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NZSL Board Draft NZSL Strategy 2025 2030 Consultation

Posted in Submission; Tagged Accessibility; Posted 9 months ago by DPA Less than a minute to read

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To: NZSL Board
Date: June 2025

 

Purpose

This submission provides feedback to the New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Board Te Oranga Reo Rota and Whaikaha Ministry of Disabled People on the "New Zealand Sign Language everywhere, every day" NZSL Strategy 2025-2030. DPA's goal is to ensure the strategy effectively promotes NZSL usage, particularly strengthening access for Turi Māori, enhancing education, and improving interpreter services, while advocating for adequate funding and addressing systemic biases against Deaf and disabled

Summary of DPA submission

DPA welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the New Zealand Sign Language Strategy 2025-2030 and is pleased to see the collaboration between the NZSL Board, Te Rōpū Kaitiaki, and Te Taura Whiri I te Reo Māori. As an organisation advocating for Te Tiriti o Waitangi, DPA is very pleased to see Te Rōpū Kaitiaki providing Turi Māori advice using tikanga Māori cultural values, an alignment which is "much needed" and will benefit the Turi Māori community.

DPA agrees with the proposed vision for the strategy of having NZSL used "everywhere, every day" to increase awareness and usage, and supports taking a multiple stakeholder approach. They support the strategic approaches of revitalisation and integration, aiming for intergenerational transmission of NZSL and its inclusion in everyday life from childhood, similar to te reo Māori revitalisation. DPA particularly supports the focus on enabling all D/deaf children/tamariki and their families/whānau to acquire and use NZSLand enhancing the status of Turi/Deafhood.

Of particular concern are the significant barriers for both Turi Māori and the wider Deaf community to accessing te ao Māori and trilingual interpreters. DPA broadly agrees with the high-level actions but stresses the need to significantly strengthen actions for improving access for Turi Māori, including NZSL access to te ao Māori. DPA fears that recent government actions devaluing te reo Māori could negatively impact NZSL, particularly initiatives for Turi Māori to access their culture and Te Reo in NZSL. There is an urgent need to resource and develop Te Reo Turi, pathways for trilingual interpreters, and greatly expand NZSL resources for waiata and karakia, given the extreme scarcity and limited funding for cultural access.

DPA emphasizes the critical need for adequate central government resourcing/funding to succeed in integrating NZSL and increasing its uptake. They recommend that NZSL is taught as a subject at all levels of the education system from early childhood onwards. DPA also supports Deaf-led NZSL community education initiatives and greater investment in training Deaf teachers of Deaf children, with appropriate pay scales that recognize their experience and skills. Increased autonomy for Deaf people in accessing NZSL interpreters, possibly through individualised funding, is also advocated, as the Enabling Good Lives (EGL) approach gave Deaf people choice and control.

Government agencies should ensure all their main communications, especially regarding health, education, welfare, and emergencies, are made available in NZSL. DPA highlights preventing language deprivation from birthas fundamental for Deaf children. They address unconscious bias against D/deaf and disabled people by medical professionals, recommending collaboration between the Ministry of Education and NZSL Board on this issue. Data aggregation for Deaf and Turi Māori through various means (statistics, stories, research) is an urgent community need. Finally, DPA stresses the need for Deaf Mental Health services, advocating for more Deaf counsellors and funding for NZSL interpreters in tertiary settings to train them.

 

Key Recommendation/Finding:

The Strategy should prioritize the resourcing and development of te reo Turi, pathways for trilingual interpreters, and inclusion of Turi Māori culture and language in all aspects of the strategy, including greatly expanded development of te reo Turi /NZSL resources for waiata and karakia.

 

Supporting Statement 1:

Turi Māori have over the years discussed the shortage of trilingual interpreters and the limited funding to be involved in accessing their culture, of which there is an extreme scarcity of NZSL resources available for karakia and waiata.

 

Supporting Statement 2:

This alignment with te reo Māori and tikanga Māori is much needed and will have great benefits, particularly for the Turi Māori community and, indeed, all those who want to see NZSL thrive in Aotearoa New Zealand.

 
 

 

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DPA Submission 2506 NZSL Board Draft NZSL Strategy 2025 2030 Consultation (DOCX)

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