Lottery Individuals with Disabilities

The Lottery Individuals with Disabilities Fund provides grants to people living with disabilities to help them have better access and be more connected to their communities. This fund supports individuals with long-term limiting conditions (six months or longer) that affect their ability to participate in the community. The fund provides equipment to support individuals to contribute, participate in and connect with their communities, including assistance dogs, communication equipment, vehicles, vehicle modifications, scooters and other mobility equipment. Applicants must demonstrate how their request will contribute to outcomes such as enabling people with disabilities to participate in their communities by increasing accessibility and mobility, supporting Pacific people with disabilities to participate socially and culturally, enabling people who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate and participate, increasing accessibility and connections for rural people with disabilities, increasing Māori cultural connections for tangata whaikaha Māori and Tangata turi Māori, and increasing accessibility to support community participation by children and young people with disabilities and their families. The fund operates year-round with rolling applications, and the Lottery Individuals with Disabilities Committee meets six times a year to review requests. Funding requests for vehicles and vehicle modifications require a professional transport assessment by a registered occupational therapist confirming the disability-related need for the equipment. Grants are paid directly to equipment suppliers or assessors upon approval.