Redesign of Disability Employment Support Products

On this Page:

The Ministry of Social Development funds a range of specialist services called Disability Employment Support products. These are services that help address the barriers disabled people can face when looking for work or keeping their jobs. For the past year, we have been taking a fresh look at these services to improve how they work together. This will give disabled people a more joined up and supportive experience into work and while they're working.

An update as at November 2026

We have now completed the service design and engagement phase, and we are moving into an implementation phase. A summary of insights is available here and a summary A3 of the redesign is available here.

If you need this information in an accessible format, please contact vocational_services_disability@msd.govt.nz.

The next steps involve finalising the design, and planning the procurement, transition and implementation of the new disability employment service.

The first step is a Request for Information to Social Sector providers to enable us to better understand market opportunities and to plan the procurement and we encourage providers and organisations with an interest in disability employment supports to participate.

The Request for Information (RFI), has been published on the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS) website. It is also on MSD’s Provider Portal Weka, which can be accessed by existing MSD providers. The RFI will give organisations an opportunity to share ideas and market information that will help inform the design and delivery of future disability employment services and support MSD's procurement planning. The RFI will be open for responses until 24 November 2026 and can be accessed from the following link: GETS | Ministry of Social Development - Disability Employment Service - Request for Information

What are Disability Employment Support Products

Disability Employment Support Products are services specifically designed for disabled people. These people may find our general employment support isn't sufficient to address their disability barriers.

Disability Employment Support Products can help people who need support to find employment due to disability or long-term health conditions, for example:

  • physical
  • sensory
  • learning
  • neurological
  • mental health related issues.

Services being redesigned

The services being reviewed are:

The redesign also considers how these employment services interact with Disability Enterprises (DEs - formally Business Enterprises). The redesign supports disabled people to understand and access employment options that best meet their needs, goals and circumstances.

The redesign focuses on improving disabled people's experience of these services, with a focus on how the services work together to support disabled people at all stages of finding and keeping a job.

We want our future disability employment services to be:

  • fit for purpose
  • sustainable
  • able to adjust to shifts in the labour market.

What isn’t changing?

We do not expect the overall funding amount for these services to change. We will continue to deliver our services to support disabled people to participate in employment during this review.

The review does not include community participation services, Work and Income Services, or Disability Support Services (DSS).

Redesign engagement

We contracted ThinkPlace Ltd, in collaboration with Dovetail Consulting, and other partners to lead the service redesign and engagement process in the first half of 2026.

The process was informed by targeted engagement with disabled people, along with others with expertise in employment of disabled people. This engagement helped us to understand how our services work now, get ideas on how we can improve, and to test concepts for better services.

The engagement included disabled people who use the services, their whānau, employers, and providers, as well as Disabled People's Organisations.

The next steps

Over the next year we will be refining the redesigned service, undertaking a procurement process, planning a smooth transition and implementing the new disability employment service.

We aim to have new disability employment support contracts in place to deliver our redesigned services in the second half of 2027.

We are committed to:

  • continuing to deliver services that best support disabled people to enter and maintain employment
  • aligning with the Enabling Good Lives Principles
  • ensuring the services we design and purchase meet the needs of all disabled people who want to get a job, and to support them to stay in that job
  • ensuring the services we design meet the needs of tāngata whaikaha Māori
  • engaging with community representatives to strengthen the cultural fit of future services.

If you have questions or input into the redesign, please email vocational_services_disability@msd.govt.nz with 'Disability Employment Service' in the subject line.

This page will be updated as the project progresses.