The DBI aims to advance the rights of disabled people, with a particular focus on people with learning disabilities, through research, monitoring, evaluation, education and other projects that seek to: 

• Understand the lived experiences of disabled people, recognising cultural diversity, gender, age, and other intersecting identities;
• Generate inclusive and accessible evidence-based research that can be used to inform the development and delivery of responsive support and the progressive realisation of the UNCRPD;
• Deliver transformative research and evaluation meaningful to disabled people, families/whānau and disability services;
• Build research capacity of disabled researchers through collaboration with disabled people, DPOs, and the disability sector;
• Disseminate accessible and evidence-based research and education.