At the end of September 2021, Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero and outgoing Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft presented a report to the Prime Minister Jacinda Adern regarding the rights of those with FASD to access Disability Support Services and critiquing the lack of progress on the 2016-2019 FASD Action Plan. This was presented alongside a FASD-CAN report, contributed by some of our members, about the reality of living with a person with FASD. 

The report's opening comments including this remark: "While feedback from some agencies on this Report indicates work is occurring that may benefit those with FASD, some of it remains future-focused and appears to lack overall coherency. Work does not appear to be co-designed with those with FASD and their families, be tailored specifically for those with FASD, nor have the active cross agency governance required to make a strategic difference... It is our view that New Zealand may be in breach of its international and domestic obligations and Tiriti commitments, a matter we both wish to raise through upcoming examinations of New Zealand’s performance against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)."

Both reports can be found here. 

Many NZ media covered the report on the day and in the following week. Paula Tesoriero wrote a piece herself in Scoop which can be read here.