IN-CONFIDENCE

Tçnâ koe Elspeth Baker-Vevers,

Thank you for your email received 1 December 2025, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National Office to respond.

The information you have requested may contain the names and contact details of our staff. Please let us know by 2 December 2025 whether you require these names and contact details. We will need to consult our staff before deciding whether we can release this information, and this will take a bit more time. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you do not require staff names and contact details.
Please note that over the holiday period, there are three weeks that are not classified as working days. In accordance with Section 2 of the Official Information Act 1982, this period is 25 December 2024 to 15 January 2025 (inclusive). As such, OIA requests received on or after 27 November 2024 may take longer than you might expect. For more information on the latest date you can expect a response, please find the OIA Calculator on the Ombudsman website here: http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/agenc....
Ngâ manaakitanga,

Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development

Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mâtou he whakamana tangata kia tû haumaru, kia tû kaha, kia tû motuhake

-----Original Message-----
From: Elspeth Baker-Vevers <[FOI #33068 email]>
Sent: Monday, 1 December 2025 12:16 am
To: OIA_Requests (MSD) <[MSD request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - 27 - ADHD within Employment, Income Support, and Disability Services

[You don't often get email from [FOI #33068 email]. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

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 help identify patterns across agencies and contribute to 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 (transfer 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 MSD; please do not transfer for commentary.

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

Format: Please provide datasets or tables in machine-readable format (CSV or original spreadsheet file), with data dictionaries or field definitions.

Scope clarification: I am not seeking internal email chains or drafts unless they are the only record of the substantive information described.

Please provide:

1. Leadership and Oversight
Any documents identifying how ADHD is represented, recognised, or coordinated within MSD’s:
-employment support
-income support
-disability support services
-hardship or social-housing assessments
-youth development or StudyLink services

If no responsible function exists, please confirm this.

2. Data and Monitoring
a. Any reports, dashboards, metadata, or methods MSD uses to identify or track clients with ADHD (including aggregated clinical coding, case-note tags, or health-based eligibility indicators).

b. If ADHD is grouped under another category, please specify which (e.g., disability, mental health, behavioural, neurodiversity).

3. Funding and Programmes
Any information identifying funding allocated or spent specifically on ADHD-related:
-employment support
-participation or inclusion programmes
-community provider contracts
-youth or family services

(Please exclude autism-specific or general neurodiversity initiatives unless ADHD is explicitly named.)

4. Rights and Compliance
Any assessments, advice, or internal communications since 2015 discussing ADHD in relation to:
-New Zealand’s obligations under UNCRPD
-disability discrimination risk
-equitable access to employment or social support

If none exist, please confirm this.

5. Equity
If any Mâori data governance or Mâori equity considerations were applied when deciding whether to collect, categorise, or monitor ADHD-related information, please provide the relevant documents.

Please provide any analysis or reporting MSD holds on differential outcomes for clients with ADHD by ethnicity, gender, or Rainbow+/Takatâpui status, or confirm if such data are not collected.

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 currently tracked and managed across the social support system. Identifying such gaps is part of building the evidence base for an informed, coordinated response.

Please confirm if the information is not held, and include any existing documents or correspondence that record a decision not to collect or monitor ADHD related information. If applicable, please also indicate how related matters are categorised (for example, under disability, mental health, behavioural conditions, or other).

Ngâ mihi,
Elspeth Baker

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