To be a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order:
GIBSON, Mr Paul Thomas
For services to disabled people
Mr Paul Gibson is a leading advocate for the rights of disabled people in New Zealand.
Mr Gibson, who is vision impaired with the genetic condition Stargardt’s disease, has spent his career pursuing disability rights and informing the wider community of ways to correct barriers confronting disabled people. In 1994, he was elected as President of the Victoria University Students’ Association, where he founded Can Do, a disabled students’ group. He later became involved with the Disabled Persons Assembly, and served as President of the national disabled people’s organisation between 1997 and 2001. In that role he contributed to the landmark 2001 New Zealand Disability Strategy. In 2011, he was appointed as the first dedicated Disability Rights Commissioner in the Human Rights Commission. He has been involved in several reviews, including the New Zealand Sign Language Inquiry and the Special Education Review Panel, and worked with disabled refugee communities on better access to the Needs Assessment and Service Coordination system. He advocated on behalf of New Zealanders at the United Nations, and was chosen as Chair of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institution’s Disability Caucus. Since 2018, Mr Gibson has been a Commissioner in the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care.