Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)(external link) was adopted by General Assembly by resolution A/RES/61/106 on 13 December 2006 and entered into force on 3 May 2008. New Zealand ratified the CRPD on 25 September 2008.
New Zealand has made no reservations to the CRPD.
Optional Protocol
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities(external link) was adopted by General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/106 on 13 December 2006 and entered into force on 3 May 2008.
New Zealand acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on 5 October 2016. It came into force on 4 November 2016. For information on the optional protocol including what the Optional Protocol means for disabled people please click on this link:
Optional protocol - Whaikaha (Ministry of Disabled People)(external link)
Monitoring
The CRPD provides for:
The Optional Protocol to the CRPD provides for:
an individual complaints procedure, and
an optional (opt-out) inquiry procedure (Article 8).
Find out more
Read the Convention – different formats and translations(external link)
Read the latest reports relating to New Zealand, produced under the reporting procedure provided for by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities(external link)
Reporting procedure for the core human rights instruments of the United Nations
New Zealand's common core document: 'Human Rights Review 2010' [PDF, 4.7 MB]
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities(external link)
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This page was last updated: 20th May 2025