Disability news and resources in Oceania

Library > Countries > Oceania

This page lists the countries in Oceania with resources and recent highlights.

Countries

• Australia
• Cook Islands
• Fiji
• New Zealand
• Pacific
• Pacific Islands
• Papua New Guinea
• Samoa
• Solomon Islands
• Tonga
• Vanuatu

Recent Highlights

In Australia:

Lifeboat in the ocean: lessons from Australia Debrief exploration on the National Disability Insurance Scheme. (2023, Disability Debrief)

Our vision for an inclusive Australia Royal Commission report, providing “222 recommendations on how to improve laws, policies, structures and practices to ensure a more inclusive and just society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.” (2023, Royal Commission) See reaction in the Guardian.

Australia’s airlines and airports urged to improve treatment of travellers with disabilities. (2023, the Guardian)

Young people with a disability are overrepresented in the youth justice system. A study in New South Wales shows that "Factors such as age of initial engagement with disability-related services, remoteness of residence, and frequency of child protection contact were strongly associated with the likelihood of a young person with disability having criminal justice contact before the age of 18". (2023, NSW BOSCAR)

People with disabilities in group homes are suffering shocking abuse. New housing models could prevent harm. “This latest report shows 17,000 Australians living in group homes are too frequently subjected to sexual misconduct, coercion, serious injury, abuse and neglect.” (2023, The Conversation) See also the lack of independent monitoring of group homes (The Guardian).

A step closer to inclusive disability research The National Disability Research Partnership Learnings and Recommendations report. (2022, NDRP)

Mental distress is much worse for people with disabilities, and many health professionals don't know how to help.

“Someone may present to a disability-specific health service, and be turned away due to a co-occuring mental health difficulty. They might then present to a mental health service and be turned away due to having a disability.” (2022, the Conversation)

Indigenous people with disabilities face racism and ableism. ‘I coined the term “racial-ableism” to capture the intersectionality of these experiences at the cultural interface.’ (2022, the Conversation)

In New Zealand:

How Deaf teacher Phillip King runs his primary school classroom “King was born Deaf and uses New Zealand Sign Language full-time, leading the primary school class using every tool in his kit that is not the spoken word.” (Mar, RNZ)

Disability statistics: 2023. Findings from the Household Disability Survey 2023, a survey using census results to support the sample design and with 21,636 respondents. Findings include:

• “In 2023, 17 percent of people living in New Zealand households were disabled. This equated to 851,000 people, of whom 98,000 were children and 753,000 were adults.”
• “Māori and LGBTIQ+ populations had higher rates of disability, despite both groups being younger on average than the total population.”
• “3 out of 5 disabled people had unmet needs”. (Feb, Stats NZ)

Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light. The final report on the abuse and neglect of children, young people and adults in the care of the State and faith-based institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand between 1950 and 1999:

“Of the estimated 655,000 children, young people and adults in care from 1950 to 2019, it is estimated that up to 256,000 were abused and neglected. During the Inquiry period, 1950 to 1999, it is estimated around 510,000 people were in care and up to 200,000 were abused and neglected. The true number will never be fully known as records of the most vulnerable people in Aotearoa New Zealand were never created or were lost and, in some cases, destroyed.” (2024, Abuse in Care, Royal Commission of Inquiry)

D*List editorial values launching a new disability magazine. (2023, D*List) The new home of disability culture in Aotearoa. (The Spinoff)

The essential numbers showing how disabled people experienced the pandemic:

“By 2022 disabled people’s high rates of vaccination, combined with self-isolation, meant this high-risk group were slightly less likely to get Covid-19 than non-disabled people. However, despite overall lower infection, they were still seven times more likely to die (11 deaths) and 3.5 times more likely to go to hospital.” (2023, The Spinoff)

‘There was no respect or effort to recognise me for who I was’:

“Artist and dancer Lusi Faiva was two when, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, she was taken to live in an institution for people with intellectual disabilities. She spent five years at the Kimberley Centre, experiencing neglect, terrible loneliness, alienation from her Sāmoan heritage and a sense of entrapment which has inspired a lifetime of seeking expression and freedom.” (2023, The Spinoff)

In the Pacific:

Rising Tides, Raising Voices video documentary on the “Crucial Fight for Disability-Inclusive Climate Justice in the Pacific”. (2024, Disability Justice Project)