Meeting The Crown'S To Tiriti O Waitangi Commitments And Obligations To Maori With Lived Experience Of Disability Through The Health And Disability System Review

BACKGROUND: The Health and Disability System Review (the Review) was meant to guide once-in-a-generation change for New Zealand's health and disability system. However, when its Final Report was released, the inclusion of an 'alternative' view on key Maori health recommendations, and the accompanying media commentary, indicated that the Review has not provided ambitious-enough direction, particularly when it comes to improving the health and wellbeing of Maori, including Maori with lived experience of disability (tangata whaikaha).METHODS: An indigeneity grounded analysis (IGA) of the Review's final proposals was conducted using a framework centred on five principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi coupled with key themes from Waitangi Tribunal-commissioned research on Maori with lived experience of disability.RESULTS: The IGA found the Review's proposals only go part way to complying with the Crown's commitments to te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi principles, and that tangata whaikaha are largely invisible in the Review's proposals.CONCLUSION: As responsibility for implementing the Review moves to the Government, the lost opportunities must be addressed in partnership with Maori, especially tangata whaikaha, to truly deliver an equitable, anti-racist health and disability system that delivers on the Crown's te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi obligations.