Effect of Govt cuts on disabled people ‘cruel’ – report
The disability community was shocked when Whaikaha announced sudden changes to flexible support funding. But those rollbacks are just the tip of the iceberg.
By: Laura Walters
Newroom: Wednesday 29/05/2024
A series of changes to disability supports have caught the nation's attention. Now a new report has quantified the cumulative effect of this Government's policies on people living with a disability.
A collection of cuts and new policies across disability support, health, education and welfare are having a disproportionate and cumulative impact on some of the country’s most vulnerable people, according to a new report.
The report, shared exclusively with Newsroom, shows families that include someone with a disability may be paying up to $5500 more a year under this Government.
This was due to policies like the return of the prescription co-payment for some people, the increase in public transport fares, the decision not to lift the minimum wage as far as recommended by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment officials, and the changes to the free school lunches programme.
The report, A Thousand Cuts, published by social justice collective Fairer Future, models a range of scenarios based on typical families. The report finds each family is worse off under this Government than the previous administration.
A carer not in paid work (due to caring) whose children used public transport to get to school would incur higher costs of $63.23 per school week, and $2463.90 a year, under this Government, according to the report’s modelling;
A person whose disability was not recognised by existing disability settings, who needed prescription medicine and relied on public transport to get to work, incurred higher costs of $49.92 a week, or $2602.72 a year;
An Auckland sole parent on minimum wage who had a child with a disability and used public transport faced higher costs of $128.15 a week, and $5,742.88 a year;
A disabled person, who was not eligible for disability support and was on Jobseeker for those aged 20-24, faced higher costs of $176.43 or $703.89 a year (depending on whether they receive a disability concession card for public transport);
A disabled person who could only work part-time with flexible support, faced higher costs of $2.09 or $3.38 a week (depending on their age), or $109.17 or $176.43 a year.
“This assessment paints a picture of a cruel government directly responsible for greater distress in the lives of people, especially disabled people, in our community,” the report said.
While people with disabilities had long been forced to get by with inadequate funding and support, there had been some improvements in recent years – particularly in the form of more flexible funding models, it said.
But disabled people had the rug pulled out from under them when Whaikaha announced the changes to the flexible support framework, in March.
Along with the removal of flexibility and autonomy, decisions by the Government relating to welfare indexation, benefit sanctions, minimum wage rises, public transport costs, prescription co-payment fees, fair pay agreements and pay equity claims and free school lunches, were all having a cumulative impact, it said.
About 1.1 million people – or a quarter of the population – have a disability, according to the Ministry of Health. Meanwhile, 2021 data from Stats NZ found disabled children and children in households where someone is disabled are more likely to live in poverty.
Households that included someone with a disability were already struggling to make ends meet. This means that policies that impacted those already facing deprivation had a disproportionate impact on people with disabilities.
While the Government had promised a significant boost for frontline disability services in this week’s Budget, those in the community are worried things may get worse.
Disabled Persons Assembly chief executive Mojo Mathers told Newsroom that people in her community were feeling “overwhelmed, anxious, afraid about what else might be coming”.
“Some parts of our community are really, really distressed and others are just angry.”
Many were only just getting by, or had faced a lifetime of feeling under-valued, she said. But things felt worse now than they had before.
The announcement in March was like “a bolt out of the blue”, she said, adding that ahead of the Whaikaha announcement there had been genuine hope in the community.
While then-minister Penny Simmonds painted a picture of frivolous spending, with people using the flexible support model to pay for pedicures, haircuts and massages, Mathers said this funding model was essential.
Mathers said one person who responded to a recent DPA survey had ordered a new wheelchair when Whaikaha suddenly announced the funding changes. They were told to cancel the order, forcing them to continue using a wheelchair that was too small, and had given them pressure sores.
Others had similarly painful stories, including a solo mum, who was using the funding to keep her disabled child safe from their abusive father.
Meanwhile, children and families would no longer be able to access disability support programmes, like Riding for the Disabled or swimming lessons, during school hours due to the Government’s truancy policy.
Mathers said it wasn’t just about disability-specific funding. When cuts were made elsewhere it put more pressure on the disability system.
“The more cuts are made in other parts of Government, the more precarious disabled people’s lives are.”
The report said not enough attention had been paid to how the impact of cuts could add up, and cause further distress to people simply trying to get on with their lives.
Fairer Future and ActionStation campaigner Max Harris said there was a powerful depth of feeling about the Government’s recent decisions.
“There’s real fear, insecurity, anger, and sometimes even hopelessness,” he said.
While the Whaikaha funding changes in March had caught the nation’s attention, it was important to understand the cumulative impacts, so the broader community would join the call to reverse Government policy.
The disability community was calling for the restoration of full funding and flexibility for Whaikaha, a change of course on benefit indexation so that benefits are tied to wage growth or inflation (whichever was higher), and an end to suppressing minimum wage growth, Harris said.
Fairer Future was also calling for an increase in income support, a wiping of debt owed to MSD, and an end to the Government’s recently re-introduced sanctions regime.
“With a recession being felt deeply, now’s the time to provide resources to those who are struggling – it’s not the time to hold resources back.”
Meanwhile, the disability community and advocates are also planning to protest at Parliament on Wednesday, in response to Whaikaha’s flexible funding cuts.
Newly appointed Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston said disability support services were one of the essential frontline services New Zealanders relied on, and the Government would give them a significant funding boost in Thursday’s Budget.
“The coalition Government wants the best outcomes for disabled people, their families, and those who care for them. It’s important they have ongoing support that meets their needs and helps them lead a good life,” she said.
Upston reiterated the Government’s position that Whaikaha’s changes to the flexible funding model did not constitute an actual funding cut, despite it limiting what funding people could access.
The Government recently increased funding for Whaikaha to see it through the remainder of the financial year, and had set up an independent review to examine what could be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of disability support services, she said.
“It’s important the disabled community has certainty around the support services they can access, and taxpayers know they are getting value.”
Last Updated 30/05/2024
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