New scheme helps disabled find accessible businesses in NZ

Tuesday, 28 June 2022

Christchurch woman Michelle Gillett is grateful for her Hāpai Access Card which lets disabled people know which businesses are accessible, as well as giving them a discount. (First published June 28, 2022.)

A life-changing new scheme is alerting disabled people to which cafés, restaurants and accommodations are accessible.

Hāpai Access Card has 75 businesses in Christchurch onboard and has just launched in Selwyn, with expansion plans to Queenstown and Nelson under way.

Avonhead resident Michelle Gillett, 49, has a rare form of dwarfism, and uses a wheelchair to get around.

Gillett has been using the Hāpai Access Card for three months, and said it has helped improve her confidence.

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Avonhead resident Michelle Gillett has a disability, but thanks to the Hāpai Access Card she is able to find out which businesses have taken accessibility into account.

“I struggled getting out and about through personal issues, social anxiety, and being a little person in a wheelchair, I found it quite hard going places I couldn’t get into,” Gillett said.

Gillett says she feels more confident going to places now that she doesn't have to worry about accessibility barriers like steps and narrow doorways.

“Whereas now I know if I see the Hāpai card sign, then yeah, I know the access is going to be fine.

“It’s had an amazing impact on my life, I’m getting out of my comfort zone. It’s broadened my horizons, really.”

The scheme was launched in Christchurch in 2021 and has just expanded to include Selwyn, with Queenstown and Nelson next in line.

The card ensures the business is accessible for wheelchair users and, at some places, they can also receive a discount or bring another person for free.

Every business that signs up explains how it has addressed access barriers on the Hāpai Foundation website, and a walkthrough video is created.

This is to create an online database that disabled people can use to explore which businesses have taken accessibility into account.

The Hāpai Foundation says more resourcing is needed before a nationwide rollout can be achieved.

“I'm using it to get out and about a bit more, for coffees, to go places with my mum. The library is a good place to use it, movie theatres – it's bringing on a lot more places that you can visit,” Gillett said.

“It’s more about promoting awareness that if we're able to get into these places, then we're going to go back more and more.”

Gillett wants to see other major cities across Aotearoa get involved.

The access card costs $30 and is valid for three years. It was launched in Christchurch by the Hāpai Foundation in 2021.

”We aim to give people confidence in trying something new, and highlighting any particular things we think someone should be aware of,” Hāpai Foundation spokesman Loudon Keir said.

“Ideally what we want is that the card is a way in which someone can advocate for themselves,” he said.

Keir said the foundation was planning for a nationwide roll-out, but needed help getting more businesses onboard. “The big issue we have is resourcing, we have more opportunity than we can cope with.”

In Christchurch, around 75 businesses have signed up to the card scheme, and a similar number are in the pipeline.

The scheme launched in Selwyn earlier this month at all council sites, and 25 businesses are in the process of coming onboard.

The Hāpai Foundation is also working with the council and businesses in Queenstown, and it has received funding from the Nelson City Council to get 20 sites signed up.