The government is rolling out a new face mask exemption card for people with genuine reasons not to wear one.
File pic Photo: AFP
Unlike the old exemptions, the new personalised cards have a legal standing and anyone questioning them could be contravening the Human Rights Act.
"We will not be cancelling the old cards or requiring affected people to go through the process of getting a new card if they don't want to, however, the old cards will not have the legitimacy of the new cards," Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said.
They were being adopted because the government has recognised that some people cannot wear a mask due to an impairment, health conditions, a physical disability or mental health reasons.
"These reasons aren't always obvious or easy to explain and that's left some New Zealanders who're genuinely unable to wear a mask not being able to access the businesses and services they normally would," Hipkins said.
"It's also meant uncomfortable situations, with people needing to explain private health information to strangers, when they're trying to do basic tasks like shopping. We've worked hard to find a solution which avoids this."
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins does not want people to have to share private health information with strangers. Photo:
It is also hoped the cards will give businesses certainty, Hipkins said.
"Sadly, in attempting to verify whether people are genuinely exempt, workers - especially those in retail settings such as supermarkets - have experienced escalating and unsafe behaviour from some customers."
Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni said that from the end of May, people would be able to apply for a card through the Ministry of Health website and it would be issued to them digitally or by post.
An 0800 call free number will be available, and it will also cater for those who need an interpreter or translation services when requesting their card.
"It's important we all understand that for some people wearing a face mask is difficult. This includes people with physical, intellectual or mental health impairments, and people (such as some victims of violent crime) who have experienced past trauma," Sepuloni said.
"Those people should still have the same right as others to access good and services."
She thanked organisations such as Blind Citizens New Zealand, the Disabled Persons Assembly, Deaf Aotearoa and other non-government groups who have managed the mask exemption process until now.
Contentious issue for nine months
Disabled Persons Assembly's Prudence Walker said the current exemption system has been causing distress for disabled community members.
Many people have faced discrimination, particularly since last August when the government made it mandatory to wear masks while visiting essential services, including supermarkets and petrol stations.
There has also been confusion around who was exempt, she told Midday Report.
She said she has been disabled for 25 years and has worked in the field for 13 years but the number of complaints over masks in the last nine months has been far greater than anything she has ever experienced.
Walker said her organisation has been a voice for disabled people throughout the pandemic and despite raising the problems around mask exemption some time ago it has taken a long time for the government to take action.
Problems for those with mask exemptions included: comments from the general public, refusal of service, refusal of entry into businesses such as supermarkets or other food outlets and verbal abuse.
"People have had the cops called on them; all sorts of things that people might dismiss as 'oh that's only a few people' but it's really not from all the stories we have heard."
"People have had the cops called on them" Disability advocate Prudence Walker
She said she was "cautiously optimistic" about the new card with the government taking a "thoughtful approach" after taking feedback from the disability sector and businesses.
She hopes it will not be an onerous process to apply but welcomes the announcement that it will have legal standing.
"We need the process to come in and then of course people will need to apply so we can't expect to see straight away these new cards."