Tēnā koe

Thank you for contacting the Human Rights Commission. This is an
auto-reply to confirm we received your email.

We check our emails regularly and will respond as soon as we can. In some
cases, this may take some weeks. We thank you for your patience.

You can find helpful information on our website (tikatangata.org.nz),
including answers to frequently asked questions about human rights.

Ngā mihi

Human Rights Information and Support Services
New Zealand Human Rights Commission

Tēnā koe Erika

 

We refer to your official information request dated 6 July 2023 in which
you asked for copies of correspondence on policies, procedures, memos etc.
regarding the handling of claims regarding medical disabilities and
vaccination from April 2021 to July 2023.

 

Your request, as currently framed, will be difficult for the Human Rights
Commission to meet due to a lack of clarity in what you have asked us to
provide. In particular, we are unsure:

 1. whether you are asking for copies of correspondence about HRC’s
policies, procedures or memos on these issues, or copies of any
policies, procedures and memos themselves?
 2. whether you are referring to complaints received by the Commission
when you refer to “claims”?
 3. what is meant by the term “medical disability”? There are a variety of
definitions of ‘disability’ internationally, including in the Human
Rights Act 1993, and across different Aotearoa government agencies.
However, by and large ‘disability’ is, explicitly or otherwise,
interpretated as long-term impairments (Art 1, [1]UNCRDP, 2007). For
example, Whaikaha uses the phrase “likely to last at least 6 months”.
To be clear, long-term disabilities can arise following a reaction to
vaccines – but short-term reactions would not typically be considered
an impairment / disability.

 

To assist the Commission in meeting your request, we suggest that your
request could be reworded to: “seek copies of any Commission policies,
procedures or memos that were in place between April 2021 to date, about
the handling of complaints received by the Commission regarding Covid-19
vaccinations and injuries or disabilities arising from the Covid-19
vaccine.”

 

Please let us know before next Wednesday, 26 July 2023, whether you are
happy for us to respond to your request as reworded above and we will
provide you with the relevant materials.

 

We note that the Commission has also produced a range of publicly
available information regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and response. I have
set out some information which may be of assistance at the end of this
email.

 

If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, please feel
free to contact me. Having a discussion about your request may help us
with providing the specific information you are seeking.

 

Nāku noa, nā

Philippa

 

 

Covid-19 related information - Please see attached the following publicly
available information:

o A paper on Human Rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi: Covid-19 and Alert
Level 4 in Aotearoa New Zealand (April 2020)
o Submissions to parliamentary select committees on:

o Inquiry into the Public Health Response Act 2020 (June 2020)
o COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Bill (June 2020)
o Inquiry into the regulation-making powers in the COVID-19 Response
(Vaccinations) Legislation Act 2021 and the COVID-19 Public Health
Response (Protection Framework) Order 2021 (February 2022)

o Please also see this [2]link to COVID-19 related content on the
Commission’s website, including:

o an inquiry and report into the [3]Support of Disabled People and
Whānau During Omicron. 
o a series of briefings on the Covid-19 Protection Framework,
available [4]here.
o a human rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi policy checklist for
Covid-19, available [5]here. 

 

 

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[6][IMG] Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | New Zealand Human Rights Commission
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Tēnā koe Erika

 

Please see attached our response to your request for official information.

 

Nāku noa, nā

 

OIA Inbox​​​​
[1][IMG] Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | New Zealand Human Rights Commission
[2]e: [email address] | freephone: 0800 496 877  |  [3]w: www.tikatangata.org.nz
[4]Twitter [5]Facebook [6]YouTube [7]LinkedIn
[8]​​We can access confidential services for interpreting and translating in more than 180
languages through [9]Language Assistance Services[10] and [11]NZ Relay Service[12] for those
with hearing or speech impairments.
​This message may contain information that is confidential or legally privileged. If you have
received this email in error please contact the sender immediately. You do not have permission
to use or disclose this information if the email is not addressed to you.
​Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.tikatangata.org.nz/
2. http://[email address]/
3. http://www.tikatangata.org.nz/
4. https://twitter.com/nzhumanrights
5. https://www.facebook.com/nzhumanrightsco...
6. https://www.youtube.com/user/nzhumanrights
7. https://nz.linkedin.com/company/new-zeal...
8. https://connectingnow.com.au/
9. https://www.mbie.govt.nz/cross-governmen...
10. https://connectingnow.com.au/
11. https://www.nzrelay.co.nz/index
12. https://connectingnow.com.au/