Our History

Aotearoa New Zealand’s contemporary campaign for an accessibility law began in 2013 at the then Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, when staff challenged a fundamental gap: why did New Zealand lack enforceable accessibility standards when comparable countries had them? This work led to the formation of the Access Alliance, a broad coalition of disabled people’s organisations, service providers, and advocates calling on political parties ahead of the 2017 election to commit to an accessibility law modelled on Canada’s emerging framework.