The Department of Justice today published a draft Equality
Action Plan and draft Disability Action Plan for public
consultation.
In line with the Department's statutory obligations under Section
75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and Disability Discrimination
Act 1995 (as amended by Article 5 of the Disability
Discrimination (NI) Order 2006), it is seeking the views of
individuals and organisations on the proposals.
The consultation includes actions that the Department plans
to take to promote equality of opportunity and good relations and
to encourage positive attitudes towards people with disabilities
and to widen participation of people with disabilities in public
life.
The consultation, which closes on Monday, 8 June, 2026, can be
accessed at: Consultation on the Department
of Justice (DoJ) Draft Section 75 Equality Action Plan 2025-2030
And Draft Disability Action Plan 2025-2030 - NI Direct - Citizen
Space.
Notes to editors:
1. To develop this action plan, the DoJ has developed:
- an audit of inequalities;
- action measures based on functions and key inequalities
identified;
- performance indicators for delivery of action measures; and
- timescales for implementation of action measures.
2. In its guidance, ‘Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act
1998: A Guide for Public Authorities', the Equality Commission
for Northern Ireland (ECNI) recommends that public authorities
should review and update action plans over the lifetime of their
equality scheme to ensure that they remain effective and relevant
to their functions and work and to report of progress on their
delivery. This is reflected in the Department's Equality Scheme.
3. The ability to fully implement the Action Plan will be
dependent on budget allocations to the Department for the
lifetime of the plan.
4. The point of contact in relation to the consultation,
implementation, review and evaluation of this Equality Action
Plan is the DoJ Equality Unit – email: dojesss@justice-ni.gov.uk.
