Terms of Reference

The Inquiry is being conducted under Section 5(2) (h) of the Human Rights Act 1993 which enables the Commission:

“To inquire generally into any matter, including any enactment or law, or any practice, or any procedure, whether governmental or non-governmental, if it appears to the Commission that the matter involves, or may involve, the infringement of human rights”.

Under the Terms of Reference, the Inquiry will look into the provision of public land transport in New Zealand, using the Otago and Wellington regions as case studies, with reference to:

(i) The availability, accessibility and affordability of public land transport services for people with disabilities;
(ii) The quality and safety of public land transport services for users and service providers;
(iii) The economics of providing accessible public land transport for people with disabilities;
(iv) Whether the public land transport services available to people with disabilities comply with human rights standards;
(v) The adequacy of the technical and engineering standards that are used in the design and construction of conveyances, premises and infrastructure;
(vi) The operational policies of service providers, the contractual arrangements between funders and service providers and the safety rules and regulations that apply to public land transport services;
(vii) The particular needs of those people living in the rural and provincial areas of New Zealand.

The Inquiry will determine whether to make recommendations on the following:

(i) Changes to legislation, regulations, policies and procedures and funding arrangements;
(ii) The value of promulgating national standards and a timetable for implementation to ensure the provision of accessible public land transport services to people with disabilities;
(iii) The need for national standards of training for public land transport workers working with people with disabilities.

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