The co-creation and co-governance of the Disability Action Plan 2014-18 which
has the Safety, Autonomy and Representation of disabled people as three of its
Outcomes;
The ongoing development under the leadership of the Minister of Justice and the
Minister of Social Development of a new strategy to address the issues of family
and sexual violence in New Zealand;
The review of the surveillance and intelligence that the Commission requested in
it 2013 report to the Prime Minister is underway and due to report in early
March; and
The expansion across the Justice Sector of the New Zealand Police of The Turning
of The Tide strategy as advocated by the Commission and Iwi leaders.
Challenges remain, however, to fully realising human rights for everyone in New
Zealand. Violence and abuse and the discrimination and inequalities experienced by
some New Zealanders remain the most significant human rights issues for New
Zealand:
9
10
Violence, abuse and harassment continue to occur at unacceptably high levels in
New Zealand, despite wide recognition of the problem and wide-ranging efforts
to address it. Māori and disabled people are more likely to be victims of physical
and sexual violence, and have less access to physical and psychological and
judicial interventions. While there has been some good progress, the level of
family and sexual violence in New Zealand is unacceptably high. New Zealand has
the fifth worst child abuse record of 31 OECD countries. Most serious violence
against children is family violence.
Despite the many efforts of communities and successive Governments,
discrimination, social and economic exclusion and entrenched inequalities
remain a reality for certain groups of people living in New Zealand. Those
affected include women, children, disabled people, Māori, Pacific people,
migrants and refugees, older people, and other minority groups. Poor people
most notably poor Māori, Pacific people, and disabled people are the most
seriously affected. This is evident in material deprivation and incarceration rates,
education achievement levels, low levels of participation in work, low incomes,
poor health and inadequate housing.
The OECD Economic Survey on New Zealand notes:6
New Zealand has generally done well in enabling economic and social
participation of its people. Yet, as in many other countries, income inequality and
poverty have increased, rising housing costs have hit the poor hardest, and the
6
OECD, Economic Surveys New Zealand: Overview (June 2015)
Page 6 of 93
Human Rights Commission submission to the Human Rights Committee in relation to New Zealand’s 6th periodic review under the ICCPR