9 April 2026
Kendra Horne
[FYI request #33678 email] Tēnā koe Kendra Horne,
Official Information Act Request
Thank you for your request of 10 February 2026 which was subsequently
transferred to the Ministry of Social Development (the Ministry), for information
on DSS recipients broken down by primary disability and support type.
I have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
Please find my decision on each part of your request set out separately below.
•
Of those supported by Whaikaha-funded Disability Support Services (DSS),
how many are currently identified as:
o
Non-speaking or having complex communication needs.
o
Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) as their
primary mode of communication.
For context, these services are delivered by a third-party provider who is
contracted by the Ministry. The Ministry and its contracted providers do not record
or categorise DSS recipient’s disabilities using descriptors such as non-speaking or
having complex communication needs and also does not record information
identifying DSS recipients’ primary means of communication. This section of your
request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act as the documents alleged to
contain the information do not exist.
•
A breakdown of the 18–30 disabled population by primary disability type
(e.g., intellectual, physical, sensory, or neurodiverse).
Please refer to Table One in the
Appendix below for this information.
•
Data on the number of individuals in this age group currently residing in
community-based supported living versus those receiving individualised
funding (IF) for home-based support.
Please refer to Table Two in the
Appendix below for this information.
I will be publishing this decision letter, with your personal details deleted, on the
Ministry’s website in due course.
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[email address].
The Aurora Centre, 56 The Terrace, PO Box 1556, Wellington
– Telephone 04-916 3300 – Facsimile 04-918 0099
If you are not satisfied with my decision on your request for information on DSS
recipients broken down by primary disability and support type, you have the right
to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how
to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802
602.
Ngā mihi nui
Anna Graham
General Manager
Ministerial and Executive Services
Appendix
Table One: Data on DSS recipients aged 18-30 broken down by Disbaility
Category.
Disability Category
DSS Recipients (aged 18-30
as at 31/01/2026)
Intellectual
5757
Autistic Spectrum Disorder
5273
Other
3212
Physical
1142
Sensory
697
Neurological
81
Table Two: Data on DSS recipients aged 18-30 broken down by Service
Subcategory
Service Subcategory
DSS Recipients (aged 18-30
as at 31/01/2026)
Individualised Funding
3912
Supported Living
1191
Community Residential Care in Group Homes
776
Community Residential Care for Children and
8
Young People
Community Residential Care in an Aged
6
Residential Care Setting
T
Notes:
• This data has been taken from the most recent data refresh (31/1/2026).
• One person may have multiple disabilities and/or receiving multiple
services. Therefore, for both data sets, there will be people who have been
counted multiple times for multiple categories/services.
• The count of distinct DSS recipients aged between 18 and 30 is 9850.
• Those recipients aged 18 to 30 has been calculated only by including
people whose date of birth is between 31/01/1996 to 31/01/2028.
• For service subcategory, we have included both Community group home
and supported living services as we have interpreted community-based
supported living as either of these subcategories.
