Thank you for visiting our website. If you have cancer, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Down's Syndrome, arthritis, or any other life-changing illness or disability not related to an accident, this site is for you. Even good health can be a fragile state. If your health crumbles you're thrust into a world you know little about.

New Zealand has two streams of health funding each governed by different entities. While ACC supports those whose condition came about because of an accident, the Ministry of Health is responsible for those with congenital conditions, intellectual disabilities, illnesses, and those whose accident occurred prior to April, 1974. Our issue is that while both providers deal with New Zealanders with similar levels of needs, the Ministry of Health's tightly written eligibility criteria provides merely a fraction of the funding and service provision provided by ACC's generous no-fault entitlements. A High Court judge described this as legal discrimination. Equity-for-illness is committed to see this blatant discrimination removed from Government statutes.

To see Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Development eligibility criteria brought into line with current ACC entitlements: creating a non-discriminatory, needs-focused health delivery, regardless of the cause.

Incensed by such inequalities, in April 2003 Melanie Trevethick lodged a claim with the Human Rights Commission claiming Discrimination by the Ministry of Health under the prohibited grounds of Disability. After working its way through the various stages of the Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights Review Tribunal, the High Court, and finally an application to the Court of Appeal, in October 2008 the Court of Appeal released its decision.

Please explore our web site further: read the Court of Appeal decision condemning current legislation, compare ACC/MoH funding inequities, and to learn how you can support the Equity-for-illness campaign.

Please take advantage of the opportunity to

• Send e-mail postcards to Government Ministers and Opposition MPs in support of our goal
• Download the manual petition form and send us your signatures; the petition will be presented to Parliament later this year.
• Read news updates
• Volunteer to work to further Equity-for-illness awareness in your local area.
• Indicate your willingness to allow your personal experience of the health/disability disparity to be used for publicity purposes. The media are always looking for families from around New Zealand to highlight the issue.
• Donate to help fund the campaign. We are a registered Charitable Trust and as such any donations over $5 are eligible for tax credits.
• Write to your MP asking what they intend to do about the disparity.
• Write to the Letters to the Editor column in NZ newspapers stating support for Equity-for-illness. Please include our website address in your letter.
• The fact this blatantly unfair health system has been allowed to exist for so long is because New Zealanders have been largely unaware it exists. Please send our web address (www.equity-for-illness.org.nz) to your friends/family/workmates to help make this a national topic of debate.