NEGL and The New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026-2030 Posted by Posted by Jade Farrar on 8 December 2025 Posted on: 8 December 2025

The refreshed New Zealand Disability Strategy was released. The Crowns strategy is intended to provide direction to/for government agencies.

It is important to note the 2026-2030 NZ Disability Strategy states:

“This strategy is built on important foundations

Enabling Good Lives

Enabling Good Lives (EGL) has its origin as a social movement, and is part of the whakapapa of this strategy. It is a vision and set of principles developed by the disability community as a foundation for positive change. The EGL principles are a touchstone for the future, helping to guide the design and implementation of services and supports for disabled people. The principles are:

• Self-determination
• Beginning early
• Person-centred
• Ordinary life outcomes
• Mainstream first
• Mana enhancing
• Easy to use
• Relationship building”[1]

Definitions

Foundation

“a basis (such as a tenet, principle, or axiom) upon which something stands or is supported”[2]

“a principle, an idea or a fact that something is based on and that it grows from”[3]

Touchstone

“an established standard or principle by which something is judged”[4]

“touchstone (of/for something) something that provides a standard against which other things are compared and/or judged”[5]

“A touchstone is a criterion or standard by which something is judged; it functions as a benchmark or yardstick for assessing quality or genuineness”[6]

Guide

“A guide is something that can be used to help you plan your actions or to form an opinion about something”[7]

“Something that serves to direct or indicate.”[8]

What this means for EGL 

EGL as a foundation, touchstone and guide means the Enabling Good Lives approach provides the core principles, vision and practical framework that the NZ disability strategy must consider, test itself against, and use to shape policy, services and practice.

As a foundation:

• it supplies the values and structure on which services and systems can be redesigned;
• as a touchstone it becomes the standard against which policies and decisions are judged; and
• as a guide it points to concrete ways to change how supports are planned, funded and governed