Appeal on caregiver ruling disappoints commissioner

The Chief Human Rights Commissioner is "deeply disappointed" the Crown is to appeal a High Court ruling on caregivers' rights.

The High Court on Friday backed a Human Rights Tribunal ruling which found a Ministry of Health policy to pay carers only if they were not related to the patient was discriminatory.

The Solicitor General confirmed yesterday he would seek leave to appeal the court ruling that parents caring for disabled adult children were eligible for financial support.

"This is the second time in less than a year the caregivers of disabled family members have had their case upheld - first in the Human Rights Review Tribunal and now in the High Court - only to have the Crown reject the judgment and announce an appeal," Chief Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan said.

The High Court had ruled the ministry had breached the rights of parents and their disabled children.

"The breach of that right cannot be justified in a free and democratic society," Ms Noonan said.

"In view of the detailed and thorough judgment from the High Court, it is difficult to see on what possible legal grounds the decision could be appealed," she said.

However, National Health Board national services director Kelvin Moffatt yesterday said the potential implications of the decision were far wider than the health and disability sector.

"The ministry has been advised by Crown Law that the decision contains issues of law that have significant implications for other Bill of Rights cases and more broadly for government decision-making."

Parents of disabled children, represented by the Office of Human Rights Proceedings, claimed discrimination on the ground of their family status.

Ministry policy had assessed the severely disabled adult children as eligible for paid care, but not if that caregiver was a family member.

Their adult children had chosen the parents to provide that care, but because of their family status the ministry said they were ineligible for the payment.

The level of care provided, said the parents' lawyers, was above that of the "natural support" a parent could be expected to provide to a child.

- NZPA