Enabling Good Lives NZ: What It Means for Disabled People and Their Families
If you have been navigating disability services in New Zealand for any length of time, you have likely encountered the phrase "Enabling Good Lives" without being entirely sure what it means in practice. It is not just a philosophy — it is a framework that is actively reshaping how government disability funding works and what families can expect from the system. Understanding it matters for transition planning.
What Enabling Good Lives Is
Enabling Good Lives (EGL) is a disability support philosophy developed in New Zealand from 2011 onwards, driven by the disability sector itself rather than government bureaucrats. Its central argument is straightforward: disabled people should have the same opportunities to live good, ordinary lives as non-disabled New Zealanders — and the system that supports them should be designed around what they need, not around what fits neatly into funding categories.
The eight core EGL principles are:
- Self-determination — disabled people control their lives
- Beginning early — investing in disabled people and their families from the start
- Person-centred — supports are tailored to the individual, not slotted into system categories
- Ordinary life outcomes — the goal is a good, community-connected life, not managed isolation
- Mainstream first — services the general public uses should be accessible before specialized services are created
- Mana enhancing — the approach respects and builds the status and dignity of disabled people
- Easy to use — the system should not create excessive bureaucratic burden
- Flexible — supports can change as life changes
For transition planning, the most important principle is "Beginning early." EGL explicitly recognizes that waiting until Year 13 to start transition planning is too late — the framework calls for building community supports and relationships over years, not months.
The Agency Architecture After the 2024-2025 Restructure
New Zealand's disability support system underwent a fundamental restructure in late 2024 and into 2025. Understanding which agency does what is essential for navigating the system correctly.
Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People is now a strategic policy and stewardship agency. Following the 2024 restructure, Whaikaha no longer distributes direct operational funding to individuals. Its role is system-level: monitoring outcomes, advocating across government for disabled people, guiding the New Zealand Disability Strategy implementation, and ensuring EGL principles are upheld. Think of Whaikaha as the agency that should be holding the system accountable.
Ministry of Social Development (MSD) now holds operational responsibility for Disability Support Services (DSS). MSD runs DSS as a distinct business unit, handling the commissioning of day services, community participation, residential care, and flexible funding (Individualised Funding and Enhanced Individualised Funding). Work and Income, also within MSD, manages the Supported Living Payment and vocational employment pilots.
Ministry of Education (MoE) retains jurisdiction over students until they leave school. The MoE manages ORS funding, approves Special Assessment Conditions for NCEA, and enforces the Education and Training Act 2020.
This three-way division is one of the most confusing aspects of navigating disability services in New Zealand. The MoE manages the school years; MSD manages the adult support years; Whaikaha oversees the system but does not control the money. There is no single point of contact that spans all three — which is precisely the gap the EGL framework was designed to fill, and precisely what families must navigate themselves.
EGL Prototype Sites
EGL is not yet operating nationally. Prototype regions have been piloting the full EGL model with dedicated funding and "Connectors" (Kaitūhono) who replace the traditional NASC assessment model:
- MidCentral (Palmerston North/Manawatu): Mana Whaikaha
- Waikato: EGL Waikato
- Christchurch: EGL Waitaha
In these regions, Connectors work with disabled people and their families to build person-centred support plans using flexible funding, without the restrictive purchasing rules that govern NASC-allocated IF elsewhere. If you are in one of these regions, the process of accessing disability support looks different — more collaborative and flexible than in the rest of the country.
For families outside these regions, the NASC pathway applies.
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The 2026 Changes to Disability Support Services
Several significant changes to how DSS operates took effect in early 2026:
From February/March 2026: A standardized national assessment tool was rolled out to eliminate the regional "postcode lottery" in funding allocation. Previously, a family in Canterbury might receive a very different funding package than a family with identical needs in Wellington. The national tool aims to correct this.
From April 1, 2026: The controversial purchasing guidelines introduced in March 2024 — which severely restricted what Individualised Funding could be used for — were removed. People with IF now have a fixed flexible budget based on their historical spend from June 2023 to June 2025 and regain meaningful autonomy over how they use it. This reversed one of the most damaging policy changes in recent disability sector history.
From October 2026: Regular reassessments resume. The focus will be on developing "My DSS Funding Plans" that outline what each person's budget is intended to achieve.
If your family was affected by the 2024 purchasing restrictions — if you reduced your support package or changed how you used IF to comply with the rules — it is worth requesting a reassessment under the updated framework.
What This Means for Transition Planning
The EGL shift in the disability system means transition planning for school leavers should be explicitly person-centred. The question to drive every meeting is not "what services are available?" but "what does this young person want their life to look like, and what support do they need to get there?"
This matters practically because NASC assessors and DSS are increasingly expected to allocate funding in ways that serve the young person's specific goals — not just fit them into an existing day programme. Parents who can clearly articulate their young person's vision for their adult life (work, living situation, community participation, relationships) are better positioned in NASC assessments than parents who describe only limitations and deficits.
For a complete framework for navigating the post-school transition — including NASC assessments, financial entitlements, employment pathways, and legal capacity — the New Zealand Post-School Transition Roadmap is built around the EGL principles with practical checklists for each stage of the process.
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