The Waitangi Tribunal has delivered a damning assessment of Aotearoa’s disability system, finding the Crown has breached Te Tiriti principles by failing to properly partner with tāngata whaikaha Māori, address entrenched inequities and adequately support kaupapa Māori disability services.
The findings are contained in Hauwhaikaha – the Disability System Report, released in pre-publication form as part of the Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry, Wai 2575.
The inquiry drew on years of evidence, lived experience and analysis, involving 48 claimants, 13 interested parties and 11 hearing weeks between 2022 and 2024.
The Tribunal found that Māori experience significantly higher levels of disability than non-Māori and that tāngata whaikaha Māori continue to face inequitable access to healthcare and disability support services. It also noted the Crown itself accepted there is a higher level of unmet need among tāngata whaikaha Māori and that they are frequently marginalised within the system.
A system described as fragmented and difficult to navigate
The evidence presented to the Tribunal was consistent on one point: for many tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau, the disability system is fragmented, complex and difficult to navigate.
Claimants repeatedly called for genuine partnership and stronger Māori representation at every level of the system, adopting the principle of nothing about us, without us.
The Tribunal found the Crown had historically failed to partner properly with tāngata whaikaha Māori in the design of disability services, policy, strategies and action plans.
It also found Māori had not been adequately resourced to participate formally in system design and decision-making.
That finding goes to the heart of the report.
The issue is not simply whether services exist.
It is whether tāngata whaikaha Māori have meaningful authority and influence over how those services are designed, delivered and monitored.
Crown knew inequities existed but failed to measure them properly
Another major criticism concerns data and accountability.
The Tribunal found that despite longstanding awareness of inequitable outcomes, the Crown had failed to sufficiently understand how the disability system was performing for Māori.
There are no nationally consistent data standards across Crown agencies capable of systematically and separately measuring the health outcomes of tāngata whaikaha Māori.
The result is that Māori communities are unable to independently scrutinise how well the system is performing or whether Crown policy complies with Te Tiriti obligations.
That creates an obvious problem.
If the Crown cannot consistently measure the outcomes being experienced by tāngata whaikaha Māori, it becomes significantly more difficult to identify failure, target resources and hold agencies accountable for whether disparities are actually improving.
Kaupapa Māori providers underfunded
The Tribunal also delivered a strong finding on kaupapa Māori disability and health providers.
It recognised those providers as essential to culturally appropriate services and to sustaining hauora Māori, describing them as expressions of tino rangatiratanga.
But it found they do not receive sufficient funding or support to meet the needs of tāngata whaikaha Māori.
For whānau, those funding gaps can translate directly into delays, limited choice and difficulty accessing sustainable services.
The Tribunal also heard evidence of racism and discrimination, alongside major geographic inequalities.
For Māori living in rural communities, service shortages can mean long travel distances, additional costs and even fewer options.
Cultural safety remains a serious concern
Workforce capability also came under scrutiny.
Māori and tāngata whaikaha Māori remain under-represented in the health and disability workforce, affecting both the cultural competency and quality of care available.
The Tribunal found Crown training and professional development had not ensured disability workers were culturally competent, resulting in too many instances of culturally unsafe care.
For Māori whānau already trying to navigate a complicated system, culturally unsafe care can become yet another barrier.
It can undermine trust, discourage engagement and deepen the sense that services are being designed around institutions rather than the people who actually need them.
Specific breaches identified for three groups
The Tribunal also identified breaches relating specifically to three groups:
Kaapō Māori — Māori who are blind, deafblind, vision-impaired or have low vision;
Tāngata Turi — Māori who are deaf or hard of hearing;
and tāngata whaikaha Māori with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, or FASD.
These findings highlight the diversity within the disability community itself.
Tāngata whaikaha Māori are not one homogenous group, and different communities can face different structural, cultural and service barriers.
Tribunal: system fails to recognise tino rangatiratanga
The report’s central constitutional finding is stark.
The Tribunal concluded that the State disability system does not properly recognise or provide for the tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake of tāngata whaikaha Māori.
That finding places disability policy firmly within the wider debate about Te Tiriti, Māori authority and the role of the Crown.
The Tribunal is effectively saying the issue cannot be solved simply by adding more services to the existing system.
The relationship itself needs to change.
Partnership model recommended
To address the breaches, the Tribunal recommends the Crown establish viable partnership models co-designed with tāngata whaikaha Māori.
It also recommends Māori be included directly in the design and delivery of the disability system in a way that reflects partnership and tino rangatiratanga.
That would represent a significant shift from consultation after decisions have largely been formed towards Māori having an active role in designing the system itself.
Te Aka Whai Ora leaves a monitoring gap
The Tribunal also raises an important issue created by the abolition of Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority.
It recommends the Crown ensure appropriate replacements are established for the monitoring role Te Aka Whai Ora previously held under the Pae Ora legislation.
That monitoring should cover both the health and disability system and health services provided through prisons, with the objective of improving Māori outcomes, including those of tāngata whaikaha Māori.
That recommendation will inevitably feed into the current Election 2026 debate over whether Te Aka Whai Ora should be restored, replaced or redesigned.
Whatever political parties decide about the structure, the Tribunal is making clear that the monitoring and accountability function cannot simply disappear.
Data, funding and accountability all need reform
The Tribunal has also made additional recommendations covering data, funding and accountability, alongside more specific recommendations for Kaapō Māori, Tāngata Turi and Māori with FASD.
The combined message is that reform will need to operate at multiple levels.
Funding needs to improve.
Data needs to improve.
Māori participation needs to improve.
Cultural safety needs to improve.
And accountability needs to become much stronger.
Nothing about us, without us
Perhaps the clearest message running through Hauwhaikaha comes directly from the people who participated in the inquiry.
Nothing about us, without us.
For decades, disability systems have too often been designed around government structures, funding rules and administrative convenience.
The Waitangi Tribunal’s findings say that approach has failed too many tāngata whaikaha Māori.
And the consequences are not theoretical.
They are experienced in delayed services, inaccessible support, underfunded Māori providers, culturally unsafe care and whānau struggling to navigate systems that were never properly designed with them.
Hauwhaikaha now gives the Crown a clear choice: continue modifying a system the Tribunal says has breached Te Tiriti, or fundamentally change how power, funding, design and accountability are shared with tāngata whaikaha Māori.
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