16/05/2025
Dan Tasman
[FYI request #30771 email]
Tēnā koe Dan Tasman
OIA: 1346487 – Methamphetamine Harm and Student Support in Northland
Thank you for your email of 18 April 2025 to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) requesting the
following information:
I am writing under the Official Information Act 1982 to request information regarding the
Ministry of Education’s response to methamphetamine-related harm affecting rangatahi and
school communities in Northland. As methamphetamine use continues to pose a significant
social and health risk in the region, I am seeking to understand what strategies, supports,
and inter-agency efforts are in place to address this issue within the education sector.
1. Specifically, I request copies of any policy documents, internal briefings, or regional
planning materials held by the Ministry that refer to methamphetamine use, student
exposure to drug-related harm, or substance misuse education in Northland, dated
from 1 January 2022 to the present. This includes any material relating to school
wellbeing plans, guidance to principals or boards of trustees, or advice to the
Minister on this issue.
2. I would also like information on any funding provided by the Ministry to Northland
schools, kura kaupapa Maori, or community organisations for initiatives that address
substance misuse, drug education, or student mental health and addiction support,
particularly where methamphetamine is a concern. Please include the name of each
programme, its delivery partner (if applicable), the amount of funding, and any
available evaluations or outcome data.
3. In addition, I request copies of any correspondence between the Ministry of
Education and other agencies - including Health New Zealand, NZ Police, Oranga
Tamariki, the Department of Corrections, or Far North District Council - relating to
methamphetamine harm, student safety, or support services in Northland schools
since January 2022.
4. Lastly, I am seeking information on any incidents or trends reported to the Ministry
regarding methamphetamine use or exposure in or around school environments in
Northland, and how these have been responded to, including the provision of
pastoral care or referrals to external support services.
Your request has been considered under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (the Act).
I have numbered your request for ease of reference.
Firstly, I understand you have made the same request across central government agencies and
local authorities. Ordinarily, we would have sought transfer of your request under section 14(b)(i )
of the Act, as the matters raised more closely align with the functions of other agencies. I
understand the Ministry of Health has transferred your request to Health New Zealand. Both the
Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand are the most appropriate agencies to address the
matters raised in your request. As the Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand have received
your request, I refer you to their responses for information not held by us and more closely aligned
to the functions of these agencies.
In response to
part one of your request, the Ministry has not identified any policy briefings or
regional planning documents relating to methamphetamine use, student exposure to drug-related
harm, or substance misuse education in Northland. I am therefore refusing
part one of your
request under section 18(g) of the Act, as the requested information is not held by the Ministry, and
I have no reason to believe it is held by another agency subject to the Act, which has not already
received your request.
In response to
part two of your request, the Ministry’s initiatives are not specifically targeted to
drug-related issues and harm; however, it is worth noting that drug-related matters may be a part
of broader mental health and wellbeing concerns. The wellbeing program currently available in Te
Tai Tokerau is Awhi Mai Awhi Atu – Counselling in Schools. This initiative provides early
identification and intervention support for the mental health and wellbeing of primary and
intermediate students in schools with the highest levels of need. While not specifically aimed at
addressing methamphetamine or substance misuse, it delivers early mental health support that
may help mitigate associated risks. The programme is delivered in 52 schools across Tai Tokerau
through partnerships with 11 non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In this region, an annual
allocation of $1,716,192 supports these NGO contracts, with services tailored to regional priorities
and school eligibility. The Counselling in Schools was evaluated by the Education Review Office
(ERO) over three years, with the final phase completed in August 2024. The evaluation reports are
available on the ERO website
: Someone to talk to: Evaluation of Counselling in Schools -
Counselling | Education Review Of ice
The Ministry also supports the Resilience to Organised Crime in Communities (ROCC) cross
agency work programme led by the New Zealand Police. ROCC is delivered across priority
locations and combats organised crime by combining social and economic intervention with
targeted enforcement action to build local community resilience. The Ministry’s support generally
focuses
on Government Target 6 - Increased student attendance and
Target 7 - More students at
expected curriculum levels.
Additionally, our regional of ices may also support cross agency approaches to Youth Justice,
Gateway and reintegration back into school for those students suspended or excluded. However, it
is worth noting, the Ministry is not currently involved in any community responses related to
methamphetamine-related harm affecting rangatahi.
The Ministry is not responsible for initiatives related to substance misuse or drug education and
does not fund schools or organisations for drug-related initiatives.
OIA: 1346487
I am refusing
part two of your request under section 18(g) of the Act, as the requested information
is not held, and I have no reason to believe it is held by another agency subject to the Act, who has
not already received your request.
In response to
part three of your request, the Ministry undertook a key word search of the term
‘methamphetamine’ to identify correspondence between the Ministry and the agencies named in
your request relating to methamphetamine harm, student safety, or support services in Northland
schools since January 2022.
Thousands of records were identified which would need to be assessed for relevance to your
request. The majority of the results were from external ‘govt.nz’ email addressed to the Ministry.
On initial assessment, these mostly relate to bulletins and articles, and not actual communications
between staff working on drug-related initiatives. The Ministry would need to manually assess
every result to determine the relevance to your request, which we believe would amount to
substantial research and collation. I am therefore refusing
part five of your request under section
18(f) of the Act.
Please note, this does not indicate all these results are within scope of your request. Further
assessment is required to determine if any of these results are relevant, however this assessment
would require substantial collation. As the Ministry is not the most relevant agency for drug-related
initiatives, we do not believe it is in the public interest to deploy resource for such a task.
In response to
part four of your request, our regional Te Tai Tokerau office has confirmed they
could not identify any incidents reported to the Ministry regarding methamphetamine use or
exposure in or around school environments. I am therefore refusing
part four of your request
under section 18(e) of the Act as the requested information does not exist.
Please note, we may publish this response on our website after five working days. Your name and
contact details wil be removed.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Isabel Evans
Hautū | Deputy Secretary
Te Mahau | Te Tai Raro (North)
OIA: 1346487
