Our theme for this year is ‘Whakarongo mai ki o mātou reo! / Hear Our Voices!’
In 2024, then-Health Minister Shane Reti finally acknowledged the scale of the investment required for FASD in Aotearoa with a revised action plan. But despite two groundbreaking reports published last year (from NZIER and Massey University) which detailed the enormous impact of FASD in Aotearoa, we have heard nothing yet from the incoming Minister in charge of FASD, Matt Doocey. We still desperately need:
• Disability Support Services (DSS) funding criteria to be extended to include those people with FASD and their families – people with Autism Spectrum Disorder are eligible for DSS funding, so why aren’t we?
• a more equitable and inclusive education for ākonga / students with FASD.
• real support for the daily lives of people with FASD and their whānau.
Our rangatahi with FASD want to know why there’s been no progress. Their self advocacy is growing more confident, and we as whānau, caregivers and supporters need to make ourselves heard, too. So this year, our awareness campaign theme will be ‘Whakarongo mai ki o mātou reo! / Hear Our Voices!’
We have two $300 supermarket vouchers to give away!
Simply meet with your local MP to tell your story / explain your challenges / show them our website or our quiz (see below) and ask them what they are going to do about it. Take a photo of yourself with your local MP, email your pic to [email protected] – and you’ll go in the draw to win!
* Please read the terms and conditions of this competition here.
Feel free to use our FASD letter template as a basis to get in touch (this page includes info on how to find your local MP’s email address).
If you have ideas on ways you or your organisation can make your voices heard for those with FASD, let us know via [email protected].
Our FASD quiz is a great way to start conversations about all kinds of facts. Some of them may surprise you...
Click here to download the quiz in pdf format.
All around the world, monuments and buildings are lit up red for FASD Awareness Day, September 9.
In 2023, Ōtautahi / Christchurch was our first to light up lots of its city monuments in red, becoming not just the first city in Aotearoa to acknowledge FASD on the 9th, but due to our geography on the planet – the first in the world! In 2024, Christchurch, Wellington (the Michael Fowler Centre, left), Whangārei, Dunedin, Whanganui and New Plymouth got on board – and in 2025 we want MORE!
Could you convince your council to light up for us? We may be able to get on the news if enough cities light up! Last year, thanks to invested locals, we got into the news in Whanganui (local paper, as well as in NZ Doctor magazine) and the Bay of Plenty – let's aim for bigger coverage this year!
Click here to use our template letter (cut and paste into an email) to contact your own council – and please do let us know via [email protected] if they agree.
