Our strategic priorities 2022–2025

Ā mātou whāinga rautaki matua

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CCS Disability Action supports all people with any kind of impairment, as the largest pan-disability support and advocacy organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand.

We have been working with disabled people/whānau hauā and their families since 1935 and are at the forefront of service provision, advocacy and information sharing New Zealand-wide.

Our vision: Te Aronui

Every disabled person/whānau hauā is interwoven into the lives of their whānau and community.

Te Aronui embodies vision and strategic priorities.

“Aro” means ‘to face’ or ‘to turn towards’ and “nui” is ‘the great space’. It reflects both the nothingness and the everything. Traditionally, it is a space of aspiration. Te Aronui guides CCS Disability Action as we open up to the possibilities of the future.

Te Aronui reflects the interconnectedness of disabled people/whānau hauā to the environment in which we live. We will focus on these connected elements as we work alongside the people we support, each other and other organisations.

Te hunga hauā mauri mō ngā tāngata katoa: Our foundation statement

This statement forms the foundation of our identity and means that all people have Mauri a unique life force.

Our challenge: Te whakatara

One in four New Zealanders live with an impairment. Our society does not always operate in a way where everyone can participate. This can be created by a physical barrier, other people’s attitudes and behaviours, or by a lack of access to information, resources and support.

These barriers create an environment that can make life challenging for disabled people/whānau hauā.

Our strategic priorities: Ā mātou whāinga rautaki matua

Disabled people: Whānau hauā

Our purpose and focus. This sits centrally in Aronui as a reminder that everything we do will be underpinned by the self-determination of disabled people.

Knowledge: Mātauranga

All people have knowledge to contribute to our society. We recognise disabled people/ whānau hauā as the experts in their own lives.

We recognise that we benefit from receiving the knowledge that disabled people hold. We will also share our knowledge freely to ensure disabled people can access the information that they need.

Connectedness: Whanaungatanga

Understanding that all people and systems are interconnected. We will seek to identify connections between people and systems to ensure that disabled people have access to the relationships and resources they need.

Wellbeing: Hauora

Acknowledges that being well means different things to different people. We will ensure that the voices of disabled people/whānau hauā guide us in enabling people to lead their own lives, in their own way.

Our work will be organised to ensure that:

• Disabled people and their whānau have access to information, resources, support and advocacy at the right time.

• The community is supported to become disability aware, engaged, physically accessible, inclusive, and welcoming of all people.

The language we use to describe disabled people

Respecting a diversity of identities

There are many words and terms that are used to identify disability. The way these are understood differs. For some, the term ‘disabled people’ is a source of pride, identity and recognition that disabling barriers exist within society and not with us as individuals. For others, the term ‘people with disability’ has the same meaning and is important to those who want to be recognised as a person before their impairment.

At CCS Disability Action we use the term disabled people as we feel this best aligns with the social model of disability, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Enabling Good Lives Principles, and the New Zealand Disability Strategy. This is based on advice from the New Zealand Disability Strategy Revision Reference Group and in recognition of the history of the term in the 2001 Strategy.

Not all members of our community identify with disability-focused language. For example, older people and their families and whānau sometimes think that disability is a normal part of the ageing process. Deaf people identify as part of the Deaf community with its own unique language and culture, and do not always identify as being disabled. Others, proudly identify with their impairment or have reclaimed it for example many Autistic people.

We respect the right of all people to define their own individual and varied identities for themselves.

Disabled Māori

Most Māori disabled people identify as Māori first. The importance of their cultural identity, which encompasses language, whānau, cultural principles, practices and linkages to the land through genealogy, is paramount to how they live their day to day lives in both Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Pakeha.

CCS Disability Action uses the term ‘whānau hauā’ to describe disabled Māori or a disabled person who feels a sense of belonging with a collective. This might be whānau, iwi or hapū or other community group.

The kupu ‘tāngata whaikaha’ is another description many Māori identify with.

‘Hauā’ forms part of CCS Disability Action’s foundation statement – Te Hunga Hauā Mauri Mō Ngā Tāngata Katoa. This forms the basis of our identity. It reminds us that fundamentally, everyone has mauri, a unique life force.

The foundation statement was gifted to CCS Disability Action by rangatira Dr Kihi Ngatai (QSM) in 2007. Dr Ngata was part of Te Koeke Taumata, a kaumātua and kuia collective who provided advice to the organisation at the time.

Its meaning is derived from the Māori legend of Tāwhirimatea. Tāwhirimatea is known as the God of the weather. His parents were Ranginui (the sky father) and Papatūānuku (the earth mother), who lay close together. To let light into the world, Tāwhirimātea’s brothers separated their parents.

But Tāwhirimātea did not agree to this. In his anger he tore out his eyes throwing them into the heavens to clothe his father. In doing so he created Matariki or mata-ariki (eyes of God). Tāwhirimatea no longer had eyes to be able to see as a result.

Tāwhirimatea had many children that made up the different ‘hau’ (winds). These include te hauātakataka (cyclone), te hauāwhiowhio (hurricane), te hauāuru (west-wind), te hau-pukeri (violent wind), te hau-maiangi (light wind) and te hau-mārire (peaceful wind), to name but a few. The children of Tāwhirimatea were ‘hauā’ –unique in their own way.

It is this interpretation of ‘hauā’ that CCS Disability Action draws upon.