Aotearoa Disability Law

Making justice accessible for Deaf and disabled people

We believe everyone deserves equal access to justice. 

That’s why we provide free legal advice, education, and advocacy to the Deaf and disabled communities in New Zealand.

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Contact Us

Why we need a legal advisory service for Deaf and disabled people

The legal system isn’t designed for everyone. 

Many Deaf and disabled people struggle to access justice—whether it’s discrimination, unfair treatment at work, or difficulties with housing and benefits. 

But legal help shouldn’t be out of reach.

Aotearoa Disability Law (ADL) was founded because we saw a gap—people were facing serious legal issues but had nowhere to turn for disability-specific legal advice.

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Did you know?

The most disadvantaged 10% of the population account for 75% of legal challenges.

Yet, the resources available to meet these needs are grossly inadequate.

In 2007, a group of passionate advocates came together to change that. By 2009, ADL became an independent Community Law Centre dedicated solely to the legal rights of Deaf and disabled people.

Today, we are New Zealand’s only specialist disability community law centre.

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ADL isn’t just here to support the community—we are the community

Our governance board is made up of Deaf and disabled people.
Our team includes lawyers, educators, and an advocate who specialise in disability law.
We understand the challenges you face because we live them too.

That’s why we don’t just offer legal advice. We work to change the law itself—so fewer people have to face these issues in the first place.

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Meet the team

Aotearoa Disability Law (ADL) are a small team

Geraldine Lewis - General Manager

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Geraldine Lewis joined ADL as General Manager in August 2022. In her role, she’s responsible for overseeing ADL’s operations, which includes the provision of legal information and education to Deaf and disabled people, as well as handling law reform projects. She’s also working closely with ADL’s Governance Group to expand ADL’s legal services for Deaf and disabled people across the country.

Geraldine studied law at Canterbury University and previously worked as a solicitor for several years. She later earned her Master of Information Studies and spent many years as the Library and Studios Manager at Blind Low Vision NZ. Her first-hand experience seeing the discrimination and challenges faced by Deaf and disabled people have made her committed to improving access to justice for Deaf and disabled New Zealanders. Outside of work Geraldine can usually be found playing golf, hiking or playing Mahjong.

ADL’s Solicitors:

ADL’s Solicitors offer legal services to clients of Aotearoa Disability Law, providing legal information, advice, and support to Deaf and disabled individuals on disability-related legal matters. They ensure that legal information and advice are available in accessible formats and tailored to meet clients' specific access needs. Additionally, they assist in creating and delivering legal education, and play an active role in ADL’s law reform initiatives and legal information projects

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ADL Community Advocates:

The Community Advocate supports our Deaf and disabled clients, to resolve the non-legal issues and concerns clients have brought to Aotearoa Disability Law. They work collaboratively with community groups and disability service providers to support the delivery of our services to Deaf and disabled people and the disability community.

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ADL Community Educators:

The Community Educators are involved in the national delivery of Aotearoa Disability Law’s legal services and works with disabled and Deaf People, the disability community and our stakeholders. They undertake legal education sessions on topics of importance to our Deaf and disabled community, as well as community engagement activities. These sessions and activities take place nationally so the Community Educators travel to undertake these sessions.

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Resource and Finance Manager:

The Resource and Finance Manager manages daily operations for Aotearoa Disability Law that will assist in delivering legal education, legal service and community engagement. The Resource and Finance Manager in conjunction with the General Manager, other staff and ADL’s governance group works towards meeting ADL’s goal of increasing our disability related legal services and activities across Aotearoa New Zealand.

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Aotearoa Disability Law Steering Group Members

Natalie Andrews – Steering Group Chairperson

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Natalie currently works for YouthLaw Aotearoa as the Culture & Resource Manager, which has given her a great understanding of the community law space that is shared with ADL. Prior to this, she completed her Master's degree in Sociology, with a dissertation on how intergenerational relationships can impact hauora (wellbeing) and how we can reimagine aged care to facilitate this. Her secondary research project focussed on the medicalisation of ageing, which understandably had some overlap with experiences of disability.

Natalie is passionate about advocating for those in our communities who live with disabilities and hopes to use her own experiences to help others.

Nan Jensen - Steering Group Solicitor

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Nan is a barrister and solicitor in sole practice, specialising in disability law. Nan is a Director of Spectrum Care Limited, a committee member for Parafed Waikato and the EGL Waikato Leadership Group, and is a Trustee of VisAble Trust (a disabled-led organisation providing prevention and response to violence against disabled people). She is also a a Director of The Disability Trustee Limited. Nan was diagnosed as autistic in 2020 and is mother to four children, two of whom are also autistic.

Dillon Ip-Brady – Steering Group Treasurer

Dillon has been the ADL Treasurer since May 2018, handling financial duties for our organisation. Dillon is currently the Head of Funding and Liquidity at Harmoney Financial Services. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Economics from Massey University. In May 2020, he became a member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand. Dillon is also a CFA charterholder through the CFA Institute. He holds board seats for RSC (a charity for skiing equality) and NZTrustee (an independent trustee firm).

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Kate Diesfeld

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Research with disabled people and a team led by Professor Kate Diesfeld was the foundation of Aotearoa Disability Law. She Co-Chaired the Advisory Committee and now is a member.

Kate investigated guardianship cases for the State of Alaska before representing people with developmental disabilities in California as a lawyer for Protection and Advocacy, Inc. She had roles at Kent Law School (England), the University of Waikato (NZ) and Auckland University of Technology (NZ). She was Director of the National Centre for Health Law and Ethics and Chair of Auckland University of Technology’s Ethics Committee.

In England, she represented people before the Mental Health Review Tribunal. She co-edited Involuntary Detention and Therapeutic Jurisprudence (2003) and Elder Law in New Zealand (2014).  Kate was an editorial board member of the Journal of Legal Medicine, is an Associate Editor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law and Fellow of the American College of Legal Medicine. Kate is deeply committed to advocating with disabled people on social justice issues.

David Hughes

David became a member of the Steering Group in 2012 and has been actively involved for the past thirteen years. Additionally, he serves on the Board of CCS Disability Action, on which he has contributed for over ten years. As an engaged member of the disability community, David also regularly takes on extra responsibilities for the ADL Steering Group, for example conducting staff interviews. His dedication to supporting Deaf and disabled individuals is unwavering.

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Linda-Lee Odom KSM

Linda-Lee is a woman with a disability who has been with CCS Disability Action all her life, as a client, employee, Chairperson, and a committee member. She has been on several committees, and is not afraid to give a voice for People’s Rights.

She has a Mobility Dog, Mr. Darby, who assists her in everyday life and is her best friend, without him she would not be doing what she is doing. Linda-Lee has fought all her adult life for People with Disabilities and the vulnerable, which includes animals.

She applied to Aotearoa Disability Law Steering group to hopefully be a voice and have influence for people with disabilities who are struggling with multiple abuse and are afraid to reach out for fear their abuse would worsen. Linda-Lee admires the people who surround her at ADL as they all have a vision to make a difference in people's lives.

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Dr. Lida Ayoubi

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Dr. Lida Ayoubiis a Senior Lecturer at AUT Law School and Director of Law Postgraduate Programmes. She specialises in international human rights law and public law, with a strong research focus on disability rights. She has researched, presented, and published widely on human rights issues and regularly organises academic events, provides expert commentary, and contributes to public discussions on legal matters.

With a long-standing interest in advocacy, Lida joined the Steering Group of the Aotearoa Disability Law Centre to help advance disability rights and promote inclusion, accessibility, and equitable outcomes for disabled persons. She has contributed to research and law and policy development in this space, particularly through her PhD thesis, for which she was awarded the 2015 John Miller Award in Social Justice and Community Development, and more recently through a UNESCO-commissioned report on access to information for persons with disabilities.”

See our work in law reform

What we do

Our Purpose is to transform lives and make justice accessible

At ADL, we believe that everyone deserves equal access to justice, no matter their ability or disability. 

We are a small team of lawyers, an advocate (non-legal), community educators and a resource manager who are committed to providing free legal advice, advocacy, and education to Deaf and disabled people across New Zealand. 

Through our work, we help individuals understand their rights, take action, and create lasting change in the legal system.

ADL represents Deaf and disabled people in meetings, in mediations and sometimes in tribunals.

In most cases ADL does not undertake Court work. If Court becomes the next step in your legal matter then we may support you with an active referral to a lawyer who is able to undertake this for you. 

To find out more about how we work with clients and the types of issues we can help with visit our Legal Services and Advocacy pages.

By removing barriers, challenging discrimination, and reforming unfair laws, we empower the Deaf and disabled community to live with dignity, independence, and self-determination.

We ensure that you have NZSL support in legal proceedings and court proceedings.

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Our Mission is to:

Provide accessible justice services to the Deaf and disability communities.
Use the law as a vehicle for individual and systemic change.
Work alongside our partners.
Have the trust and confidence of:
- - The Deaf and disability communities
- - The justice sector
- - The government, while preserving our independence

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We achieve our mission by providing free legal and advocacy services to Deaf and disabled people, helping them:

Get legal advice – If you have a legal problem, we’ll help you understand your rights.
Find support – Our advocate helps with WINZ and tenancy issues.
Learn about the law – We run legal education sessions for the Deaf and disability communities, their support networks, legal professionals and other stakeholders such as disability organisations, schools and employers.
Change the system – We work with the government, courts, and human rights groups to improve the law.

Strategic Plan - Disability Law 2028

Aotearoa Disability Law is pleased to share our finalised Strategic Plan with you. We would like to thank our members and stakeholders who participated in the consultation on our draft Strategic Plan, attending our meetings and also providing their feedback, contributing to the finalised Strategic Plan.

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Who we support

In New Zealand, disability means having a condition that makes it harder to do everyday activities or take part in society in the same way as others. 

This could be because of physical, sensory, intellectual, neurological, or mental health impairments. It also includes people who are neurodivergent.

You don’t need a formal diagnosis to be considered disabled. The focus is not just on the condition itself, but on how barriers in society make it harder to live life fully.

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A disability can be:

A physical condition e.g. A long-term illness, injury, or condition that affects movement or strength.
A sensory condition e.g. Deaf and hard of hearing, blindness, or low vision.
A mental health condition e.g. Depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, or other conditions that affect mental well-being.
A learning or intellectual disability e.g. Such as Down syndrome or dyslexia.
A neurological condition e.g. Such as cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis.
A neurodivergent condition e.g. Such as Autism or ADHD.
A reliance on support e.g. If you use a wheelchair, guide dog, or mobility devices.
A medical condition e.g. If your body has an illness or carries something that could cause illness.

If you’re not sure if you can access our assistance, just get in touch with us.

In New Zealand, the Human Rights Act 1993 protects people from discrimination based on disability.

This means:

You cannot be treated unfairly because of a disability.
Employers, schools, and businesses must be inclusive and provide support where needed.
You have the right to accessible services, housing, and workplaces.

Who we work with

We work with Deaf and disabled people who are living in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

We work along with:

Community Law Centres – Supporting legal professionals working with disabled clients.
Schools – Providing legal education sessions for Deaf and disabled students.
Organisations – Helping them understand their legal responsibilities.
Government and human rights bodies – Advocating for more accessible laws and policies.