The National Disabled Students' Association is an incorporated society — meaning we have a committee (what we call our Executive) and Members. The Executive makes day-to-day decisions, and a lot of the operational mahi (work). We have four different types of membership, and our Members from across the country help us make big decisions and guide the direction of the NDSA. Together, we all help to get feedback from disabled ākonga (learners) and make sure our voices are heard at national and local levels!
Table of contents
- Our Executive structure
- Our membership structure
- Our Alumni Subcommittee
- Our Vocational Ākonga Subcommittee (VĀS)
- A visual guide
Our Executive structure
We currently have five Executives who are elected in by our Voting Members. Our Executives include:
- Co-Presidents
- The Co-Presidents work together to help run the NDSA and make day-to-day decisions
- They provide leadership and delegation
- They act as the public face of the Association
- They respond to media enquiries
- They are responsible for finalising the annual budget and reporting
- They are responsible for providing information to the Registrar and other relevant bodies
- They help to develop and finalise policies, guidelines, procedures, and plans for the NDSA
- They help to answer enquiries and may undertake advocacy cases
- They help to delegate who answers enquiries and advocacy cases
- A Relations Officer (RO)
- The RO works as an ambassador of the NDSA with external organisations, student groups, and institutes towards helping disabled students
- They build and maintain relationships with other organisations and student groups
- They may support the NDSA in providing events and other forms of engagement
- They help in developing relevant policies, guidelines, procedures, and plans for the NDSA
- An Engagement Officer (EO)
- The EO works directly with our Members, helps with Members’ Council, and works on our social media
- They help to provide Members with relevant information
- They help to organise and chair Members' Council meetings
- They support the NDSA in providing engagement and events
- An Administration Officer (AO)
- The AO does important behind-the-scenes work, like seeking grant funding, doing minutes, and reviewing policy
- They minute meetings, including Executive, Members' Council, and General meetings
- They help with certain treasurer activities
- They help us with funding applications
- They may help with the Co-Presidents in forming the annual budget
- They may help the Co-Presidents in providing information to the Registrar and other relevant bodies
- They help to develop relevant policies, guidelines, procedures, and plans for the NDSA
Our roles are quite flexible and we try to adapt them to our team's skills and capacity, so you might find the person doing certain tasks changes time-to-time. You can learn more about our Executives in our current 2025 Executive page and past Executives page.
Our membership structure
We have four types of Members, split into two main groups: Voting and Non-Voting Members. All types of Members play an important part in our Association, and in our decision-making.
Every institution (the place where you learn) currently can have one Voting Member representing it. A Member might be a group of learners (such as a disabled students' association) or it could have one person representing it (such as someone at a general students' association, or someone chosen by the institution and other disabled learners). Check out our Members page to see whether your institution has a Member!
We encourage Voting Members to work directly with learners at their institution to get feedback on issues affecting disabled ākonga. If there are several groups at an institution, we ask they work together to collaborate, and make sure their voices are collectively represented at the NDSA by voting with disabled learners' best interests in mind. Our membership types have been a source of a lot of discussion and we're always keen on feedback on how we can make an equitable membership structure!
- Voting Members includes Organisational Voting Members and Representative Voting Members
- Organisational Voting Members are groups such as disabled students' associations or clubs. One or two people become the contact points for these Members, but they can also send someone else in their group for meetings if they can't make it.
- Representative Voting Members are individuals chosen to represent their institution, if they don't have a group who wishes to take the role. They might be a learner suggested by disability services staff, the students' association, or several other learners to represent their institution.
- Non-Voting Members includes Independent Members and Observing Members
- If you're looking to join the NDSA and your institution already has a Voting Member, consider becoming an Independent Member. Independent Members can still attend Part One monthly Members' Council meetings, feedback on changes we make, and keep up to date with the NDSA!
- Our Independent Membership pathway is still in development — please contact us if you would like to join as an Independent Member.
- Groups we work with, such as general and other national students' associations, can become Observing Members by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
Our Alumni Subcommittee
The Alumni Subcommittee provides the NDSA with guidance on how we operate, what campaigns we take part in, and our Annual Strategic Plan. The Subcommittee consists of up to seven (7) people who have previously served on the Executive or as Voting Members of the NDSA for at least a year, and are elected every year by our Voting Members. The Alumni Subcommittee:
- Helps to approve the yearly Annual Strategic Plan made by the incoming Executive
- Meets with the Executive at least four times a year, and meets with Members on request
- Signs a Terms of Reference with the Executive after being elected
- People interested in joining the Subcommittee provide descriptions to Voting Members, who elect the seven alumni at the beginning of each year.
You can learn more about the current Alumni Subcommittee on their about page.
Our Vocational Ākonga Subcommittee (VĀS)
The Vocational Ākonga Subcommittee brings voice to learners at vocational institutions such as Te Pūkenga or polytechnic institutes, private training establishments, industry training organisations (ITOs), and wānanga. We recognise learners at these institutions are often underrepresented among national associations and movements, despite making up a significant portion of learners across the motu (country).
The NDSA aims to make sure the perspectives and experiences of vocational learners are represented among every level of decision-making, and have a say in matters affecting them. Recognising the evolving needs of vocational learners, much of the Subcommittee’s structure, procedures, and role is agreed upon in a Terms of Reference (TOR) presented at a meeting held every year between the Executives and Voting and Independent Members of the NDSA who learn at vocational institutes. The VĀS:
- Consists of people who have learned at a vocational institute within the last two years, and are Voting or Independent Members of the NDSA
- Consists of at least four members
- Voting and election procedures are decided upon according to the Terms of Reference
- Self-governs according to the agreed-upon Terms of Reference
A visual guide
Below is an image showing the visual structure of the NDSA. We also have a PDF version (not screen reader friendly). We are currently working to provide a screen reader friendly PDF, however we have a downloadable formatted, text-only (Word) version.
