Nine To Noon Data reveals scale of disadvantage for people with intellectual disability
Mar 15, 2026
Shara Turner, author of IHC’s 'From Data to Dignity' report and disability analyst, outlines stark inequalities for people with intellectual disability in Aotearoa. She highlights shocking life expectancy and health gaps. She describes rising school suspensions, barriers to employment, higher victimisation and missing data that hides lived experience.
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Severe Life Expectancy Gap For People With ID
- People with intellectual disability (ID) die on average 17 years earlier than the rest of New Zealand.
- Shara Turner highlights life expectancy as a major health gap that persists across the population and drives many other inequities.
Worsening Outcomes For Māori Women With ID
- Some indicators have worsened since 2018, notably Maori women's life expectancy with ID fell by three years.
- Turner calls the backward shift for Maori women 'pretty shocking' as it reverses prior improvements.
Service Access Fails Those With Serious Injuries
- Data shows systems are failing: people with ID are more likely to be hospitalized for serious injury but less likely to claim ACC.
- Turner interprets this mismatch as ACC and other systems being inaccessible for people with ID.