Global Accessibility Awareness Day 19 May 2022

Published 19 May 2022

More about our commitment to accessibility:

We are the first disability group in Aotearoa to receive the Accessibility Tick.

The Accessibility Tick Programme helps New Zealand organisations become more accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities.

We work with Access Advisors, a pan-disability initiative and custodians of the Accessibility Tick, for a comprehensive accessibility review on our policies, systems, physical workplace and services. This enables us to have a better understanding of accessibility standards and what we need to keep doing so we can walk the talk for accessibility. 

We join other high profile organisations such as Vector, Auckland District Health Board, ACC, Ricoh, Adecco and Sudima Hotels who are also Accessibility Tick Holders. 

Read more about how we take accessibility seriously. 

We keep working to ensure our services and workplace are accessible for all.

We're always looking for opportunities to make our services and workplace inclusive of people with a disability. Even before Zoom became all the rage, it has always been important to us that people feel comfortable and prepared to talk to us, so we arrange a date, time and place that’s best for people. We can meet people at their home, at our Mt Wellington office, or by video/audio conference. 

Our website has been assessed by Access Advisors and we regularly ask colleagues with lived experience to check that our website (and internal communication channels) content and features are accessible.  

We continue making accessibility enhancements to our office: our doors are painted in high-contrast colours, we have visual fire alarms throughout the office and ample space for mobility car park users. 

We recruit and develop employees living with a wide range of abilities and support them to reach their full career potential. 

According to Statistics New Zealand, in the December 2020 quarter,  only 38.7 percent of disabled people aged 15–64 years were employed, compared with 78.3 percent--around double--of non-disabled people in the same age group. 

Our objective is to increase economic independence for disabled people and their families because this enables choice and opportunities to contribute and participate in society. One way to support that objective is through meaningful and valued work and for that purpose we are committed to creating opportunities for colleagues living with a wide range of accessibility issues. 

In the recruitment space, we have adapted our Assessment Centre for people with low vision and those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to allow them equity in the process. We always offer alternative ways of communicating if necessary and ask each candidate if there is anything we can do to accommodate their needs.

We will continue to advocate the urgency of providing accessible information and services for people of all abilities especially in the COVID environment.

The support system assumes that most people can communicate for themselves or have someone to support them all the time. This is not the case for the disability community, either due to the lack of accessible information or additional support needed to access information. Although significant resources have been poured into developing information resources for COVID and for some the resources are enough, for most in the disability community the information must be tailored, must allow for supported decision making and timed to their needs and circumstances.

We also note that the move to widescale digital servicing exacerbated existing inequalities and is creating new ones. People with disabilities have on average lower digital inclusion than the general population. They face barriers accessing digital technology due to limited resources and/or digital literacy. There are few options for those who cannot engage online to have their needs met. Services went online but digital inequities for Māori and Pacific including disabled people, left people disconnected and without any means to reach out. The ability to connect with whānau, carers and other support services is vital to people’s emotional and mental wellbeing, as well as physical.

Our new partnerships with Te Puni Kōkiri and the Ministry of Social Development enable us to address this inequality. We are currently engaged in mahi that allows us to take time to provide the information and support people need and help them access funding to remove technology barriers. 

ENDS