Living with Disability in New Zealand

Date of publication: October 2004
ISBN 0-478-28305-9
HP 4002

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Table of Contents:
Index
Foreword
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
2 Patterns of Disability
3 Support, Equipment and Services
4 Education
5 Employment and Income
6 House and Home
7 Travel and Transport
8 Māori and Disability
9 Pacific Peoples and Disability
10 Adults with Disability Living in Residential Facilities
11 Future Focus
Glossary
Appendix 1: Classification of Disability Type
Appendix 2: Relative Sampling Error (RSE) Cut-off Points Used for this Report and Appendix Tables
Appendix 3: Tables in Excel format
References

9 Pacific Peoples and Disability

Within this section:
Key points
Introduction
Demography
Pacific peoples with disability living in households
Pacific adults with disability living in residential facilities

Key points

This chapter reports on the nature and extent of disability experienced by Pacific peoples in New Zealand and the socioeconomic circumstances of Pacific peoples with disability. It builds on the initial profile of Pacific peoples and disability achieved through the Household Disability Survey (Statistics New Zealand 2001).

The survey findings indicated that Pacific peoples with disability had:

• experienced severe disability , especially in people aged over 65
• significant health (poor health) and social inequalities (socioeconomic disadvantage)
• high needs for health and disability support services, some of which were not being met
• not been, or had difficulties, accessing the full range of health and disability support and services they needed, including needs and other specialist assessments.

Pacific peoples with disability living in households

• In 2001, an estimated 27,700 Pacific peoples living in households reported having a disability. This was about 14 percent of Pacific peoples living in households in New Zealand.
• Among Pacific peoples with disability living in households, an estimated 22,000 or 79 percent were adults (that is, aged 15 and over) and 5700 (21 percent) were children (that is, aged
  0-14).
• Pacific peoples had an age-standardised rate of disability of 17,000 per 100,000. The age-standardised rate for non-Pacific peoples was 17,800 per 100,000.
• Pacific boys were more likely to have a disability and three times more likely to have multiple disabilities than Pacific girls.
• Older Pacific peoples (65 years and over) were more likely than younger Pacific peoples to have severe disability and more than one disability.
• Over half of all Pacific peoples with disability (52 percent) had more than one disability.
• Mobility disability and agility disability were the most common types of disability reported by Pacific adults. Ten percent of all Pacific adults living in households had a mobility disability, while 7 percent had an agility disability. [These are age-standardised percentages.]
• Mobility disability was also the most common main disability reported by Pacific adults that most limited their everyday activities. Forty-three percent of Pacific adults with disability living in households had mobility disability as their main disability, while 10 percent had agility disability and 11 percent had hearing disability.
• Chronic conditions/health problems, use of special education and hearing disability were the most commonly reported types of disability reported by Pacific children.
• Disease/illness was the most common cause of disability for Pacific adults, followed by accident/injury. In Pacific children, the most common cause of disability was disease/illness, followed by disability present at birth.
• Compared with non-Pacific adults with disability, Pacific adults with disability were more likely to receive help with everyday activities such as meal preparation, shopping, housework, managing private finances, personal care and communication.
• Pacific adults with disability were less likely to use all types of equipment than non-Pacific adults with disability (21 percent compared with 30 percent). In particular, Pacific adults with disability were less likely to use hearing-related equipment than non-Pacific adults with disability.
• Pacific peoples with disability were less likely to have received a needs assessment than non-Pacific peoples with disability. Eight percent of Pacific adults with disability had received a needs assessment, compared with 15 percent of non-Pacific adults. Eleven percent of Pacific children and 15 percent of non-Pacific children with disability had received needs assessments.
• Pacific adults with disability were as likely as non-Pacific adults with disability to have consulted a family doctor in the previous 12 months. However, they were less likely to have seen health professionals such as nurses, dentists, opticians and medical specialists. They were more likely than non-Pacific adults to have consulted a traditional healer or Pacific (or Mäori) health worker.
• Almost three-quarters (72 percent) of Pacific peoples with disability reported living in the most socioeconomically deprived areas (NZDep2001 7-10), compared with 42 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability. Pacific peoples with disability were less likely than Pacific peoples without disability (81 percent) to live in the most socioeconomically deprived areas.
• More than half (55 percent) of Pacific adults with disability were not in the labour force, compared with 31 percent of Pacific adults without disability and 56 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.
• As is the case for the Pacific and non-Pacific populations as a whole, Pacific adults with disability were less likely to have post-school educational qualifications than non-Pacific adults with disability.
• Compared with non-Pacific adults with disability, Pacific adults with disability were:

- less likely to own or partly own a home and more likely to pay rent for accommodation

- less likely to drive their own motor vehicle and more likely to use taxis and buses for short trips everyday

- more likely to receive a Community Wage - Sickness Benefit or Accommodation Supplement or hold a Community Services Card.

• Parents or caregivers of Pacific children with disability were less likely than parents or caregivers of non-Pacific children to receive the Child Disability Allowance.
• Pacific peoples with disability were less likely than non-Pacific peoples with disability to know about services such as the Total Mobility Scheme, but were more likely to know about allowances such as the Accommodation Supplement.

Pacific peoples in residential facilities

• An estimated 500 Pacific adults with disability were living in residential facilities such as rest homes, private hospitals and long-stay residential units. This was just 2 percent of Pacific peoples with disability.
• An estimated 400 or 80 percent of Pacific adults with disability living in residential facilities were aged 65 and over.

Introduction

This chapter draws on information from the 2001 Household Disability Survey and Disability Survey of Residential Facilities to provide an overview of disability experienced by Pacific peoples in New Zealand. It reports on the nature and extent of disability experienced by Pacific peoples living in New Zealand and examines the socioeconomic circumstances of Pacific peoples with disability.

In its broadest sense, 'Pacific peoples' is an umbrella term that encompasses peoples from nations of the South Pacific region who are 'linguistically, culturally, and geographically distinctive from each other' (Health Research Council 2003: 7). In this document, the term 'Pacific peoples' is exclusive of Mäori and covers people in New Zealand who self-identify as belonging to one or more of the major Pacific ethnic groups (from Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tonga or Niue) or from another Pacific ethnic group (such as from Tokelau and Fiji (excluding the Fijian Indian ethnic group)). As a statistical category, Pacific peoples include many different groups, including groups with relatively small numbers in New Zealand (Gray 2001). [For example, Australian Aboriginals, Austral Islanders, Belau/Palau Islanders, Bouganvilleans, Caroline Islanders, Easter Islanders, Gambier Islanders, Guam Islanders, Hawaiians, I-Kiribati, Kanaka, Marquesas Islanders, Marshall Islanders, Nauru Islanders, Papua New Guineans including all island groups, Phoenix Islanders, Pitcairn Islanders, Society Islanders, Solomon Islanders including each island group, Tuamotu Islanders, Tuvaluans, Vanuatuans, Wallis Islanders and Yap Islanders.]

There is also a growing proportion of Pacific peoples with multiple ethnicities who identify as belonging to more than one ethnic group. This adds to the complexity of defining ethnicity from a Pacific peoples perspective (Gray 2001). That the ethnicity classification for the survey sample was subjected to 'prioritisation' has implications for the number of Pacific peoples who may belong to dual or multiple ethnic groups that include Mäori. For the purposes of the survey, a person who indicated they belonged to Mäori and Pacific ethnic groups was categorised as Mäori and included in the Mäori count (Lang 2002).

Pacific peoples are not a homogeneous group. There are differences in the social structures, worldviews, cultures and languages of peoples from the different Pacific nations. Within these ethnic and cultural variations there are also differences in how Pacific models of wellbeing and concepts of disability are viewed and understood (Anae et al 2001).

According to Huakau and Bray (2000), Pacific peoples explain disability from two main perspectives - biomedical and social. In the biomedical perspective, Pacific peoples understand disability to mean a person has a physical, a sensory or an intellectual disability. There is a reason for the cause of disability that justifies why certain people are disabled and others are not. Most explanations used to explain disabilities were associated with religious (for example, disability as punishment from God) or cultural (for example, disability as a curse due to a family wrong) explanations. From a social perspective, Pacific peoples see disability as the effect of living within a culture that is different from their own. Key issues are communication (for example, not being able to communicate adequately with English as a second language), racial (for example, discrimination on the basis of race) or socioeconomic (for example, lack of income and money).

In this chapter it is not possible to provide a comprehensive analysis of disability in each of the main Pacific ethnic groups. Therefore, the findings presented here are limited to a homogeneous view of the Pacific group. This is primarily because the 2001 Household Disability Survey did not include enough people from each Pacific ethnic group to provide reliable data for each group.

This chapter has particular relevance to the New Zealand Disability Strategy (Objective 12) and the Pacific Health and Disability Action Plan (Priority 5) to promote opportunities for Pacific peoples with disability to participate in their communities and access disability services (Minister for Disability Issues 2001; Minister of Health 2002). The Pacific objectives are to ensure policy and service development for Pacific health care and disability support services are informed by accurate and useful data.

The Pacific survey findings may have particular applications for Pacific health and disability research, evaluation, policy formulation across government agencies and service delivery.

The chapter looks at how Pacific peoples with disability in New Zealand fare in relation to non-Pacific peoples with disability. Specifically, the chapter takes account of:

• the structure of the Pacific population (demography)
• disability patterns within the Pacific population
• services and support for Pacific peoples with disability
• work and income
• education
• housing and amenities.

Demography

In this report, the term 'Pacific peoples' refers to people living in New Zealand who define themselves as being of Pacific Islands ethnicity (for example, Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island Mäori, Fijian, Niuean or Tokelauan). It includes Pacific peoples born in New Zealand as well as overseas, and people from the smaller Pacific ethnic groups.

2001 Census

At the time of the 2001 Census of Population and Dwellings, one in 16 or about 231,800 people in New Zealand were of Pacific ethnicity, making up 6.5 percent of the total population. The Samoan ethnic group was by far the largest Pacific group, numbering over 115,000 and making up almost half the Pacific population. Cook Island Mäori were the next largest group (52,570), followed by Tongan (40,700), Niuean (20,150), Fijian (7000), Tokelauan (6200) and Tuvalu Islander (2000) (Statistics New Zealand nd a).

The majority (60 percent) of the Pacific population living in New Zealand was born in New Zealand. The Cook Island Mäori, Niuean and Tokelauan ethnic groups had the highest proportions of New Zealand-born people. The Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs and Statistics New Zealand (2002) have commented that most migration from the Pacific to New Zealand came from the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji. People from the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau hold New Zealand citizenship, so have unrestricted rights of resettlement in New Zealand. People from other Pacific nations, particularly Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, entered through a range of provisions, including temporary permits, quota schemes and family reunification provisions.

The age structure of Pacific peoples is noticeably younger than the general population. In 2001, the median age of Pacific peoples was 21, a rise from 20 years at the time of the 1991 Census.

In 2001, 35 percent of Pacific peoples living in households were aged under 15, and only 4 percent were aged 65 and over. [Because of the small numbers of older Pacific peoples in the population, the 65 and over age group is the oldest age group used in the analysis for this chapter.] In comparison, 22 percent of non-Pacific peoples living in households were aged under 15 and 12 percent were aged 65 and over.

Ninety-nine percent of Pacific peoples lived in urban rather than rural areas, compared with 85 percent of non-Pacific peoples. About two-thirds of the Pacific population was located in the Auckland region, with most of the remainder living in the Hamilton, Porirua, Hutt Valley, Wellington and Christchurch regions.

Pacific peoples with disability in New Zealand

In the 2001 disability surveys, the Pacific population was estimated at 198,500, with 198,000 for the Pacific household population (adults and children) and 500 for the Pacific residential adult population. Among the Pacific household population, an estimated 128,500 (65 percent) were Pacific adults (aged 15 and over) and an estimated 69,500 (35 percent) were Pacific children (aged 0-14).

An estimated 28,100 Pacific peoples reported having a disability. This was 14 percent of Pacific peoples living in New Zealand. By comparison, an estimated 743,800 or 20 percent of all New Zealanders reported some level of disability in 2001.

Almost all Pacific peoples with disability (an estimated 27,700 or 98 percent) were living in private households in the community. In this group, 22,000 (79 percent) were adults and 5700 (21 percent) were children. This compared with an estimated 604,500 (88 percent) non-Pacific adults and an estimated 84,300 (12 percent) non-Pacific children with disability living in households. Further, Pacific adults with disability made up 17 percent of the Pacific adult population living in households. Pacific children with disability made up 7 percent of the Pacific children living in households.

An estimated 500 (2 percent) Pacific adults were living in residential facilities such as rest homes, private hospitals and long-stay residential units. An estimated 400 or 80 percent of Pacific adults with disability living in residential facilities were aged 65 and over.

In the next section, information is presented on Pacific peoples with disability living in households including separate data for adults and children where possible. A separate section follows that looks briefly at Pacific adults with disability living in residential facilities. Percentages are mainly used to describe disability rates but age-standardised rates per 100,000 are also used where appropriate for more meaningful comparisons between Pacific and non-Pacific peoples with and without disability.

Pacific peoples with disability living in households

Prevalence of disability among Pacific people

Adults

Key features of the estimated 22,000 Pacific adults (aged 15 and over) with disability living in households were:

• Pacific adults made up 79 percent of Pacific peoples with a disability living in households, compared with 88 percent for non-Pacific adults (Figure 9.1).
• Forty-three percent of Pacific adults with disability were male, compared with 47 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability. Fifty-seven percent of Pacific adults with disability were female, compared with 53 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.
• Most Pacific adults with disability were aged 25-44 (35 percent) or 45-64 (32 percent).
• The percentage of Pacific adults with disability who were in the 65 and over age group (17 percent) was noticeably lower than the percentage of non-Pacific adults with disability who were in the same age group (35 percent). [This reflects the older age structure of the non-Pacific population.]
• Conversely, the percentage of Pacific adults with disability who were aged 15-24 was noticeably higher than non-Pacific adults in the same age group (16 percent compared with 7 percent). [This reflects the younger age structure of the Pacific population. In 2001, 35 percent of Pacific peoples living in households were aged under 15.]

Figure 9.1: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific peoples (adults and children) with disability living in households, by age and sex, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Calculated from data in Appendix Table 9.1B.

Children

Key features of the estimated 5700 Pacific children with disability were:

• Twenty-one percent Pacific peoples with a disability were children, compared with 12 percent for non-Pacific children with a disability. [Ibid.]
• Sixty-one percent of Pacific children with disability were male and 39 percent were female, which was similar to non-Pacific children (60 percent and 40 percent respectively).
• Pacific boys living in households had a lower disability rate (10,000 per 100,000 or 10 percent) than non-Pacific boys (12,800 per 100,000 or 13 percent). Pacific girls also had a lower disability rate (6300 per 100,000 or 6 percent) than non-Pacific girls (8900 per 100,000 or 9 percent).

Single and multiple disability

Forty-eight percent of Pacific peoples with disability living in households had a single disability; 52 percent had more than one disability.

By comparison, 43 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability living in households had a single disability; 57 percent had more than one disability.

Adults

Pacific women with disability aged 25-44 living in households had almost twice the rate for single disability than Pacific men (7700 and 3900 per 100,000 respectively).

Pacific women with disability aged 65 and over living in households had noticeably higher rates for multiple disabilities than Pacific men with disability aged 45-64 (16,100 and 13,200 per 100,000 respectively) and the 65 and over age group (46,000 and 33,300 per 100,000 respectively).

Children

Pacific children with disability living in households had a similar rate of single disability to non-Pacific children (5300 and 5900 per 100,000 respectively).

However, non-Pacific children with disability had a higher rate of multiple disabilities than Pacific children with disability (5000 and 2900 per 100,000 respectively).

Pacific boys with disability had a higher rate of single disability and were almost three times more likely to have multiple disabilities than Pacific girls with disability (4100 and 1600 per 100,000 respectively).

Disability type

Adults

The most common types of disability reported by Pacific adults living in households were:

• mobility disability (an age-standardised prevalence rate of 9800 per 100,000 Pacific adults living in households (see Figure 9.2))
• agility disability (7200 per 100,000)
• hearing disability (3600 per 100,000).

Mobility disability

Mobility disability was the most common disability reported by Pacific adults living in households. Pacific adults living in households had a higher age-standardised rate of mobility disability (9800 per 100,000) than non-Pacific adults living in households (7800 per 100,000).

Table 9.1 shows that Pacific adults living in households had higher rates of mobility disability than non-Pacific adults living in households across all age groups.

Table 9.1: Rates of mobility disability, for Pacific and non-Pacific adults living in households, by age, 2001

Age group	Rate per 100,000
	Pacific	Non-Pacific
15-24 years	3,000	2,100
25-44 years	6,800	5,900
45-64 years	17,700	13,000
65 years and over	45,800	38,100

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Older Pacific adults (aged 65 and over) living in households had the highest rate (45,800 per 100,000) of mobility disability of all Pacific adults living in households.

Pacific women reported more mobility disability than Pacific men. Pacific women aged 65 years and over living in households had noticeably higher rates of mobility agility (50,500 per 100,000) than Pacific men aged 65 and over living in households (39,400 per 100,000).

Agility disability

Agility disability was the second most common type of disability reported by Pacific adults living in households.

Pacific adults living in households had a higher age-standardised rate of agility disability (7200 per 100,000) than non-Pacific adults living in households (6100 per 100,000).

Table 9.2 shows that Pacific adults living in households had higher rates of agility disability than non-Pacific adults living in households across all age groups.

Table 9.2: Rates of agility disability, for Pacific and non-Pacific peoples living in households, by age, 2001

Age group	Rate per 100,000
	Pacific	Non-Pacific
15-24 years	1,900	1,200
25-44 years	5,000	4,400
45-64 years	12,900	11,000
65 years and over	34,700	29,400

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Older Pacific adults (aged 65 and over) living in households had the highest rate (34,700 per 100,000) of agility disability of all Pacific adults living in households.

Pacific women had higher rates of agility disability than Pacific men. Pacific women aged 65 and over living in households had noticeably higher rates of agility disability (42,100 per 100,000) than Pacific men aged 65 and over living in households (24,600 per 100,000).

Hearing disability

Hearing disability was the third most common type of disability reported by Pacific adults living in households. However, Pacific adults living in households were less likely (with an age-standardised rate of 3600 per 100,000) to have a hearing disability than non-Pacific adults living in households (4800 per 100,000).

Table 9.3 shows that Pacific adults had higher rates of hearing disability at a younger age than non-Pacific adults, but older non-Pacific adults had higher rates of hearing disability than Pacific adults.

Pacific adults aged 65 and over living in households had the highest rate (13,400 per 100,000) of hearing disability of all Pacific adults living in households.

Table 9.3: Rates of hearing disability, for Pacific and non-Pacific peoples living in households, by age, 2001

Age group	Rate per 100,000
	Pacific	Non-Pacific
15-24 years	2,600	1,400
25-44 years	3,500	3,300
45-64 years	5,600	9,200
65 years and over	13,400	22,200

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Pacific women 65 years and over living in households had slightly higher rates (13,900 per 100,000) of hearing disability than Pacific men aged 65 and over living in households (12,700 per 100,000). In contrast, Pacific men aged 45-64 living in households were more likely to have a hearing disability (6100 per 100,000) than Pacific women in the same age group (5100 per 100,000).

Figure 9.2: Age-standardised rates of different disability types for Pacific and non-Pacific adults living in households, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Notes:

- Data in Appendix Table 9.3B.

- If individuals reported more than one disability type, they were counted in each applicable disability type category.

Children

In 2001, Pacific children living in households reported the following types of disability:

• chronic conditions/health problems (3100 per 100,000)
• use of special education (2200 per 100,000)
• hearing disability (2000 per 100,000)
• psychological/psychiatric disability (1700 per 100,000)
• speaking disability (1500 per 100,000)
• intellectual disability (900 per 100,000)
• seeing disability (800 per 100,000)
• use of technical aids (300 per 100,000)
• other type of disability (1000 per 100,000).

Non-Pacific children living in households reported higher rates in each of these types of disability, compared with Pacific children living in households.

Pacific boys had higher rates of disability for most types of disability than Pacific girls.

Figure 9.3: Rates of different disability types for Pacific and non-Pacific children aged 0-14 living in households, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Notes:

- Data in Appendix Table 9.4B.

- If individuals reported more than one disability type, they were counted in each applicable disability type category.

Specific disability

Adults

Table 9.4 lists the 10 most common types of disability reported by Pacific adults living in households (people may have had more than one difficulty). [This was from a list of 24 specific disability types - see Appendix Table 9.9A for the full list.] Pacific adults were mostly affected by mobility difficulties. Overall, Pacific adults were more likely to have mobility difficulties than non-Pacific adults.

Table 9.4: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adults with disability living in households who had a difficulty with, or were unable to carry out, specific activities, 2001

Disability type	Pacific adults with disability (%)	Non-Pacific adults with disability (%)
Walking up to 350 m	39	36
Walking up and down stairs	38	31
Carrying 5 kg for 10 m	37	30
Standing for 20 minutes	28	28
Bending to pick something up off floor	26	25
Cutting own toenails	22	25
Hearing conversation when talking with three others	22	33
Reaching in any direction	16	15
Remembering (because of condition or health problem)	14	14
Hearing conversation when talking with one other	14	17

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Children

Table 9.5 lists the 10 most common types of disability reported by Pacific children living in households. [This was from a list of 23 specific disability types - see Appendix Table 9.10A for the full list.] Pacific children were most likely to have uncorrected deafness or trouble hearing, long-term emotional difficulties and severe asthma. Pacific children reported higher rates of deafness and asthma than non-Pacific children. Non-Pacific children reported higher rates for all other disability types.

Table 9.5: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific children with disability living in households, with specific types of disability, 2001

Disability type	Pacific children with disability (%)	Non-Pacific children with disability (%)
Deafness, trouble with hearing - not corrected	25	20
Long-term emotional/nervous problems	21	25
Severe asthma	20	13
Trouble speaking and being understood aged 2 years and older	18	19
Learning difficulty	16	29
Has Individual Education Programme or Individual Development Programme	12	20
Activity limitation due to condition/health problem	12	14
Intellectual disability/developmental delay	11	15
Attends special school due to condition/health problem	10	14
Blindness, trouble with eyesight - not corrected	9	15

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Main disability

Adults

Over half (53 percent) of Pacific adults with disability reported a physical disability (mobility or agility disability) as the main type of disability that most limited their everyday activities. [This section reports the main type of disability for Pacific adults only. Caregivers and parents of children with disability were not asked to identify their child's main disability.] By comparison, 46 percent of non-Pacific adults reported physical main disabilities.

Mobility disability

Mobility disability was the most common main disability reported by Pacific adults with disability. Forty-three percent of Pacific adults with disability had mobility disability as their main disability, compared with 34 percent of non-Pacific adults.

Mobility main disabilities were most common in Pacific adults aged 65 and over with disability (65 percent) and 45-64 (49 percent), compared with 47 percent and 32 percent respectively in non-Pacific adults with disability.

Pacific men with disability aged 65 and over (68 percent) reported the highest rate of mobility main disability, compared with 38 percent of non-Pacific men with disability. In the same age group, a greater percent of Pacific women (64 percent) had mobility disability as their main disability than non-Pacific women with disability (53 percent).

Mobility main disability was noticeably higher among Pacific women with disability (49 percent) than non-Pacific women with disability (39 percent) and Pacific men with disability (34 percent).

Hearing disability

The second most common type of main disability was hearing disability. Eleven percent of Pacific adults with disability had a hearing disability, compared with 16 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.

Hearing main disability was most common among Pacific women aged 15-24 with disability (25 percent).

Agility disability

The third most common type of main disability was agility disability. Ten percent of Pacific adults with disability had agility disability as their main disability, compared with 12 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.

Agility main disability was most common among Pacific men aged 45-64 with disability (16 percent).

Severity of disability

Forty-four percent of Pacific peoples with disability living in households reported having mild disability, which was similar to the proportion of non-Pacific peoples (43 percent) (Figure 9.4).

A smaller proportion of Pacific peoples with disability living in households had moderate disability than non-Pacific peoples (32 percent and 45 percent respectively) (Figure 9.5).

However, a greater proportion of Pacific peoples with disability living in households had severe disability than non-Pacific peoples (24 percent and 12 percent respectively) (Figure 9.6).

Figure 9.4: Rates of mild disability among Pacific and non-Pacific peoples (adults and children) living in households, by age and sex, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Table 9.1B.

Figure 9.5: Rates of moderate disability among Pacific and non-Pacific peoples living in households, by age and sex, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Table 9.1B.

Figure 9.6: Rates of severe disability among Pacific and non-Pacific peoples (adults and children) living in households, by age and sex, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

- Percentages too small to report (estimated frequencies outside the 70 percent relative sampling error cut-off point).

Note: Data in Appendix Table 9.1B.

Adults

Pacific adults aged 65 and over living in households were almost three times more likely to have severe disability than non-Pacific adults in the same age group (25,900 and 7700 per 100,000 respectively).

Pacific women aged 65 and over living in households were twice as likely to have severe disability than Pacific men aged 65 and over (32,700 and 16,700 per 100,000 respectively). Pacific women in this age group were also over four times more likely to have severe disability than non-Pacific women (32,700 and 7200 per 100,000).

Children

Pacific children living in households had slightly lower disability rates for all three severity levels (mild, moderate and severe) than non-Pacific children.

Cause of disability

Pacific peoples had their disability caused by disease/illness (41 percent) or accident/injury (23 percent), being present at birth (13 percent), ageing (11 percent) or other causes (18 percent).

Adults

Among Pacific adults living in households, the most common cause of disability was disease/ illness (with an age-standardised rate of 6400 per 100,000), followed by accident/injury (3800 per 100,000) and ageing (3000 per 100,000). The least common cause of disability among Pacific adults living in households was disability present at birth (1100 per 100,000).

Overall, the causes of disability were similar for Pacific and non-Pacific adults living in households.

Pacific women living in households were more likely than Pacific men to have a disability caused by disease/illness or ageing. In contrast, Pacific men were more likely to have disability caused by accident/injury than Pacific women.

Children

Among Pacific children living in households, disease/illness (3500 per 100,000) was the most common cause of disability, followed by conditions present at birth (2300 per 100,000).

The rate for disease/illness was the same for Pacific and non-Pacific children living in households (3500 per 100,000). However, non-Pacific children were twice as likely as Pacific children to have a disability present at birth (4600 per 100,000 compared with 2300 per 100,000).

Duration of disability

The majority (68 percent) of Pacific peoples with disability living in households reported having a disability lasting from 1 to 14 years. One-quarter had experienced a disability lasting 15 years or more.

Pacific peoples with disability living in households were less likely than non-Pacific peoples living in households to have a disability lasting 15 years or more (25 percent compared with 37 percent). [This reflects the younger age structure of the Pacific population. In 2001, 35 percent of Pacific peoples living in households were aged under 15.]

Services and support for Pacific peoples

This section indicates the range of support services, equipment and technology used or needed by Pacific peoples with disability living in households.

Type of assistance received

Adults

Help with everyday activities

In 2001, nearly half (48 percent) of Pacific adults with disability received some kind of help from other people with everyday activities, compared with 39 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability (Figure 9.7).

Figure 9.7: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adults living in households who received help for everyday activities, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Table 9.33.

In all age groups, the proportion of Pacific adults with disability receiving help was greater than non-Pacific adults with disability. For example, 72 percent of Pacific adults with disability aged 65 and over reported receiving help from other people with everyday activities, compared with 56 percent of non-Pacific peoples in the same age group.

Meal preparation

A quarter of Pacific adults with disability reported receiving help with meal preparation because of disability, compared with 10 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability (Figure 9.8).

Figure 9.8: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adults living in households who received help for different everyday activities, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Table 9.34.

Shopping

Almost a third (29 percent) of Pacific adults with disability reported receiving help from others with shopping because of disability, compared with 15 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.

Everyday housework

Just over a quarter (26 percent) of Pacific adults with disability reported getting help with everyday housework because of disability, compared with 20 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.

Heavy household work

Just over a third (36 percent) of Pacific adults with disability reported getting help with heavy household work because of disability, compared with 30 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.

Private finances

Eighteen percent of Pacific adults with disability reported getting help with their personal finances such as banking or paying bills because of disability, compared with 8 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability.

Personal care

Eleven percent of Pacific adults with disability reported getting help with their personal care such as dressing or bathing because of disability, compared with 5 percent of non-Pacific-people with disability.

Communicating with others

Fifteen percent of Pacific adults with disability reported receiving help with communicating with others because of disability, such as when they went to a doctor, compared with 6 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.

Children

Family help with personal care or household work for children

In the previous 12 months, the parents or caregivers of 14 percent of Pacific children with disability had needed help with their child's personal care or with household work related to their child having a disability. This compared with the parents or caregivers of 13 percent of non-Pacific children with disability.

Needs assessments

Adults

Pacific adults with disability were less likely (8 percent) than non-Pacific adults with disability (15 percent) to have had a needs assessment of their personal care and support needs for everyday living.

Half (50 percent) of Pacific adults with disability indicated they had not had a needs assessment recently (that is, within 12 months) because they did not know about needs assessments. In comparison, 34 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability had not had a needs assessment recently because they did not know about needs assessments.

Children

Pacific children with disability (11 percent) were slightly less likely to have received a needs assessment than non-Pacific children with disability (15 percent).

Not knowing about needs assessments was more common among the parents or caregivers of Pacific children with disability (47 percent), than among the parents or caregivers of non-Pacific children with disability (35 percent).

Health service use in previous 12 months [Consultations with health professionals were not necessarily for disability-related reasons.]

Adults and children

Family doctor or general practitioner

Pacific peoples with disability (87 percent) were just as likely as non-Pacific peoples with disability (86 percent) to have seen a family doctor or a general practitioner (GP) in the previous 12 months. However, Pacific children with disability (91 percent) were slightly more likely than non-Pacific children with disability (87 percent) to have consulted with their family doctor or GP (Figure 9.9).

Figure 9.9: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific peoples (adults and children) with disability living in households who had used different types of health service in the previous 12 months, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Table 9.28.

Nurse

In the previous 12 months, Pacific peoples with disability (27 percent) were slightly less likely than non-Pacific peoples with disability (32 percent) to have seen a nurse without seeing a doctor at the same time.

In particular, Pacific adults aged 25-64 (25 percent) and 65 and over (22 percent) with disability were less likely to have consulted a nurse, than non-Pacific adults aged 25-64 (32 percent) and 65 years and over (32 percent).

Chemist/pharmacist

Pacific peoples with disability (70 percent) were slightly less likely than non-Pacific peoples (74 percent) to have consulted a chemist or pharmacist in the previous 12 months. While more Pacific children with disability (68 percent) saw a chemist than non-Pacific children with disability (61 percent), fewer Pacific youth and young adults (15-24 years) with disability (56 percent) saw a chemist than non-Pacific youth and young adults with disability (64 percent).

Dentist/dental nurse

Pacific peoples with disability (31 percent) were less likely than non-Pacific peoples (36 percent) to see a dentist or dental nurse in the previous 12 months. In particular, Pacific adults aged
45-64 with disability (19 percent) were less likely to have consulted a dentist or dental nurse than non-Pacific adults aged 45-64 with disability (33 percent).

Physiotherapist

Fifteen percent of Pacific peoples with disability had seen a physiotherapist in the previous 12 months, compared with 18 percent of non-Pacific peoples.

Medical specialist

Thirty percent of Pacific peoples with disability had consulted a medical specialist in the previous 12 months, compared with 41 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability. This smaller proportion of consultation occurred in each age group.

In particular, Pacific young people aged 15-24 (17 percent) were less likely to have consulted a medical specialist than non-Pacific young people (30 percent). Also, adults aged 45-64 with disability (32 percent) were also less likely to have consulted a medical specialist than non-Pacific adults with disability (45 percent).

Counsellor/social worker/psychologist

Ten percent of Pacific peoples with disability had consulted a counsellor, social worker or psychologist in the previous 12 months, compared with 13 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability. Pacific peoples had a smaller proportion of consultation in each age group.

In particular, Pacific young people (aged 15-24) with disability (12 percent) were less likely to have consulted a counsellor than non-Pacific young people with disability (23 percent). Also, Pacific adults aged 25-44 with disability (12 percent) were less likely to have consulted a counsellor than non-Pacific adults with disability (21 percent).

Optician

Fourteen percent of Pacific peoples with disability had consulted an optician or optometrist in the previous 12 months, compared with 25 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability.

The lower proportion of consultation occurred mainly in younger and older age groups. In particular, Pacific children with disability (9 percent) were less likely to have consulted an eye specialist than non-Pacific children with disability (19 percent). Pacific adults aged 45-64 with disability (18 percent) were less likely to have consulted an eye specialist than non-Pacific adults with disability (26 percent). Finally, Pacific adults aged 65 and over with disability (16 percent) were less likely to have consulted an eye specialist than non-Pacific older adults with disability (34 percent).

Traditional healer

According to Sui Ne'emia (2003), alternative health options, including traditional Pacific healing, are seen by Pacific peoples as the most wanted services for physical wellbeing, particularly for stroke and musculo-skeletal conditions and for older people and family members with a disability.

Seven percent of Pacific peoples with disability had consulted a traditional healer in the previous 12 months, compared with 2 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability.

Ten percent of Pacific adults aged 45-64 and 10 percent of Pacific adults aged 65 and over-reported using a traditional healer.

Pacific health worker

Eight hundred (3 percent) of Pacific peoples with disability had used a Pacific (or Mäori) health worker in the previous 12 months. This was similar to 4500 Mäori (4 percent) with disability who used a Mäori (or Pacific) health worker in the previous 12 months.

Use of equipment and technology

Twenty-one percent of Pacific peoples with disability reported using equipment and technology, compared with 30 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability.

Adults

Pacific men and women aged 65 and over with disability used special equipment the most (49 percent and 46 percent respectively). However, this was slightly less than non-Pacific men and women aged 65 and over with disability (56 percent and 52 percent respectively).

Pacific adults with disability most commonly used equipment for mobility purposes (an estimated 3000 or 14 percent), followed by equipment for seeing (an estimated 1400 or 6 percent) and equipment for hearing (an estimated 900 or 4 percent).

Children

Only a few Pacific children with disability (an estimated 200 or 3 percent) reported using special hearing equipment. This was similar to the level of special hearing equipment use in non-Pacific children.

Unmet needs for services and support

Unmet need for help with everyday activities

Most (92 percent) Pacific adults with disability did not have an unmet need for help with everyday activities (that is, personal care, housework, shopping or home repairs and maintenance). This was the same proportion as non-Pacific adults with disability.

Among the 8 percent of Pacific adults with disability who had an unmet need for help, Pacific adults in the 45-64 age group had the highest level (12 percent) of unmet need.

Unmet need for help with personal care of child or household work

Most (89 percent) Pacific children with a disability had not had an unmet need for family help with personal care or household work because of the child's disability. This was a similar proportion as for non-Pacific children with disability (91 percent).

Unmet need for equipment and technology

Twelve percent of Pacific peoples with disability reported an unmet need for equipment and technology. This was the same proportion as for non-Pacific peoples with disability.

Among Pacific peoples with disability, Pacific men with disability aged 65 and over (31 percent) reported the highest level of unmet equipment need. By comparison, 16 percent of non-Pacific men with disability aged 65 and over had unmet equipment needs. Pacific women with disability aged 45-64 (18 percent) reported the next highest level of unmet equipment need. This was higher than the proportion of non-Pacific women with disability in the same age group (13 percent).

Unmet need for health services

Seventeen percent of Pacific peoples with disability reported an unmet need for at least one type of health service in the previous 12 months, compared with 15 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability.

Among Pacific peoples with disability, adults aged 45-64 reported the highest proportion of unmet need (21 percent) for some type of health service. This compared with 16 percent of non-Pacific adults aged 45-64 with disability (Figure 9.10).

Figure 9.10: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific peoples with disability living in households who reported an unmet need for health services in the previous 12 months, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Table 9.29.

Fifteen percent of Pacific children with disability reported some type of unmet need, which was similar to the rate for non-Pacific children (17 percent).

Fourteen percent of Pacific peoples with disability aged 15-24 reported some type of unmet need for health services, compared with 22 percent of non-Pacific peoples in the same age group.

Ten percent of Pacific peoples with disability aged 65 and over reported an unmet need for health services, compared with 6 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability in the same age group.

Education

Assessments of developmental and educational need

Pacific children (18 percent) with disability were less likely than non-Pacific children (39 percent) to have been professionally assessed to determine their developmental and educational needs.

Educational qualifications [Educational qualifications data excludes 6500 or 30 percent of Pacific adults because no answer was provided in the census return, or 2001 Household Disability Survey data could not be linked to census data.]

With disability

In 2001, 34 percent of Pacific adults with disability (an estimated 7500 people) had no school or post-school qualifications (Figure 9.11). This was similar to the proportion of non-Pacific adults with disability who had no school or post-school qualifications (31 percent).

Among Pacific and non-Pacific adults with disability who had no qualifications, Pacific women with disability were the most likely (37 percent) to have no qualifications, followed by non-Pacific women with disability (31 percent), then Pacific men with disability (30 percent).

Figure 9.11 shows the age groups the most likely not to have school or post-school qualifications.

Figure 9.11: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adults with and without disability living in households with no educational qualifications, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Tables 9.20 and 9.21.

Twenty-nine percent of Pacific adults with disability (an estimated 6300 adults) had a school qualification. Again, this was similar to the proportion of non-Pacific adults with disability who had a school qualification (27 percent).

Figure 9.12 shows the age groups the most likely to have a school qualification.

Figure 9.12: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adults with and without disability living in households with a school qualification, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Tables 9.20 and 9.21.

Seven percent of Pacific adults with disability (an estimated 1600 people) had a post-school qualification. This was much lower than the proportion of non-Pacific adults with disability who had a post-school qualification (22 percent), reflecting Pacific peoples being generally less likely than non-Pacific peoples to have post-school qualifications. The proportion of Pacific adults without disability who had post-school qualifications was 13 percent, somewhat higher than the 7 percent of Pacific adults with disability who had these qualifications.

Figure 9.13 shows the age groups the most likely to have a school qualification.

Figure 9.13: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adults with and without disability living in households with a post-school qualification, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

- Percentages too small to report (estimated frequencies outside the 70 percent relative sampling error cut-off point).

Note: Data in Appendix Tables 9.20 and 9.21

Enrolment in formal education or training

In 2001, levels of enrolment in formal education and training (for example, secondary school, polytechnic or university) were similar for Pacific and non-Pacific adults with disability. Ten percent of Pacific adults with disability were enrolled in education and training, compared with 9 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability. However, a lower percentage of Pacific adults aged 25-44 with disability (8 percent) were enrolled in formal education or training than non-Pacific adults with disability in the same age group (14 percent) (Figure 9.14).

Figure 9.14: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adults with disability living in households enrolled in formal education, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Table 9.22.

Work and income

Labour force status

Not in the labour force

In 2001, more than half (55 percent) the Pacific adults with disability living in households reported not being in the labour force. [The questionnaire did not ask whether people had ever been in the labour force.] This was similar to the proportion of non-Pacific adults with disability not in the labour force (56 percent).

However, Pacific men aged 25-44 with disability had a higher rate of non-participation in the labour force than non-Pacific men with disability in the same age group (37 percent compared with 18 percent) (Figure 9.15). The same was the case for Pacific men aged 45-64 with disability compared with non-Pacific men with disability in the same age group (52 percent compared with 33 percent). This reflects Pacific men being generally less likely to be in the labour force than non-Pacific men.

Figure 9.15: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adult males with and without disability living in households who were not in the labour force, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Tables 9.11 and 9.12.

Pacific women with disability had a higher rate of non-participation in the labour force (59 percent) than Pacific men with disability (50 percent). This was especially the case in the 45-64 age group, where 65 percent of Pacific women with disability were not in the labour force, compared with 52 percent of Pacific men with disability (Figures 9.15 and 9.16).

Figure 9.16: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adult females with and without disability living in households who were not in the labour force, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Tables 9.11 and 9.12.

Pacific peoples with disability had a higher rate of non-participation in the labour force than Pacific peoples without disability (55 percent and 31 percent respectively).

Unemployed

In 2001, Pacific adults with disability reported the same unemployment rate as Pacific adults without disability (10 percent). By comparison, the unemployment rate was lower in non-Pacific adults with disability and non-Pacific adults without disability (both 4 percent).

However, unemployment rates were comparatively high among Pacific peoples with disability in certain age (see Figure 9.17) and gender groups. In particular, 37 percent of Pacific women aged 15-24 with disability were unemployed.

Figure 9.17: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adults with and without disability living in households who were unemployed, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

Note: Data in Appendix Tables 9.11 and 9.12.

Employed

Pacific adults with disability were slightly less likely to be employed than non-Pacific adults with disability (34 percent compared with 40 percent).

Pacific adults with disability were less likely to be employed than Pacific adults without disability. About a third (34 percent) of Pacific adults with disability reported they were employed, compared with 57 percent of Pacific adults without disability. Pacific male adults with disability were less likely to be employed (43 percent) than Pacific male adults without disability (64 percent). Pacific female adults with disability were less likely to be employed (27 percent) than Pacific female adults without disability (51 percent).

Figures 9.18 and 9.19 show the employment rates by age group for Pacific and non-Pacific adult males and females.

Figure 9.18: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adult males with and without disability living in households who were employed, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

- Percentages too small to report (estimated frequencies outside the 70 percent relative sampling error cut-off point).

Note: Data in Appendix Tables 9.11 and 9.12.

Figure 9.19: Percentage of Pacific and non-Pacific adult females with and without disability living in households who were employed, by age, 2001

Source: Statistics New Zealand, 2001 Household Disability Survey

- Percentages too small to report (estimated frequencies outside the 70 percent relative sampling error cut-off point).

Note: Data in Appendix Tables 9.11 and 9.12.

Status in employment [Treat these data with caution as 37 percent of Pacific adults with disability did not specify their employment status.]

Pacific adults with disability were as likely to be employees (57 percent) as non-Pacific adults with disability (54 percent). However, non-Pacific adults with disability were much more likely to be self-employed or an employer than Pacific adults with disability.

Pacific adults with disability were less likely to be employees (57 percent) than Pacific adults without disability (81 percent).

Child Disability Allowance

The Child Disability Allowance is paid to the parents or guardians of children requiring constant care and attention because of severe disability. Parents or caregivers of Pacific children with disability (11 percent) were less likely to receive the allowance than parents or caregivers of non-Pacific children with disability (19 percent).

Community Wage - Sickness Benefit

The Community Wage - Sickness Benefit is an income-tested payment to adults who are temporarily unable to work because of disability, sickness, injury or pregnancy. Pacific adults with disability (17 percent) were more likely to receive this benefit than non-Pacific adults with disability (7 percent).

Community Services Card

The Community Services Card subsidises the cost of visits to family doctors. Two-thirds (66 percent) of Pacific adults with disability held this card, compared with 54 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.

Pacific children with disability (72 percent) were more likely than non-Pacific children with disability (43 percent) to hold a Community Services Card.

Socioeconomic areas

Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of Pacific peoples with disability were living in the most socioeconomically deprived areas (NZDep2001 7-10). This compares with just 42 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability, reflecting Pacific peoples being generally more likely than non-Pacific peoples to live in the most socioeconomically deprived areas.

However, Pacific peoples with disability (72 percent) were slightly less likely than Pacific peoples without disability (81 percent) to live in the most socioeconomically deprived areas (NZDep2001 7-10).

Personal income

In 2001, almost half (46 percent) of the Pacific adults with disability had personal incomes of $15,000 and under per year. This was similar to the proportion of non-Pacific adults with disability with personal incomes of $15,000 and under per year (49 percent).

Pacific adults with disability were more likely than Pacific adults without disability to be in the $15,000 and under personal income group (46 percent compared with 36 percent). Further, Pacific men with disability aged 15-24 were most likely be in the lowest income group.

House and amenities

Household composition

Fifteen percent of Pacific adults with disability lived in two-family households, compared with 3 percent of non-Pacific adults with disability.

Eleven percent of Pacific children with disability lived in two-family households, compared with just 3 percent of non-Pacific children with disability.

Social marital status

Pacific adults with disability (48 percent) were less likely to be partnered than non-Pacific adults with disability (54 percent).

Housing tenure

Owned or partly owned

Pacific peoples with disability (32 percent) were just as likely to live in dwellings they owned or partly owned as Pacific adults without disability (34 percent), but much less likely than non-Pacific adults with disability (58 percent). [Differences reflect to some extent the different age structures of the Pacific and non-Pacific populations and different income levels. According to the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs and Statistics New Zealand (2002: 90), 'Pacific peoples are proportionately more likely to be in the lower income bands and less likely to be in the higher income bands than the national population even after differences in age structure are controlled for'.]

Rented or not owned

Pacific peoples with disability (48 percent) were more likely to live in dwellings that they rented or did not own than non-Pacific peoples with disability (23 percent). However, Pacific peoples with disability were slightly less likely to live in dwellings they did not own than Pacific peoples without disability (52 percent).

Accommodation Supplement

Pacific adults with disability (22 percent) were more likely to be receiving the Accommodation Supplement than non-Pacific adults with disability (13 percent).

Forty-four percent of Pacific adults with disability knew about the Accommodation Supplement. This was higher than the rate for non-Pacific adults with disability (40 percent).

Access to telephone, fax and internet

Seventy-one percent of Pacific adults with disability had access to a telephone at home. This was less than the proportion of non-Pacific adults with disability (81 percent).

Pacific children with disability (68 percent) had less access to a telephone at home than non-Pacific children with disability (77 percent).

Pacific adults with disability (13 percent) had less access to home internet facilities than non-Pacific adults with disability (26 percent).

Pacific children with disability (16 percent) also had less access to the internet at home than non-Pacific children with disability (36 percent).

Transport

Long distance travel

Nearly half the Pacific peoples with disability (48 percent) had made a long-distance trip, that is, a trip of more than 80 km or the equivalent of one hour's travelling on the open road, in the previous year. This was much smaller than the proportion of non-Pacific peoples with disability (73 percent) who had made a long trip during this time.

Difficulty travelling long distances

Pacific adults with disability (11 percent) were more likely to have a disability that stopped them from travelling long distances than non-Pacific adults with disability (6 percent).

Need for vehicle

Pacific adults with disability (13 percent) were more likely to indicate a need to buy a vehicle because of disability than non-Pacific adults with disability (4 percent).

Motor vehicles in households

Sixty-four percent of Pacific peoples with disability lived in households with access to at least one motor vehicle, compared with 72 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability and 76 percent of Pacific peoples without disability.

Driver of motor vehicle

Pacific adults with disability (41 percent) were less likely to be drivers of private motor vehicles than non-Pacific adults with disability (65 percent).

Use of buses

Pacific adults with disability (50 percent) living in a place with a bus service were more likely to have used a bus service to travel short distances at least once in the previous 12 months than non-Pacific adults with disability (22 percent).

Use of taxis

Pacific peoples with disability (40 percent) were more likely to have used a taxi for short trips at least once in the previous 12 months compared with non-Pacific peoples with disability (32 percent).

Pacific peoples with disability (11 percent) were slightly more likely than non-Pacific peoples with disability (7 percent) to use a taxi for short trips every day. They were also more likely to use a taxi once a month or more (10 percent compared with 6 percent).

Total Mobility Scheme

Three-quarters of Pacific peoples with disability (75 percent), including 81 percent of people aged 65 and over, had not heard of the Total Mobility Scheme. This compares with 66 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability.

Unmet need for financial help for transport costs

Seventeen percent of Pacific peoples with disability said they needed financial help for transport costs in the previous 12 months, but were unable to get this help. This compared with just 8 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability.

Pacific children with disability reported the highest rates of unmet need for financial help for transport costs (24 percent), followed by Pacific adults aged 45-64 (22 percent).

Pacific adults with disability living in residential facilities

In 2001, an estimated 500 Pacific adults with disability lived in residential facilities such as rest homes, private hospitals and long-stay residential units. This was just 2 percent of Pacific peoples with disability, compared with 4 percent of non-Pacific peoples with disability.

Of the estimated 500 Pacific adults with disability in residential facilities, over 400 (80 percent) were aged 65 and over, and an estimated 200 (40 percent) were living in rest homes or homes for older people.

Several factors may account for the low number of Pacific peoples with disability living in residential facilities. Many of these facilities cater for older clients; whereas Pacific peoples with disability tend to be younger than non-Pacific peoples with disability. Pacific peoples are also more likely to live in an extended family situation, which may include more than one set of related parents, their children and grandchildren. This means older Pacific peoples with disability may be more likely than older non-Pacific peoples to have family members available in their households to care for them. [In 2001, an estimated 29 percent of the Pacific population was living in an extended family, compared with 8 percent of the national population (Statistics New Zealand 2001).]