The aim of Whāia Te Ao Mārama: Māori Disability Action Plan 2012 to 2017 is to establish priority areas of action to enable Māori disabled to achieve their aspirations, and to reduce barriers that may impede Māori disabled and their whānau from gaining better outcomes.
The priority actions in Whāia Te Ao Mārama come under four areas.
Priority 1: Improved outcomes for Māori disabled
- Require providers to ensure that personal plans to support Māori disabled are culturally appropriate and specifically identify the individual’s cultural needs
- Provide a range of new and innovative support options for supporting disabled people that offer Māori disabled and their whānau more personalised support arrangements and greater choice and control over the supports they use
Priority 2: Better support for whānau
- Improve caregiver training to ensure whānau have access to culturally appropriate training to address the needs of Māori disabled
- Develop the New Model for Supporting Disabled People to respond to whānau needs and priorities
Priority 3: Good partnerships with Māori
- Improve the quality, reliability and comparability of national information about the demographics of, and disability supports provided to, Māori disabled
- Improve the quality of the community engagement process with Māori, particularly with hāpu, iwi and community leaders and groups
Priority 4: Monitoring and reporting on the implementation of Whaia Te Ao Marama
- Strengthen the cultural competencies of workers in the disability sector through the development and delivery of Māori cultural training
- Support the Māori disability workforce to develop leadership skills and career pathways
Whāia Te Ao Mārama’s vision, kaupapa, guiding principles and priority areas have been developed in collaboration with Māori disabled, key stakeholders and the Māori Disability Leadership Group. This ensures a culturally anchored approach to supporting Māori disabled and their whānau. As well as setting out priority actions, Whāia Te Ao Mārama discusses the development of its approach, and the ways in which the plan will be implemented and monitored.