Kia ora,

I’m making this Official Information Act request as part of ADHDInquiryNZ, a grassroots, unfunded, and non-partisan volunteer initiative supporting a public petition calling for a Parliamentary inquiry into systemic harm to people with ADHD in Aotearoa. This request focuses on information held by your agency to help identify how ADHD is currently recognised within existing systems. The information gathered from this and related requests will be used to help identify patterns across agencies and will contribute to the evidence provided to the Petitions Committee when the petition period closes. I appreciate the time involved in OIA responses.

Please treat this as a request for official information under the OIA. I understand the agency’s obligation to assist under s 13 and that a decision should be made within 20 working days of receipt (and that any transfer must occur within 10 working days). If any part of this request requires clarification, please let me know no later than 5 working days from receipt. If an extension under s 15A is needed, please state the reason and duration. This request is confined to information held by the Ministry of Justice; please do not transfer for commentary.

This request relates to justice policy, youth and adult courts, and system-level data and rights considerations. I am not seeking access to case files or information about identifiable individuals.

Timeframe: 1 January 2015 to the date this request is received.

Format: Where datasets, tables, or modelling outputs are provided, please supply them in machine-readable form (CSV or original spreadsheet) with any data dictionaries or field definitions.

Scope clarification (to reduce unnecessary work)
To streamline this request, I am not seeking:
-internal email chains,
-draft documents, or
-personal information about individuals (unless they are the only holders of substantive information).

If any part of this request is likely to be refused under s 18(f) due to substantial collation, please identify that specific part early so I can refine it.

Please provide the following information (2015–present):

1. Ownership and responsibility
Any documents, briefs, or internal descriptions identifying which unit, team, or role within the Ministry of Justice holds responsibility for issues relating to ADHD in:

-youth justice policy,
-adult justice policy, or
-court accessibility / participant support.

2. Data and monitoring
Any data, studies, reports, or internal analysis identifying ADHD among:
-people appearing in youth or adult courts,
-people engaged with justice-sector programmes,
-people subject to fines, bail support, family court processes, or community-based orders.

If ADHD is not separately tracked, please specify:
-whether it is grouped under another category, and
-which category/categories are used (e.g., “mental health”, “behavioural”, “disability”, “learning difficulty”).

Please also provide any data dictionaries, coding standards, or classification guidance showing how ADHD-related information would be recorded if present.

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.

3. Funding, initiatives, or programmes
Any documents since 2015 relating to:

-funding for ADHD related supports, screening, training, or rehabilitation within the justice system;
-ADHD focused initiatives or pilots (youth or adult);
-cross-agency initiatives involving ADHD (e.g., with Health, Oranga Tamariki, Corrections, or Police).

4. Rights, fair process, and discrimination risks
Any internal or external advice, assessments, or analysis since 2015 concerning fairness or rights impacts for people with ADHD in justice settings, including any reference to:

-New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (including s 19, freedom from discrimination),
-Human Rights Act 1993 (disability discrimination),
-obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD),
-court accessibility or participation barriers specific to ADHD.

This includes any consideration of ADHD in relation to:
-communication difficulties,
-procedural fairness,
-access to support or accommodations,
-comprehension of court processes,
-ability to meet justice-system requirements (e.g., fines, orders, reporting).

If information is not held
If your agency does not hold some or all of the information requested, that absence itself helps clarify how ADHD is (or is not) recognised within justice systems. Identifying such gaps is part of building the evidence base for an informed, coordinated response.

Please confirm if the information is not held, and provide any documents or correspondence that record:
-a decision not to collect ADHD-related information, and/or
-how related matters are instead categorised.

Ngā mihi,
Elspeth Baker-Vevers