Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wel ington
T 04 918 8800 |
F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
6 January 2026
Elspeth Baker-Vevers
[FYI request #33060 email]
Ref: OIA 128243
Tēnā koe Elspeth
Official Information Act request: ADHD in the Justice System
Thank you for your email of 30 November 2025, requesting information under the Of icial
Information Act 1982 (the Act), regarding ADHD in the justice system. Specifically, you
requested:
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 Bil 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).
In response to the first part of your request;
Ownership and responsibility, there are no
documents or descriptions that exist that specifically identify which unit, team, or role within
the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry) holds responsibility for issues relating to ADHD in the
justice system. However, there are teams that are involved in youth justice policy, adult
justice policy, or court accessibility/participant support. These teams would consider matters
related to ADHD when they arise as part of their work. Responsibility of any initiatives may
be spread across multiple areas of the Ministry or involvement may be as part of a cross-
agency initiative, but these are some of the teams or units that could be involved:
Group name
Team/unit name
Ātea a Rangi – Strategy
Sector Insights
Strategy, Performance and Relationships
- System Performance and Monitoring
Operations and Service Delivery
Commissioning & Service Improvement
- Provider and Community Services
Te Ao Mārama Programme
Policy
Access to Justice
Courts and Justice System Policy
Courts Stewardship
Courts Timeliness and Efficiency
Human Rights
Sentencing and Rehabilitation
Victims and Youth Justice
Sector Directorate
Sector Directorate
Regarding the part two of your request, I must advise that the Ministry does not hold any
data relating specifically to ADHD in the justice system. None of the Ministry’s reporting or
court user surveys require participants to specify any type of disability or impairment. Any
self-identification or acknowledgement of ADHD would only be captured during a court
hearing or process and may be writ en on an individual court file. As you may know, court
information is not subject to the Act under section 2(6)(a).
Your request is therefore refused in full under section 18(g)(i) of the Act, as the information is
not held by the Ministry and there are no grounds for believing it is held by any other agency
or department that is subject to the Act.
Parts three and four of your request are also refused under section 18(g)(i) of the Act, as the
Ministry does not hold any ADHD specific information, and there are no grounds for believing
it is held by any other agency or department that is subject to the Act.
However, I can advise that the Ministry does hold some high-level information (not
necessarily data) regarding the broader areas of disability/neurodiversity in the justice
system, and the work that the Ministry is involved in to address court participant experience,
that may be of interest to you. The following initiatives are an example of this work:
- Youth Crime Action Plan (cross-agency),
- Disability Action Plan (cross-agency),
- Ongoing work on the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003,
- Hāpaitia te Oranga Tangata - Safe and Ef ective Justice,
- Internal information regarding neurodiversity awareness/understanding, and
- Court Participation tool (pilot stage).
The Ministry would be happy to consider an additional request for the high-level information
mentioned above or regarding any of the disability/neurodiversity work programmes, if you
would find it useful for your Petitions Commit ee submission.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry’s website at:
Of icial Information Act responses | New Zealand Ministry of Justice.
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28 of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be contacted
by phone on: 0800 802 602, by email at: [email address], or via the
webform:
Make a complaint (for members of the public) | Ombudsman New Zealand.
Nāku noa, nā
David Crooke
Acting General Manager, Civil and Constitutional Policy Group
