preceded by media reporting of a Hawkes Bay case in which a newborn pēpē Māori was uplifted from their mother in the hospital after birth.73 Disabled children and parents 62. The Oranga Tamariki Act reforms repealed provisions of the former Children and Young Persons and their Families Act 1989 that provided for a separate regime of care and custody orders in respect of disabled children.74 Care and protection proceedings regarding disabled children now proceed under the same statutory criteria as those for non-disabled children. The principles section of the Act affirms both Conventions on the Rights of the Child and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.75 63. However, the Act is largely silent as to specific support for disabled parents. Oranga Tamariki has a Parent Assessment Manual for assessing parenting abilities of intellectually disabled parents, although the manual appears not to be publicly available.76 The Commission is also aware of significant delays in the Family Court due to difficulties locating and obtaining funding required to appoint a litigation guardian (guardian ad litem) in cases where a parent lacks capacity to participate on their own behalf. 64. Research surveying parents of disabled children has reported a lack of accessible support services, such as carer support and respite care, as well as considerable difficulties accessing those services.77 Funding of these services appears tenuous, with reports of services closing for financial reasons.78 In January 2020, a major provider of rehabilitation and respite care services announced it can no longer afford to keep its centres open.79 Adoption 65. In its 2016 decision in Adoption Action v Attorney-General, the Human Rights Review Tribunal declared six provisions of the Adoption Act 1955 and one provision of the Adult Adoption Information Act 1985 to be inconsistent with the right to freedom from discrimination under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. The declarations covered a range of discrimination grounds, including race, disability and age.80 66. Despite that decision, there has been no move by the government to reform the Adoption Act 1955 to bring it into conformity with New Zealand’s domestic human rights law and, as it follows, international human rights standards. Furthermore, reforms recommended by the New Zealand Law Commission in 2000 to modernise New Zealand adoption law remain unaddressed. Family environment and alternative care: Recommendations The Commission recommends that the Committee seek the following information from the New Zealand government: 73 https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/06/19/643569/ombudsman-launches-independent-investigation-into-orangatamariki 74 Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989, sections 141-143 (repealed) 75 Oranga Tamariki Act, section 5(1)(b) 76 https://practice.orangatamariki.govt.nz/previous-practice-centre/knowledge-base-practiceframeworks/disability/resources/parental-intellectual-disability/ 77 Wynd D, It shouldn’t be this hard – children, disability and poverty, Child Poverty Action Group, 2015, p 24 78 https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/91154144/proposed-closure-of-respite-facility-leaves-parents-withoutoptions, August 2017 79 https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/118861324/disabled-injured-patients-hugely-disappointed-to-be-movedfrom-laura-fergusson-rehab-centre, 31 January 2020 80 Adoption Action v Attorney-General [2016] NZHRRT 9 16