10 August 2022

Liam Nelson
[FYI request #19902 email]

Tēnā koe Liam Nelson

On 13 July 2022, you emailed the Ministry of Social Development (the Ministry)
requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982  (the Act), the following
information:
  •  Please advise me of steps MSD has taken to ensure the dignity and
respect of transgender clients, including staff training guidelines,
policies around changing clients' gender markers and the honorifics used
in communications from the ministry, and copies of the minutes from
meetings that include the keywords "transgender", "gender diverse", or
"gender diversity", "gender marker".

The Ministry seeks to be respectful and inclusive of all our clients. The Ministry
uses its Client Management System (CMS) to manage and maintain
information regarding clients. The CMS guide for Customer Service
Representatives within the Ministry advises staff of the following when
changing a client or child’s gender within CMS.

The Ministry has three options to record a client’s or child’s gender: Female,
Gender Diverse or Male. In the same way that ethnicity is self-identified, clients
can choose the gender option they identify with  most. It does not need to
match the gender displayed on their government issued identification. The
gender option they choose is what the Ministry uses when addressing them,
writing to them and when providing services.

A client can self-declare a change to their gender verbally or in writing. The
client does not need to provide any verification to support this change. When
a client changes their gender, they may also change their preferred name
and/or title at the same time. The Ministry can record the name a person
prefers to be known by and this does not need to match government ID.

Clients can also change their preferred name at any time independent from
changing their gender. Caregivers can ask the Ministry to change the gender
information for any children in their care. Clients who have legally changed

their gender may choose to supply the Ministry with a new birth certificate, but
they are not required to do so.

Staff at the Ministry are encouraged to ask clients for their pronouns if they
have asked to change their gender. If they provide one, it is suggested the
staff  member  leave  a  ‘Must  View  Note’  to  advise  other  staff  of  the  correct
pronouns to use in future engagements with the client.

Additionally, staff are advised to use the gender specified by the client if there
are documents with differing information. If the correct gender and pronouns
to use are still unclear, it is suggested that the staff member clarify with the
client.

The Ministry provides resources to staff regarding gender diversity. Please see
attached a copy of the Ministry’s guidance to staff for making engagements
with clients positive, respectful, and inclusive as Appendix A.

In order to review copies of meeting minutes to determine whether the
requested words or phrases were included, the Ministry would need to divert
thousands of  personnel from their core duties and allocate extra time to
complete this task. The diversion of these resources would impair the Ministry’s
ability to continue standard operations and would be an inefficient use of the
Ministry’s resources. As such, your request is refused under section 18(f) of
the  Act,  requires  substantial  collation.  The  greater  public  interest  is  in  the
effective and efficient administration of the public service.

I  have  considered  whether  the  Ministry  would  be  able  to  respond  to  your
requests  given  extra  time,  or  the  ability  to  charge  for  the  information
requested.  I  have  concluded  that,  in  either  case,  the  Ministry’s  ability  to
undertake its work would still be prejudiced.

The principles and purposes of the Official Information Act 1982 under which
you made your request are:

•  to create greater openness and transparency about the plans, work and
activities of the Government,
•  to  increase  the  ability  of  the  public  to  participate  in  the  making  and
administration of our laws and policies and
•  to lead to greater accountability in the conduct of public affairs.


This Ministry fully supports those principles and purposes. The Ministry
therefore  intends  to  make  the  information  contained  in  this  letter  and  any
attached documents available to the wider public. The Ministry will do this by
publishing this letter and attachments on the Ministry’s website. Your personal
details will be deleted, and the Ministry will not publish any information that
would identify you as the person who requested the information.
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If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[MSD request email].

If  you  are  not  satisfied  with  this  response,  you  have  the  right  to  seek  an
investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to make
a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.

Ngā mihi nui

Tony Stenhouse
Director
Culture and Inclusion / Learning and Capability
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Document Outline