Enlivening Te Tiriti principles in a quality framework
There are five principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi that are assumed relevant to disability because they were identified by the Waitangi Tribunal in its Hauora report (Waitangi Tribunal, 2023) as part of the Health Services and Outcomes Kaupapa Inquiry (Wai 2575).
Te Tiriti principles have broad implications for a quality framework, but some considerations have been identified as a starting point.
On this page
The guarantee of tino rangatiratanga
- Strong engagement to understand the needs and aspirations of tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau.
- Supporting Māori-led approaches to engagement and implementation of a quality framework (e.g. aspects that are Māori-led).
- Ensuring Māori scholarship and thinking on disability, disability supports, and quality are identified and included in all thinking.
The principle of equity
- Making it clear that there is an expectation of no discrimination for anyone entitled to DSS.
- Identifying equity as an overarching aim of the quality framework and monitoring its impact on tāngata whaikaha Māori.
- Having mechanisms in place to ensure that data is routinely monitored by ethnicity.
The principle of active protection
- Identifying where there might be gaps or issues through the quality framework that could exacerbate or maintain inequities and understanding any unintended consequences.
- Appropriately resourcing Māori-led or Māori-focused elements of the quality framework.
- Effective communication around how tāngata whaikaha Māori and whānau can engage with the framework.
- Interrogation of data collected through the framework, especially by ethnicity, in line with the principles of Māori data sovereignty.
The principle of options
- Concepts of quality to include an understanding (and expectation of) cultural safety in all services, including mainstream services, and high standards of cultural safety.
- Māori individuals should have equal and fair protections wherever they access services.
The principle of partnership
- Consultation with Māori, in a way that does not “simply present Māori with its [the Crown’s] own solutions” (Waitangi Tribunal, 1999, p. 659).
- Governance arrangements that allow for Māori to have equal decision-making power in the decisions on the quality framework.
- Engagement with tāngata whaikaha Māori in the monitoring of the quality framework.