Disability

S T A T I S T I C S : H E A L T H S T A T U S I N D I C A T O R S

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Disability

The 2006 New Zealand Household Disability Survey estimated that 95,700 Māori living in New Zealand households were living with a disability (17 percent).⁴

The age-standardised⁵ disability rate for Māori was 19 percent compared with a rate of 13 percent for non-Māori (Office for Disability Issues and Statistics New Zealand 2010).

Fourteen percent of Māori children aged 0–14 years (28,200) had a disability, compared to 9 percent of non-Māori children aged 0–14 years. The most common disability type experienced by Māori children was special education needs and chronic conditions/health problems (both 5 percent).

Nineteen percent of Māori adults (aged 15 and over) living in households had a disability compared with 17 percent of non-Māori adults. Disability rates for Māori adults were higher than for non-Māori adults across all age groups. The prevalence of disability increases with age, with the highest rates among those aged 65 years and older.

These data are drawn from the 2006 New Zealand Household Disability Survey. For further information and data on disability and Māori, refer to the report Disability and Māori in New Zealand in 2006 (Office for Disability Issues and Statistics New Zealand 2010) available at: http://www.stats.govt.nz/publications/socialconditions/disability-and-maori.aspx

Notes:
4. Disability was defined in the survey as any self-perceived limitation in activity resulting from a long-term condition or health problem lasting or expected to last six months or more and not completely eliminated by an assistive device.

5. For the report Disability and Māori in New Zealand in 2006, age-standardised rates were calculated using the World Health Organization world standard population (Office for Disability Issues and Statistics New Zealand 2010).

Page last updated: 21 July 2010

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