The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) expects TEOs to take a proactive approach to improving outcomes for disabled learners, and to document this through a DAP.

DAPs help ensure TEOs meet their responsibilities under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

All large TEOs that receive $5 million or more in funding from the TEC are required to submit updates on how they are progressing or building their DAP. 

We use these updates to inform funding decisions, actively monitor progress against commitments, and hold organisations to account.

What is a Disability Action Plan?

We want to ensure that TEOs avoid discrimination against disabled people, and disabled learners experience better outcomes throughout their education journey.

A DAP helps you to identify good practices and offers a blueprint for change. DAP updates sit alongside other Investment Plan requirements, including Learner Success Plan updates, designed to improve outcomes for all learners, in particular, under-served learners.

The DAP Guidance, which TEC provides, supports you to develop your DAP. The guidance gives suggestions on how to use the Kia Ōrite Toolkit as part of this development. 

Disability Action Plan (DAP) Guidance – revised March 2024 (PDF 585 KB)

Disability Action Plan (DAP) Guidance – revised March 2024 (DOCX 852 KB) 

The Kia Ōrite Toolkit describes best practice

The Kia Ōrite Toolkit is a New Zealand code of practice to achieve a tertiary education environment that supports disabled learners.

Your DAP update must show clear evidence that your organisation is using various processes and measuring its progress against the Kia Ōrite Toolkit and its best practice standards.

Access the Kia Ōrite Toolkit on the Achieve website.

Find out more about the Kia Ōrite Toolkit  –  achieving equity for disabled learners.

Giving effect to the Tertiary Education Strategy (TES)

Creating and implementing a DAP and improving outcomes for disabled learners ensures TEOs give effect to the TES – specifically, Priority 1: Achievement, and Priority 3: Access and Participation.

Supporting your learner success approach

Fundamental to our work is understanding all learners and their needs and aspirations. Developing and implementing a DAP helps ensure your organisation fully understands the needs of disabled learners. Alongside Kia Ōrite, DAPs are a vital resource to support you to redesign your business with learners at the centre.

Ōritetanga Learner Success – better tertiary education outcomes for everyone

Disability Action Plan report backs on the initial rollout

2023 was the second year TEOs were required to submit a DAP as part of the investment round. DAPs were assessed, and feedback provided to TEOs. A sector-level report on the development of DAPs is available below.

• Disability Action Plans 2023: A report back to the tertiary education sector (PDF 459 KB)
• Transcript for Disability Action Plans 2023: A report back to the tertiary education sector

The 2022 sector report is also available:

• Disability Action Plan 2022: a report back to the tertiary education sector (PDF 606 KB)
• Transcript for Disability Action Plans 2022: A report back to the tertiary education sector

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the DAP Guidance and the Kia Ōrite toolkit?

The DAP Guidance is advice from the TEC on how to develop a DAP and what it should cover.

Kia Ōrite is a toolkit for best practice, developed by a group of sector experts. It advises TEOs on how to best support disabled learners at all stages of their learning journey.

They are two separate resources but support each other and should be read and used together.

Who has to submit a DAP?

TEOs receiving $5 million or more in on-Plan funding are expected to develop a DAP, and must submit updates on this work in the Strategic Intent part of their Investment Plan.

What about other TEOs?

We strongly encourage all TEC-funded TEOs to engage with the Kia Ōrite Toolkit and develop a DAP at the earliest opportunity. Doing so will mean taking all possible steps to reduce discrimination against disabled people, including staff, learners, and those in the wider community, and improve educational outcomes for disabled learners.

More information

TEC staff are available to answer any questions about the DAP Guidance, the Kia Ōrite Toolkit and the investment process. Please contact your Relationship Manager or the Customer Contact Team on 0800 601 301 or at customerservice@tec.govt.nz