25 signatures reached
To: Prime Minister of New Zealand, Minister for Disability Issues, All Government Departments and Agencies, Public Organisations, Schools, and Businesses across Aotearoa, disabled and non-disabled people everywhere
Say YES to “Access” #YesToAccessNZ | Words shape worlds
Say #YesToAccessNZ
Access is a Right, not an Invite.
Access is a Right, not an Invite.
We call on the people of Aotearoa New Zealand; our Prime Minister, Minister for Disability Issues, government agencies, public and private organisations, schools, businesses, and communities to:
Replace the word “Inclusion”
(and its derivatives: social inclusion, workplace inclusion, diversity, equity and inclusion)
with the word “Access” in all public documents, communications, role titles, departments, and policies
(and its derivatives: social inclusion, workplace inclusion, diversity, equity and inclusion)
with the word “Access” in all public documents, communications, role titles, departments, and policies
for one day: 3 December 2025 International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Try it. Experience the shift in mindset. And if it resonates, make it permanent.
This isn’t just semantics. It's overdue social change.
It’s a commitment to an accessible Aotearoa for all.
It’s a commitment to an accessible Aotearoa for all.
Why is this important?
Why this matters
“Commit to replacing ‘inclusion’ with ‘access’ on 3 December.
Maybe it sticks. Maybe it doesn’t.
Maybe it’s the first step toward a more equitable Aotearoa.”
Access is a right, not an invite. That’s why.
3 December 2025 is International Day of Persons with Disabilities and is the perfect moment to flip the script, start with words, and build the access-first Aotearoa we all deserve.
Words shape worlds
Did you know?
“Inclusion” comes from the Latin includere - in (“into”) + cludere (“to shut, close off”).
To include means to be invited into something that was closed to you.
You’re still outside - until someone lets you in.
“Inclusion” comes from the Latin includere - in (“into”) + cludere (“to shut, close off”).
To include means to be invited into something that was closed to you.
You’re still outside - until someone lets you in.
Access, from accessus, means “to enter or pass through without barrier.”
Not by permission. By right.
Not by permission. By right.
Inclusion is margarine. Access is the real butter.
You’ve grown up with “inclusion” as the go-to word.
It’s soft. It’s comfortable. It’s on someone else’s terms.
There are gatekeepers who “let you in,” “add you in,” “invite you in.”
It’s soft. It’s comfortable. It’s on someone else’s terms.
There are gatekeepers who “let you in,” “add you in,” “invite you in.”
Access is hard - but worth it.
It means building places, spaces, and systems from the start—not retrofitting after the fact.
It means disabled people aren’t guests. We’re already here and leading.
Why Access?
It means building places, spaces, and systems from the start—not retrofitting after the fact.
It means disabled people aren’t guests. We’re already here and leading.
Why Access?
In a world where Access is the starting point, not the add-on:
- Disabled people live lives of substance, not subsistence
- Every space—physical, digital, cultural, political—is designed barrier-free, with disabled people shaping the decisions that affect us
- Access is built in: to homes, schools, workplaces, marae, theatres, cities
- We are Diversity, not Deficit
- We are experts in our own lives, not exceptions to be managed
- We inhabit time and space with equity, not as invitees to worlds not made for us
- Our identities - not labels - are seen. Our ways of being are sources of insight, not problems to fix
This isn’t a dream.
It’s the Aotearoa we can build when Access comes first.
This isn’t just about ramps and captions
Access is multi-dimensional:
physical, cultural, emotional, financial, spiritual, intellectual, collective, and individual.
physical, cultural, emotional, financial, spiritual, intellectual, collective, and individual.
Swapping “inclusion” for “access” reframes disability not as a problem to accommodate, but as a matter of rights, design, and justice.
When we say “inclusion,” exclusion still wins.
If you can be “included,” you were already excluded.
Access, once embedded, cannot be denied.
Swapping “inclusion” for “access” is more than a language fix. It's an entire mindset shift.
What’s the difference? A real life example from what we know - the arts.
An 8 - 10 performance season might offer:
- 2 sign-language interpreted shows
- 1 audio-described show
- Wheelchair seating for 4 people per show
That’s Inclusion - a few seats at someone else’s table. On their time,
Now imagine:
- Every performance is NZSL interpreted and audio described
- The venue adapts seating in real time for wheelchair users
That’s Access - designed with us, led by us, from the very beginning.
Inclusion is soft, almost easy, and on someone else's terms, there are decision makers, gatekeepers who 'let' you in, add you in, 'invite' you in.
Access is hard, but it means you actively make the effort to build the places, spaces and societies for all from the very start, not accommodate after by invite only.
Access is hard, but it means you actively make the effort to build the places, spaces and societies for all from the very start, not accommodate after by invite only.
The ask
On 3 December 2025, swap “Inclusion” for “Access” in:
- Official communications
- Policies
- Job titles
- Public events
Witness what shifts.
Maybe it sticks. Maybe it doesn’t.
But it might just be the spark.
We say yes to Access - every day.
You can too - even if it’s just for one day.
Just like these artists and allies here at this link: Yes to Access.
This campaign is disability-led, conceived over two years by disabled artists, researchers and creators with Touch Compass, and supported by allies across Aotearoa.
✊🏽 Words shape worlds. Swap the word. Shift the world. Sign the petition. Share it!
#YesToAccessNZ
You can too - even if it’s just for one day.
Just like these artists and allies here at this link: Yes to Access.
This campaign is disability-led, conceived over two years by disabled artists, researchers and creators with Touch Compass, and supported by allies across Aotearoa.
✊🏽 Words shape worlds. Swap the word. Shift the world. Sign the petition. Share it!
#YesToAccessNZ