Disabled people face rising crime as national rate falls
Published 28 July 2026
Nearly half of disabled adults in Aotearoa New Zealand were victims of crime last year. Ministry of Justice data, released earlier this year, puts the age-adjusted rate at 46%, up from 36% in 2022. Over the same three years, crime fell for the population as a whole.
The figures come from the Ministry's Key Stories report, released on 7 May 2026. It draws on Cycle 8 of the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey, run between October 2024 and October 2025.
CCS Disability Action welcomes the Ministry reporting disability data this openly. We do not accept how little has changed because of it.
What the Ministry found
In 2025, 28% of all New Zealand adults were victims of crime. That is down from 30% in 2018. For disabled adults the figure was 36%. It rises to 46% once their older age profile is taken into account, RNZ reported from the survey.
The gap has widened fast. The age-adjusted rate for disabled adults sat at 36% in 2022. It has climbed 10 percentage points in three years while the national rate drifted down.
Debbie Ward is National Disability Leadership Coordinator at CCS Disability Action and a disabled person.
"These figures don't surprise me, but they should worry everyone," she says. "Disabled adults have been more vulnerable to abuse, neglect, and fraud for a long time. What is new is that the gap is widening."
Why is fraud rising for disabled adults?
Fraud is the clearest example. Among disabled adults it went from 9% in 2023 to 12% in 2024, then jumped to 18% in 2025. That is a doubling in two years.
It happened while fraud fell for nearly everyone else. Nationally the rate dropped from 10% in 2022 to 9% in 2025, the lowest level since 2021. As the Ministry puts it, "while most groups saw a drop in fraud, older adults (aged 65+), disabled adults and victims of repeat fraud all saw increases."
The Ministry also notes that scams are getting more complex. Fraudsters reuse personal data that has already been taken, so some people are scammed again and again.
Debbie says one old assumption sits underneath the gap. "There has been a long-held assumption that disabled people don't manage their own money or use their own devices. That is not true, and it has left a real gap in accessible safety information."
Fewer family violence victims, but more incidents
The survey found the share of adults experiencing family violence fell from 2.2% in 2018 to 1.4% in 2025. The number of incidents went the other way, rising from 207,000 to 256,000.
The Ministry says that increase "overly impacted victims of repeated incidents, and other groups including disabled people, Māori, women, and LGBTQ+ adults." So, fewer people are being harmed but those already caught in it are being harmed more often.
Half of family violence victims get no help
Fewer than half of the people affected by family violence seek support, the report found. Those who do are more likely to turn to friends and whānau than to an organisation.
People gave three main reasons for not seeking help:
they did not think it was needed (31%)
they wanted to handle it themselves (24%)
they saw it as a private matter (15%).
The Ministry adds that fear, shame, sharing a home with the person harming you, and not knowing your rights all hold people back. That last barrier is one we can fix.
Safety information people cannot read is not safety information
Information about staying safe online, spotting a scam, and reporting a crime has to come in formats people can actually use. That means Easy Read, audio, New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), large print, and plain language. It also means publishing them at the same time as everything else, not months later.
The Ministry's own report points the same way. It identifies three approaches to reducing fraud risk for disabled people:
make scam education more accessible
build digital and financial tools that support independence while lowering risk
increase peer support and community engagement, alongside collaboration between agencies and disability advocates.
Debbie says social media is one of the most direct ways to reach disabled adults with safety messages, alongside trusted disability networks and providers.
She also says providers carry part of this.
"Every organisation that supports disabled people has a stronger accountability now. We need to help the people we support to know their rights and recognise the signs of abuse."
A roadmap and a strategy that both need resourcing
New Zealand Police released a Disability Roadmap in February 2026, setting out 16 actions over five years. Its first step, a Disability Advisory Group, is already in place. We set out our full view of the Roadmap in our analysis of the Police Disability Roadmap.
"Police are showing a willingness to listen and to change how they engage with disabled, Deaf, and neurodivergent communities," Debbie says. "But a roadmap on its own won't shift these statistics. Government needs to back it with funding, training, and accessible information."
The New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026–2030 contains seven justice actions. Two are the most important, in our view.
The first is a safeguarding framework for disabled people in long-term detention settings and in Disability Support Services funded residential facilities. It covers how abuse is prevented, reported, and responded to, and how people are safely removed from it. The second is a cross-agency project to fix the gaps in what we know about disabled people's experiences of crime.
What CCS Disability Action is calling for
Safety, fraud, and reporting information published in Easy Read, audio, NZSL, large print, and plain language as standard, not just on request.
Scam education designed with disabled people and delivered through trusted disability networks and social media.
The Strategy's safeguarding framework for residential and detention settings, funded and delivered to a published timetable.
Better data on disabled people's experiences of crime and justice, including whānau hauā Māori (Māori disabled people).
Sustained funding behind the Police Disability Roadmap and the Strategy's justice actions.
"Disabled people deserve to feel safe in their homes, communities, and online," Debbie says. "These figures tell us we have work to do. We're ready to do it, alongside disabled people, government, and our partners."
If you or someone you support has been affected by crime, Victim Support is free and available 24/7 on 0800 842 846. You can use it whether or not you have reported the crime to Police.
Frequently asked questions
What did the Ministry of Justice Key Stories report find about disabled people?
Overall victimisation of disabled adults rose from 36% in 2022 to 46% in 2025 on an age-adjusted basis. Fraud among disabled adults rose from 9% in 2023 to 12% in 2024, then to 18% in 2025. Over the same period, crime fell for the population as a whole.
Why are disabled adults more at risk of crime in New Zealand?
Disabled adults are more likely to rely on family, support workers, and community to take part in everyday life, and that reliance can be misused. Information about safety, fraud, and reporting is also less likely to come in formats disabled people can use, so people are less likely to know their rights or how to report.
Is fraud rising for everyone?
No. Nationally, fraud fell from 10% in 2022 to 9% in 2025, its lowest level since 2021. The Ministry found that older adults aged 65 and over, disabled adults, and repeat fraud victims all saw increases against that trend.
What is the Police Disability Roadmap?
New Zealand Police published it in February 2026. It sets out 16 actions over five years and was developed with Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent communities. A Disability Advisory Group is guiding the work.
What is CCS Disability Action calling for?
Accessible safety information as standard, scam education designed with disabled people, a funded safeguarding framework for residential and detention settings, better justice data including for tāngata whaikaha Māori, and sustained funding behind the Police Disability Roadmap and the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026–2030.
About CCS Disability Action
CCS Disability Action is the largest pan-disability support and advocacy organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand.
We support people with all types of impairments and have been working alongside disabled people since 1935.
We are at the forefront of service provision, advocacy and information sharing in the disability sector. We partner with disabled people, their families and whānau to enable them to have choice and control in their lives. Our vision is to see every disabled person and whānau hauā interwoven into the lives of their whānau and community.