and private sectors address accessibility issues and wouldn't demonstrably improve disabled people's lives.

Áine Kelly-Costello, who competed in swimming at the 2012 London Paralympic games, told the committee they had lost trust the Government had “any intention to improve our lives” with substance over rhetoric, and believes the bill should be stopped “in its tracks” and completely rewritten.

Aine Kelly-Costello says the accessibility bill is "infuriating".

“Without mandating the creation of independently enforceable accessibility standards, an accessibility act is pointless," they said.

“The proposed bill manages to go beyond being pointless and is probably going to cause more harm than good by creating another layer of bureaucracy.

“When the Labour party pledged in its 2020 election manifesto to create an accessibility act, disabled people really thought… there was at least going to be substantial progress on enforcing even at least some of our human rights.

“The fact that the Government then put forward such a meaningless, toothless bill - to supposedly fulfil that commitment, has been disenfranchising and infuriating.

“This proposed bill is systemically ableist to its core - the suggestion of it, the creation of it, most of the debate surrounding it, the failure by most parties to oppose it.

“This bill is a token… this token tramples on the mana and self-determination of disabled people, while disingenuously hoping to appease us. It lets the Government score brownie points at our expense.”

Kelly-Costello said the creation of the bill told the community disabled peoples’ rights were “not particularly important” and relegated disabled people to being less than and less worthy.

“That is systemic ableism.”

They said the committee should recommend the bill is not passed but “co-designed with the disability community from the ground up”.

Committee member and National MP Maureen Pugh said Kelly-Costello's comments did echo "quite a lot" of the other submissions the committee had heard.

She said while she acknowledged Kelly-Costello's call for the bill to be thrown out, she asked if there was anything the committee could do to improve it.

Kelly-Costello said she did not believe the bill was "salvageable in its current form".

Angela Desmarais* said she did not support the bill in its current format as it was “not fit for purpose”.

She said a bill that protected the human rights of disabled people was “desperately needed”.

“This isn’t it. It’s underwhelming and it’s very apparent that it doesn’t set out to do what it’s intended.”

She said digital equity was a “massive barrier” in particular to employment, but also to accessing information, such as from MPs on social media.

Desmarais gave the examples text-only images on social media which were not transcribed for screen-readers for blind and low vision people, or the use of PDFs, which were not accessible for everyone, she said.

“When Government agencies should be providing documentation in accessible and alternative formats, this bill doesn’t change that. Even official communications directly aimed at the disabled community is often inaccessible, and this bill doesn’t change that.

“There have been multiple, multiple advisory groups over many years… but without effect, because the advice doesn’t have to be followed. This bill doesn’t change that.

“If Government really thought that making things accessible was important, you’d make rules to enforce it.”

Barrister and researcher Warren Forster told the committee the bill was "one of the biggest disappointments" in his career as it had been an opportunity for New Zealand to be "world-leading" in accessibility.

"I think this bill is particularly ineffective." He said an statutory authority was required.

"Regulators cannot regulate in a vacuum.

"The critical thing is empowering people and their organisations. What we have now, I don't think does that."

Forster said there was nothing in the bill that needed legislation to be implemented.

The Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill was introduced to Parliament mid-2022. Submissions on it closed in November last year and the committee is due to report back to Parliament on the bill in May this year.

At its first reading, sponsor Williams said the bill focused on progressively "identifying, preventing, and removing accessibility barriers that disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori, and others with accessibility needs face, so that they have an equal opportunity to achieve their goals and aspirations".

She said it did that by establishing an accessibility committee to make independent recommendations to the Minister for Disability Issues, as well as strengthening accountability in the public service and Government towards "progressing accessibility" by creating "roles for responsibilities for the Minister for Disability Issues, the chief executive of the new ministry, and the Accessibility Committee to implement".

"Thirdly, it builds knowledge and awareness of the importance of addressing accessibility barriers, and growing accessibility practices across New Zealand.

"It is important to note that while the bill does not have a regulatory focus, as some have called for, it will help shape new or amended regulations across Government to improve the lives of disabled people."

*Angela Desmarais is not a relation of the reporter of this story.

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