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The NZ Disability and Mainstream Strategy
The NZ Disability Strategy is vital to the well-being of the one-in-five New Zealanders who identify that they have a long-term impairment. By implementing the Strategy, New Zealand will become a more inclusive society, eliminating the barriers to people with disabilities participating in and contributing to society.
The Strategy has the vision of a society that highly values the lives and continually enhances full participation of disabled people. It provides an enduring framework to ensure that government departments and agencies consider disabled people before making decisions.
In taking the lead, the Government will do everything possible to influence the attitudes and behaviour of society as a whole. By all New Zealanders considering issues facing people with disabilities and their aspirations, New Zealand can become a fully inclusive society.
Mainstream Employment Programme
The Mainstream Employment Programme offers a two-year, subsidised employment programme for people with significant impairments. The programme is provided by the State Services Commission and aims to assist participants into meaningful, long-term employment within selected state sector organisations. Mainstream provides a 100% salary subsidy for year one, and 50% for year two, and monitors and supports each placement.
Mainstream and EEO policies.
Mainstream is complementary to, but distinct from, Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO). While EEO allows for equal employment by removing barriers to the selection of people with disabilities on merit, Mainstream provides financial and other assistance to promote a supported training and employment environment.
The prospective Mainstream client is not someone eligible for selection through conventional recruitment processes; rather, a position is created for the Mainstream participant with tasks clustered to avoid incompatibility with the person's disability.
Working Paper No.10. Author. Pam Crothall, Programme Manager, Mainstream Employment Programme. August 2000.
This section I hope has explained how the mainstream program and the NZ disability Strategy dovetail so nicely together and are inline with the EEO policies.
Remember I stated I sensed resistance to the mainstream program form CYF neither did there EEO policy comments make sense as you can read for yourself.
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