Minister for Disability Issues Priyanca Radhakrishnan released details last week on how the budget provided increased support for disabled people to access disability services.
"Budget 2023 will provide $863.6 million to help ease cost pressures on Government disability support services.
"This support will ensure we can meet price increases due to inflation and increases in service volumes due to demand."
This included a demand for individualised funding, which gave disabled people more control over the support they received, she said.
"Our disability system supports over 2.2 million days of care in residential care, and the equivalent of 4.9 million funded support hours through individualised funding."
Up to 120,000 people accessed disability support services that included equipment, vehicle, and housing modifications.
Some of the highlights from the budget that were of importance for the disability community were making half-price fares for Total Mobility services permanent.
Another key feature was ending the Minimum Wage Exemption (MWE), which allowed disabled people to be paid less than the minimum wage, by mid-2025.
"This unfair exemption currently affects about 800 disabled people who are legally able to be paid less on the basis they’re perceived to be less productive," she said.
Dunedin Disabled Persons Assembly kaituitui Chris Ford said while there were some good parts to the budget it did not go far enough to address existing inequities for disabled people, tāngata whaikaha Māori and whānau.
Removal of the $5 prescription payment for medication would make a significant impact for disabled people and people with health conditions who were on multiple prescriptions, Mr Ford said.
A "real highlight" was the removal of the Minimum Wage Exemption, Mr Ford said.
This was an issue that the Disabled Persons Assembly had been advocating for years.
"It is good, particularly for those 800 disabled people who are currently receiving wages, in some cases as low as $2 per hour."
Another pleasing aspect was funding for violence and sexual violence services for disabled people, Mr Ford said.
There were some good things in the budget however some key concerns that the DPA still had were benefits that were not set at a livable level.
Some disabled people were still experiencing great hardship due to being mainly reliant on benefits, Mr Ford said.
