News

"Caring for these kids is a job for life"

Click here to read the stuff.co.nz interview with Cliff Robinson who has cared for his intellectually impaired children for more than 40 years.

A dad's appeal

Cliff Robinson has cared for his two intellectually impaired children for more than 40 years. TVNZ's Close Up team joins Cliff Robinson as he fights to receive Government assistance for caring for his children. Click here to view this item.

TV3's Campbell Live also spent time with Cliff and his children, click here to view this item.

High Court appeal over parents caring for disabled children has begun.

A long running court battle over payment for parents who care for their disabled children has commenced in the Court of Appeal. The New Zealand Herald reports on the appeal case.

A caring dilemma

TVNZ's Close Up reporter Gill Higgins has the story of Judy Green and her struggle to support her partner who recently suffered a stroke. Judy works full time, while it is unlikely her partner will be able to ever return to his former job as a truck driver. Then there is the issue of financial support which WINZ says Judy's partner is not entitled to receive because of her income. Click here to view Gill's story.

Tariana Turia urges families be paid as caregivers, NZ Herald

Tariana Turia made her comments in the NZ Herald today, saying it is wrong that family members were not paid to act as caregivers, when the state happily paid strangers to do the same work. Click here to read the full NZ Herald article.

Seeking leadership from our PM for carers, NZ Herald

Read coverage of the We Care! campaign by NZ Herald investigative reporter Chris Barton! Just click here to read the article!

High Court appeal a missed opportunity for government leadership

Carers NZ is disappointed by the Government's notice that will appeal appeal a High Court ruling on caregivers' rights. The High Court has backed a Human Rights Tribunal ruling which found a Ministry of Health policy to pay carers only if they were not related to the patient was discriminatory. The Solicitor General said he would seek leave to appeal the court ruling that parents caring for disabled adult children were eligible for financial support. "This is the second time in less than a year the caregivers of disabled family members have had their case upheld - first in the Human Rights Review Tribunal and now in the High Court - only to have the Crown reject the judgment and announce an appeal," Chief Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan said. The High Court had ruled the ministry had breached the rights of parents and their disabled children. "The breach of that right cannot be justified in a free and democratic society," Ms Noonan said. Visit our News and Events section to read our media release about this issue!

Click here to download a copy of the Human Rights Review Tribunal Decision (Atkinson & Others vs Ministry of Health 08-01-10)

Human Rights Review Tribunal

Rubber Band Ball 
Recently the Human Rights Tribunal found that a Ministry of Health policy not to pay family members to provide ongoing support to their disabled children was discriminatory on the grounds of family status, and therefore contravened human rights legislation. The decision comes at the end of a long running case taken by a group of parents and their disabled adult family members.

The decision in their favour has been welcomed by disability rights activists and organisations representing carers' interests. And they're not happy the Government's lodged an appeal to the High Court. National Radio's One in Five programme interviewed Carers NZ's spokesperson Roger Palairet, Diversity consultant Philip Patston, and DPA president Wendy Neilson. Click here to listen to the full interview exploring the significance of the Tribunal's decision ... and the implications of the Government's appeal, which Carers NZ and the NZ Carers Alliance believe is short-sighted (click here to read their press release about the issue). Roger Palairet also prepared a commentary paper developed for the Carers Alliance about the Tribunal's decision, leading to a decision to launch the We Care! awareness campaign later in the year; click here to download this paper.

Listen to representatives of the carer movement (including John Forman, Chair, NZ Carers Alliance), being interviewed on Radio NZ's Summer Report programme urging the Government not to appeal the Human Rights Tribunal decision.