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OIA0841

Elspeth Baker-Vevers
[FYI request #33058 email]

9 February 2026

Tēnā koe Elspeth

Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request of 30 November 2025,
to the Ministry of Disabled People - Whaikaha (Whaikaha), requesting the following
information in relation to Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
I have answered each part of your request in turn.
Please note:
•  some information provided will reference Disability Support Services (DSS). As
of September 2024, Whaikaha is no longer responsible for the management or
provision of DSS. DSS was transferred to the Ministry of Social Development
(MSD).
•  staff names and contact details have been considered out of scope of your
request and removed accordingly. Job titles have been left in.
•  in situations where only small aspects of documents are in scope of your
request, the relevant material has been extracted and provided as excerpts in
accordance with section 16 of the OIA.
•  You asked for information going back to 2022, this has not been possible due to
the substantial amount of research and collation that would be required. We
have been able to provide material dating back to 2023, however material from
earlier than that is refused under section 18(f) of the OIA.
1. Definition and Eligibility
Any policy, eligibility criteria, operational guidance, or internal
documentation that addresses whether and how ADHD is included,
recognised, or considered within disability supports administered,
funded, or overseen by Whaikaha.
For clarity, this request includes ADHD-specific information and any
related material that Whaikaha may categorise under broader
neurodevelopmental, behavioural, learning-difficulty, or co-occurring

disability groupings where relevant to ADHD recognition or service
design.
This includes any information or criteria that recognise intersectional
neurodivergence (for example, ADHD alongside autism, intellectual
disability, learning disability, or mental health conditions) where that
affects eligibility, prioritisation, or support design.
This part of your request was transferred to MSD (MSD) in accordance with section 14
of the OIA because we believe it is more closely connected with the functions
of MSD.
Whaikaha was originally established as a departmental agency hosted by MSD
and was responsible for providing DSS. In September 2024, the responsibility for the
provision of DSS moved to MSD. Because of this, any information pertaining to policy,
eligibility criteria, operational guidance, or internal documentation that addresses
whether and how ADHD is included, recognised, or considered within disability
supports will be held by MSD.
Whaikaha, as a standalone Ministry established on 1 December 2024, has no role in
the provision of DSS.
2. Advice and Consultation
Any internal advice, cross-agency briefings, correspondence, or
consultation records relating to ADHD or intersectional neurodivergent
cohorts (for example, ADHD alongside other learning, developmental,
or mental health conditions), including engagement with:
-Māori providers or iwi
-Pacific providers
-Rainbow+/Takatāpui communities
-Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs)
-disability advocacy NGOs
-private service providers or contractors -consumer, advocacy, or lived-
experience groups
If no such engagement has occurred, please confirm this.
Whaikaha holds some correspondence with other government agencies on the topic of
ADHD. This correspondence was generally providing input into other agencies Cabinet
papers, Ministerial briefings and work programmes, or assisting with media queries.
Please find attached in Appendix 1.
It is important to note that as responsibility for DSS shifted to MSD, Whaikaha did not
progress the review of eligibility for DSS discussed on page 30 (email thread 5) of
Appendix 1.
Some further documents relating to the scoping of a review of eligibility for DSS have
been identified, however this scoping exercise did not progress past the draft stage

and the material is therefore withheld under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the OIA, to maintain
the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of
opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an organisation or
officers and employees of any public service agency or organisation in the course of
their duty.
Any future eligibility scoping exercise would be the responsibility of MSD.
We have not identified any other engagement with the groups you listed specifically
on the topic of ADHD, however, please refer to question 6 for information about
engagement on the New Zealand Disability Strategy.
2A. Advisory groups of disabled people
Please provide any documents, minutes, summaries, or correspondence
relating to advisory groups or panels composed of disabled people that
contributed to policy, service design, consultation, or accessibility
decisions relevant to ADHD.
As it stands, this aspect of your request is broad and would be refused under section
18(g) of the OIA, as it would require substantial research and collation.
We have focussed on searching any advisory group documentation that specifically
mentions ADHD, outside of the work done to create the New Zealand Disability
Strategy 2026-2030 (please refer to question 6 for this information), and the
information discussed in question 2. No further material has been found in scope of
this part of your request therefore it is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA; the
documentation alleged to contain this information does not exist.
If you are interested in any advisory group discussion on a specific topic relevant to
ADHD, we invite you to make a more refined request outlining the topic.
3. Cross-Agency Role and Coordination
Any documents or correspondence describing Whaikaha’s role in:
-co-ordinating ADHD related policy,
-contributing to ADHD related service design, or -supporting cross-
agency work with Health, Education, MSD, or Justice.
If Whaikaha does not hold a co-ordinating role for ADHD, please
confirm this.
Whaikaha does not hold a co-ordinating role for ADHD. Whaikaha was a member of
the Neurodiversity Interagency Group, led by the Ministry of Health.
In Appendix 2, please find attached a copy of the Terms of Reference (ToR), which
outlines the role of Whaikaha in relation to the Government’s response to
neurodiversity.
Please note the interagency neurodiversity group was a fixed-term group and as its
task (outlined in the ToR) is complete, this group is no longer in operation.

In Appendix 3, please find a completed interagency stocktake on neurodiversity,
answered by Whaikaha in October 2024. This stocktake document was completed for
the Ministry of Health and outlines the role of Whaikaha in relation to neurodiversity.
4. Rights and Compliance
Any assessments, reviews, or advice since 2022 relating to how ADHD
is considered within Whaikaha’s responsibilities under:
-the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(UNCRPD); -the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990; -the Human
Rights Act 1993 (disability discrimination).
Please confirm if no such assessments exist.
No material has been found in scope of this part of your request. This part of your
request is therefore refused under section 18(e) of the OIA; the documentation
alleged to contain this information does not exist.
5. Data Visibility and Monitoring
Please provide any information, guidance, or data dictionaries your
agency holds that describe how ADHD is recognised, coded, or tracked
within disability, health, or social-sector datasets since July 2022.
If ADHD is grouped within a broader category (for example,
neurodevelopmental, behavioural, mental health, or learning difficulty),
please specify which category is used.
If any Māori data governance or Māori equity considerations were
applied when deciding whether to collect, categorise, or monitor ADHD-
related information, please provide the relevant documents.
Please also provide any analysis or data your agency holds relating to:
• Māori, Pacific, or Rainbow+/Takatāpui disabled people with ADHD;
and • intersectional neurodivergent cohorts, such as ADHD alongside
other neurodevelopmental or physical disabilities.
If such information is not collected or cannot be disaggregated, please
confirm this.
Whaikaha does not specifically collect data on ADHD, however, some data is collected
by Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) in the Disability Survey, which shows that 3
percent of the population (aged 5 years and over) had been diagnosed with ADHD at
the time of the survey (2023). This was more common amongst males (3 percent)
than females (2 percent), and amongst children (4 percent) than adults (2 percent).
Just over half (52 percent) of people diagnosed with ADHD were also identified as
disabled in the survey.

See 17 percent of New Zealanders are disabled | Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled
People on our website and Disability statistics: 2023 | Stats NZ on the Stats NZ
website for more information.

Some information is also collected for children in the Ministry of Health's NZ Health
Survey. The 24/25 data shows that 5.8 percent of children aged 5-14 had been
diagnosed with ADHD. Data is also available by gender, ethnicity, age bracket,
disability status or region at New Zealand Health Survey Annual Data Explorer (use
the drop-down menus on the left side to select children as the population first and
then find neurodiversity under the topic menu).

Integrated Data Infrastructure

In 2025, as part of the Code Modules Initiative, Whaikaha collaborated with Nicholson
Consulting and Stats NZ to deploy the first disability-related code module into the
Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI).
The IDI is a large research database. It holds anonymised data about people and
households. The data is about life events, like education, income, benefits, migration,
justice, and health. It comes from government agencies, for example administrative
data from the services they provide, and from Stats NZ and other organisation’s
surveys, as well as some non-government organisations (NGOs). The data is linked
together, or integrated, to form the IDI.
Researchers use the IDI to conduct cross-sector research that provides insight into
our society and economy. The research can help answer questions about complex
issues that affect New Zealanders.
The Code Modules Initiative is an all-of-data system effort to make New Zealand’s
integrated data assets easier to use, and understandable for everyone, including non-
technical people. Modules contain high-quality code and documentation that supports
researchers from different organisations to use and report on key concepts in a
consistent way.
The Intellectual (Learning) Disability & associated conditions code module builds on
the analytical work for the IHC report ‘From Data to Dignity: Health and Wellbeing
Indicators for New Zealanders with Intellectual Disability’ (Kōtātā Insights, 2023). In
addition to Intellectual Disability, the module also identifies individuals who have the
following diagnostically defined neurodevelopmental conditions:
•  ADHD
•  Autism
•  Cerebral palsy
•  Developmental delay
•  Down Syndrome
•  Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
•  Fragile X syndrome
•  Klinefelter syndrome

• Spina bifida.
These neurodevelopmental conditions have been included as part of this module as
there is some correlation between these conditions and intellectual disability. This
does not mean, however, that everyone with these conditions has an intellectual
disability or vice versa.
The code module allows researchers to have a consistent way of identifying people in
the IDI with an intellectual disability or an associated condition and will more easily
allow for analysis in areas of disability-related research such as:
• comparing outcomes and service use for people with certain conditions and
people without
• assessing overlap of intellectual disability and associated conditions
• understanding flow in and out of Disability Support Services (DSS) for people
with certain conditions.
Developing disability-related code modules in the IDI environment is an important
part of the Whaikaha stewardship function.
To learn more about the IDI, please visit: https://www.stats.govt.nz/integrated-data/
6. Disability Strategy Refresh
Please provide any documents, drafts, advice, consultation summaries,
internal planning materials, timelines, equity analysis, or
correspondence held relating to the Disability Strategy refresh and the
development of the next Disability Strategy, including any material
where ADHD is discussed in relation to neurodevelopmental disability
or tāngata whaikaha Māori.
If the refresh has been delayed, paused, or reprioritised, please provide
any documents recording these decisions.
In 2025, Whaikaha undertook a refresh of the New Zealand Disability Strategy (the
NZDS).
NZDS Working Groups
As part of the work to refresh the NZDS, five working groups were established to
develop actions in priority outcome areas: health, education, employment, housing,
and justice. Each working group was made up of people with lived experience of
disability, cross-agency government officials, and industry or sector experts.
Whaikaha created thinkpiece documents on each of the outcome areas to assist the
working groups. Two thinkpieces referenced ADHD (Education and Employment).
Appendix 4 contains the excerpts about ADHD taken from these thinkpieces.
In Appendix 5, you will find excerpted minutes from the justice working group
meeting, where ADHD was mentioned.

The Working Group recommendations were given to the Ministerial Disability
Leadership Group (MDLG) for consideration in June. The MDLG’s feedback on this
document, along with further advice from agencies, was used to develop the draft
NZDS, which was published online for public consultation.
NZDS Public Consultation
Feedback on the NZDS was received in a number of different ways. People could
attend public consultation meetings, either online or in person, hosted by Whaikaha,
or they could submit written feedback.
Written feedback and notes taken at the consultation meetings were loaded into NVivo
(data analysis software) for qualitative coding (names and contact details of
submitters were removed prior to loading).
We have run a keyword search in NVivo for “ADHD” and “attention deficit”. The report
generated from this search is attached in Appendix 6. This provides excerpts of NZDS
feedback where ADHD is mentioned. Some information has been withheld under
section 9(2)(a), to protect privacy of natural persons.
The NZDS refresh was not delayed, and the final NZDS 2026 - 2030 was launched on
2 December 2025. It is publicly available here: https://www.whaikaha.govt.nz/about-
us/our-work/new-zealand-disability-strategy-2026-2030
If you wish to discuss this response with us, or if you are seeking any further
information, please contact [Ministry for Disabled People 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
Emma Williams
Manager, Ministerial and Executive Services

Document Outline