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National Disabled Students' Association > Resources > Your rights as a disabled learner

Your rights as a disabled learner

Every disabled learner is covered by both national legislation and alongside policies, plans, and guidelines at your institution (the place where you learn).

Have you found a link that doesn’t work, or you feel something is missing? Please use our General enquiries form to give us feedback. Check out our Find help at your local institution page for more links on how to contact your students’ association, disability support services, and advocacy services provided by students’ associations.

Table of contents

The Pastoral Care Code with PCC logo

The Pastoral Care Code (PCC)

Every learner studying in Aotearoa New Zealand, domestic and international, is covered by the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021. You might also find this referred to as the Tertiary and International Learners Code of Practice, Education Code of Practice, The Code, and the Pastoral Care Code (PCC), which is the term used by the National Disabled Students’ Association.

NZQA’s website contains links to both the PDF versions of the code, along with the Word version [Word Doc].

The Pastoral Care Code covers how institutions should care for international and diverse learners, along with covering how learners are cared for when they stay at student accommodation (such as halls of residence provided by your institution). Some of the information in the PCC includes how institutions must:

  • Have and regularly review learner wellbeing and safety strategic goals and strategic plans
  • Provide these strategic goals and strategic plans in accessible formats, including providing them on their websites
  • Gather and communicate information to identify emerging concerns about learners’ wellbeing and safety or behaviour, and take steps to connect learners to culturally appropriatesocial, medical, and mental health services (10.1)
  • Have plans for assisting learners and responding effectively in emergency situations in the learning or residential community (10.3)
  • Have practices for building and maintaining effective relationships with diverse learner groups, and engage with diverse learners to make them a part of decision-making processes, along with providing timely, accessibleinformation to learners to be transparent about their decision-making processes (12)
  • Have an easily accessiblecomplaints process, providing learners with information on how to use those complaints processes, address barriers for accessing complaints information, and reportto provider management, learners, stakeholders, and the Code administrator on the number and nature of complaints, along with learner experiences on the complaints process (13)
  • Promote publicly dispute resolution processes, including Study Complaints | Ngā Amuamu Tauira, internal complaints processes, the education quality assurance agency complaints process, and the code administrator’s (NZQA’s) complaints process (13)
  • Foster learning environments that are safe, and designed to support positive learning experiences of diverse learner groups (15)
  • Have practices to reduce harm to learners, promote inclusive cultures across the learning environment, and provide learners with accessible learning environmentswhere they can connect with others, build relationships, support each other, and welcome their friends, families, and whānau (16)
  • Provide opportunities for learners to discuss, in confidence, any issues that are affecting their ability to study (17.2)
  • Identify and (where possible) remove access barriersto provider facilities and services (18.b)
  • Involve learners in the design of physical and digital environments when making improvements (18.c)
  • Support learners to manage their physical and mental health through information and advice, and identify and respond to learners who need additional support (19)
  • Make arrangements with disabled learners or those affected by health and wellbeing difficulties to accommodate learning needs, including study off-campus (22.1.h)
  • Support learners whose study is interrupted due to circumstances outside their control, and providing inclusive, accessible re-entry processes for their transition back into study (22.1.j)
  • Ensure that student accommodation promotes and fosters a supportive and inclusive community which supports the wellbeing and safety of residents (23), and proactively monitor residents’ wellbeing and safety (27)

You can report breaches of the Pastoral Care Code to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). Before doing this, you will need to have contacted your institution first, and follow your institution’s complaints process. NZQA can investigatewhether there has been a breach of the Code, however you may wish to contact Study Complaints | Ngā Amuamu Tauira for support in resolvingany breach.

Pathway for complaints relating to the Pastoral Care Code (PCC)

Above:a visual flowchart showing the pathway for complaints related to the Pastoral Care Code (PCC). It suggests:

  1. Try to resolve your issue informally. First, you should try talk to your lecturer, course coordinator, and other staff in good faith to resolve your issue informally.
  2. Submit a formal complaint to your institution. Follow your institution’s guidance on submitting a formal complaint. You may also get help through a local students’ association.
  3. Submit your complaint to NZQA. You can submit a complaint to NZQA. Provide evidence of your attempts to complain to your institution.
  4. Submit a complaint to Study Complaints | Ngā Amuamu Tauira. Study Complaints can help you resolve the dispute if NZQA finds a breach of the Pastoral Care Code.
Disability Action Plans

Disability action plans (DAPs)

Every institution that receives over $5,000,000 in funding from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) is required to have a disability action plan. Institutions use instructions from the Tertiary Education Commission to make these plans, following their DAP guidance and Kia Ōrite toolkit [Achieve].

Disability action plans lay out how your institution is caring for disabled learners, and what they intend to do better. They provide useful statistics about their disabled learners, and other relevant policies or plans. They may talk about how they intend to make digital and physical spaces more accessible, how learners are recognised, how they engage with disabled learners in decision-making, how learners are included in events, and good ways they can use funding to help disabled learners.

The NDSA believes a good, thorough disability action plan includes:

  • Language that is up-to-date and reflects language used within disabled and Deaf communities
  • Several accessible formats
  • Visual aids and graphs showing statistics
  • A good overview of where an institution has done well, but also done poorly, and how they intend to make things better
  • Shows clear signs of engagement with their disabled learner population, including compensation for their time, and feedback-loops that keep learners up-to-date with changes and reporting
  • Cultural competence: engagement with and commitment to tāngata whaikaha and diverse experiences of disabled learners
  • Provides data on disabled learner experiences and retention rates (how many disabled students enter higher education and academic staff roles)
  • Uses plain languagein its introduction, and acknowledges disabled learners as being a part of the audiencefor the plan by making information accessible and relevant to learners
  • Discusses how they will commit to engaging disabled learner groups at their institution, such as through disabled students’ associations and clubs, and fostering disabled representation at their general students’ associations
  • Discusses how learners at student accommodation have their needs met
  • Discusses dedication to making an accessible physical and digital environment, acknowledging the many disabled learners who enrol via distance

Te Pūkenga and vocational institutes

Many vocational institutes currently follow the Te Pūkenga Disability Action Plan. Please note that this is likely to change over the upcoming years (2025 to 2026) as different vocational institutes leave the Te Pūkenga model, and they will each form their own disability action plans. We will update this page as more plans become available. There are currently four formats for the Te Pūkenga Strategic Disability Action Plan available:

There is also a 2024 update from Te Pūkenga [PDF document], along with Te Rito reports and insights.

Disability action plans at other institutions

The following list links to information on disability action plans at different universities and institutions. Please note that if your institution only has a PDF of their disability action plan, they may have more accessible versions on request. We, at NDSA, feel it is essentialfor institutions to provide accessible formats of allpolicies, plans, and strategies affecting learners, and a part of meeting their obligations under the Pastoral Care Code.

  • Auckland University of Technology (AUT) | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau
    • The Disability Action Plan 2024–2026 page for AUT contains a link to their Plan (PDF), staff and student responses to the plan (PDF), AUT’s progress towards the Plan, and information on the terminology used in the plan.
  • Lincoln University (LU) | Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki
    • The Disability Action Plan 2023–2026 page for Lincoln University contains a link to their Plan and a large print version (PDFs), a 2025 March update (PDF), progress updates, and a contact email for alternative formats.
  • Massey University (MU) | Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa
    • The Disability and Inclusion Action Plan 2024–2027 page for Massey University contains context about the Plan, a link to the Plan (PDF), a form for getting invovled with or receiving updates on the Plan, and a contact email for alternative formats.
  • Media Design School (MDS)
    • PDF link to the Disability Action Plan 2025 for Media Design School
  • Service IQ – Service industry training
    • PDF link to the Disability Learner Success Plan 2025 at Service IQ (equity page links to other Learner Success Plans)
  • Te Wānanga o Aotearoa [download]
    • PDF link to the Disability Action Plan 2025–2028 — Ki Te Hoe – Hau Whaikaha, for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
  • Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi
    • The Disability Action Plan 2025–2026 page for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. It discusses the reason for the DAP, the whakapapa behind the Wānanga, and a link to the PDF Disability Action Plan.
  • Unitec Institute of Technology (Unitec) | Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka
    • PDF link to Unitec’s Disability Manual, which provides guidelines on staff on interacting with disabled ākonga
  • University of Auckland (UoA) | Waipapa Taumata Rau
    • The about page for the Disability Action Plan 2022–2025 of the University of Auckland. It discusses context behind the Plan, a PDF link to the Plan, information about workstreams, frequently asked questions, and a contact email for alternative formats.
  • University of Canterbury (UC) | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
  • University of Otago (UO) | Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka
    • PDF link to University of Otago’s Disability Action Plan 2024–2027
  • University of Waikato (WU) | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
    • The Disability Action Plan 2023–2025 page for the University of Waikato discusses the history and purpose of the plan, a PDF and Word version of the Plan, and staff and student consultation reports (PDF and Word versions).
  • Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) | Te Herenga Waka
    • The Te Ara Taupuhipuhi Disability Action Plan 2025–2027 page for Victoria University of Wellington. It contains links to information about the Plan, disability at the University, and history of disability services. It also contains a link to the Plan (PDF), its focus areas, and promotes the Victoria University of Wellington Disabled Students’ Association.
Lay a complaint to your institution

Lay a complaint to your institution

Institutions are requiredby the Pastoral Care Code to ensure that their complaints process is easily accessible to learners (13.d) and provide learners with clear information on how to use the internal complaints processes (13.d.i) and must provide an opportunity for a support person or people (who can be chosen by the learner) to guide and support the learner through the complaints process (13.d.iii). These mean your institution should have a clear, accessible complaints process, and you are allowed to have a support person (or people) guide and support you through the process.

Currently, not all institutions follow the rules laid out by the Pastoral Care Code. We, as the National Disabled Students’ Associations, hope to work with institutions to make sure they have clear, accessible complaints processes, and will update our links and assessment as they make changes. We recommend all institutions have a complaints form and designated email address for learners to easily file complaints.

The following list links to institution’s complaints information and processes:

Lay a complaint with Study Complaints | Ngā Amuamu Tauira

Lay a complaint with Study Complaints | Ngā Amuamu Tauira

If you’ve tried to make a complaint to your institution and you aren’t happy with the outcome, you can firstlay a complaint through NZQA for breaches of the Pastoral Care Code, and thenescalate it to Study Complaints | Ngā Amuamu Tauira. Study Complaints is available to both international and domestic learners to help resolve disputes between you and your provider. Your providers are requiredby the Pastoral Care Code to advertise Study Complaints (13.h.i, where it is referred to as the Disputes Resolution Scheme). Study Complaints is freeand independent, and can help with:

  • Financial complaints, such as complaints related to refunds for courses
  • Contractual complaints, such as complaints relating to the contract you sign with your institution when you choose to study with them
  • Remedying claims after an NZQA investigation finds there has been a breach of the Pastoral Care Code

Study Complaints is covered by its own legislation, Education (Domestic Tertiary Student and International Student Contract Dispute Resolution Scheme) Rules 2023.

Other ways you can lay a complaint

Other ways you can lay a complaint

Human Rights Commission

If you are experiencing what may be a breach of the Human Rights Act such as a form of unlawful discrimination, sexual harassment, racial harassment, victimisation, or harmful or hate speech, you may lay a complaint to the Human Rights Commission (online complaints form). Please note some individuals may find the contrast on this website difficult to read.

Student Allowance Appeal Authority

For domestic students, you can appeal decisions made by the Ministry of Social Development around your student allowance. First, you should contact StudyLink for a review of decision for student allowance. If you disagree with the decision made by StudyLink, you can lodge an appeal with the Authority within 21 days of the date of the letter from StudyLink telling you of their decision. If you lodge an appeal after 21 days, you must provide a reason on why your appeal is late, and why you think it should be accepted.

Complain to Universities New Zealand

If your complaint is serious or significant and relates to the quality and/or integrity of a qualification, you can complain to Universities New Zealand. Universities New Zealand can only investigate specific complaints relating to qualifications.

Complain to the Ombudsman

The Ombudsman can help with complaints against publiceducation providers, such as universities, Te Pūkenga, and wānanga. However, the Ombudsman cannothelp with complaints about private training establishments. Before getting in touch with the Ombudsman, you will need to have tried to resolve the complaint first with your institution. You can also make a complaint about a response you received through a request for official information. The Ombudsman also provides a video about the different ways the Deaf community can get in touch with them. (Form to make a complaint to the Ombudsman)

Other documents relevant to your rights as a disabled learner

Other documents relevant to your rights as a disabled learner

The New Zealand Disability Strategy (NZDS)

Aotearoa New Zealand has a New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016–2026 [Whaikaha, multiple formats available], which guides how government agencies work around disability issues. Outcome 1covers education, stating that we should get an excellent education and achieve our potential throughout our lives. It stresses the importance of having access to New Zealand Sign Language and other modes of communication, and that the right information and supports should be available to us. We should be treated with dignity and respect by those in the education system, and should have smooth transitions into tertiary education.

The Strategy discusses how:

  • We as disabled people should be consulted on and actively involved in legislation and policies around education
  • We should have inclusive access to mainstream education
  • We should have access to high quality services for disabled people
  • All teachers and educators should be competent in inclusive education
  • Decision-making related to the education of disabled people should be informed by robust data and evidence.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCPRD)

Aotearoa New Zealand is a signatory [Whaikaha] to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD, also referred to as the Convention). New Zealand helped to negotiate the Convention [Whaikaha], and signed the Convention in 2007, ratifying it (making our agreement formal and valid) in 2008. Aotearoa also agreed to the Optional Protocol in 2016 [Whaikaha], which lays out an individual complaints pathway for disabled people if we feel our rights under the Convention have been denied, where we can complain to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The UNCRPD lays out what is needed to implement existing human rights for disabled people, and how countries can work towards making sure our rights are followed according to the Convention. Article 24[United Nations] of the Convention lays out our rights in relation to education. It helps to make sure we can reach our full potential as disabled people, and that we can participate effectively in society. It makes sure that:

  • We are not excluded from the general education system on basis of disability
  • Reasonable accommodation of our requirements is provided
  • We receive the support we require, within the general education system
  • Individualised support measures are provided to help our academic and social development, with the goal of full inclusion
  • We can access the ability to learn different forms of language and communication, such as Braille, augmentative and alternative modes, and sign language
  • Teachers with disabilities, and teachers qualified in sign language and/or braille are employed in education, and staff at all levels of education are given training on disability awareness, and the use of different modes of communication, educational techniques and materials to support disabled people
  • Disabled people can access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education, and lifelong learning without discrimination, and on an equal basis to others. We should have reasonable accommodations in achieving this education

If you feel there has been a breach of your rights under the Convention, you can make a complaint to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [United Nations]. The Ombudsman has provided an Easy Read on how to make a complaint [PDF]. Before making a complaint, you should try to resolve your complaint through the pathways provided within Aotearoa New Zealand. You can also get more information about laying a complaint by contacting the Human Rights Commission [note: some individuals may find the contrast on this website difficult to read]. You may also be able to find help through a Disabled People’s Organisation [Whaikaha] related to your disability.