10839 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health

10839 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health: What progress, if any, has been made in the quarter October – December 2023 to ‘Establish accessibility standards for all new builds, new contracts and new services including transport and mobility options, and develop a plan to bring existing infrastructure, services and environments to be compliant with new standards’ under section 4.3 ‘Health of Tāngata whaikaha | Disabled people’ within Te Whatu Ora’s Te Pae Tata: Interim New Zealand Health Plan 2022?

Hon Dr Shane Reti: I am advised that during the October - December 2023 quarter, discussions continued on developing accessibility standards for Health New Zealand's new builds. I am further informed that the New Zealand Design Guidance Note (DGN) includes universal design principles and refers to the Victorian Universal Design Guidelines. These guidelines are supported by Health's NZ Disability Directorate and have been widely communicated to project teams to ensure they are well understood and considered during design work.