Disability and Mental Health community
Supporting disabled people and people living with experience of mental distress to take part in the Royal Commission is important to our work. We make every effort to have respectful relationships with survivors and we offer individualised support.
The disability and mental health communities are made up of a diverse range of people and includes whānau, friends, and supporters. In te reo Māori a variety of words are used including tāngata whaikaha, tāngata whaiora, kapo, turi, whānau hauā and hunga hauā. We respect the rights of survivors to choose what words they want to use for themselves, including the wishes of some people to not use these labels.
It is crucial that disabled people and people living with experience of mental distress are included and supported to participate in this Royal Commission.
Connecting with people
The disability and mental health investigation team hold a series of community events to get feedback that will inform the Royal Commission’s final report. We regularly meet with a wide range of disabled people and people from the mental health communities. These connections give us opportunities to learn about what is important to each community in terms of care and we feed this through into the recommendations made in the Royal Commission’s final report.
Other information
Disability and mental health inquiries