DOIA REQ 0024797 Response.pdf

20 January 2026

Ref: DOIA-REQ-0024797-Elspeth Baker-Vevers

Elspeth Baker-Vevers
ADHDInquiryNZ
Email: [FYI request #33070 email]

Tēnā koe Elspeth

Thank you for your request via FYI of 1 December 2025 to the Ministry of Business, Innovafion and
Employment (MBIE) requesfing, under the Oﬃcial Informafion Act 1982 (the Act), for informafion related
to Aftenfion Deﬁcit Hyperacfive Disorder (ADHD) and/or neurodivergence in the workplace. Your ful
request is included as Appendix A.

MBIE appreciates your organisafion’s interest in supporfing those with ADHD. ADHD in the workplace is an
emerging area of focus. At this stage, MBIE has not developed speciﬁc employment policy and guidance
relafing to ADHD in the workplace.

Therefore, MBIE is refusing al  parts of your request (one to six) under secfion 18(e) of the Act, as the
document(s) al eged to contain the informafion requested does not exist or, despite reasonable eﬀorts to
locate it, cannot be found.

Employment New Zealand has published informafion about reasonable accommodafion measures that
employers must take to meet employees needs, which can be found here:
www.employment.govt.nz/starfing-employment/hiring/the-hiring-process.

If you are seeking informafion about MBIE’s internal workplace pracfices, you are welcome to submit a
separate request under the Act.

If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further assistance,
please contact [email address].

You have the right to seek an invesfigafion and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Informafion
about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802
602.

Nāku noa, nā

Bridget Duley
Manager, Employment Relafions Policy
Workplace Relafions and Safety Policy

Appendix A
I’m making this Oﬃcial Informafion Act request as part of ADHDInquiryNZ, a grassroots, unfunded, and
non-parfisan volunteer inifiafive supporfing a public pefifion cal ing for a Parliamentary inquiry into
systemic harm to people with ADHD in Aotearoa. This request focuses on informafion held by your agency
to help idenfify how ADHD is currently recognised within exisfing systems. The informafion gathered from
this and related requests wil be used to help idenfify any pafterns across agencies and wil contribute to
the evidence provided to the Pefifions Commiftee when the pefifion period closes. I appreciate the fime
involved in OIA responses.

Please treat this as a request for oﬃcial informafion under the OIA. I understand the agency’s obligafion 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 clariﬁcafion, 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 durafion. This request is conﬁned to informafion held by MBIE; please do not transfer for
commentary.

This request relates to MBIE’s system-level responsibilifies for employment law, workplace rights, employer
obligafions, labour market policy, mediafion services, and workplace health and safety guidance (via
Employment New Zealand and related MBIE business units).

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

Format: Where datasets, tables, or modelling outputs are provided, I request they be supplied in machine-
readable format (CSV or original spreadsheet ﬁle) along with any data dicfionaries or ﬁeld deﬁnifions. A
machine-readable format is requested to minimise col afion and preserve original structure.

Scope clariﬁcafion to reduce unnecessary work
To streamline this request, I am not seeking internal email chains, drafts, or personal informafion about
individuals unless they are the only holders of the substanfive informafion described.

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

Please provide:

1. Employment Policy and Guidance
Any employment, workplace-rights, employer-obligafions, or compliance materials since 2015 that
speciﬁcal y menfion ADHD.

This includes material produced by:
-Employment New Zealand
-Labour Inspectorate
-Mediafion Services
-Employment Relafions policy teams
-MBIE Inclusion & Diversity or Workforce policy teams.

2. Accommodafions and Legal Frameworks
Any advice, guidance, analysis, or brieﬁng material on:
-reasonable accommodafion or workplace adjustments for people with ADHD
-whether ADHD is treated as a “disability” or “health condifion” under employment law
-prohibited discriminafion grounds (Human Rights Act, Employment Relafions Act)

-whether employers have a proacfive duty to provide accommodafions
-whether workers with ADHD must rely on complaint-driven processes after harm.

3. Workplace Disputes, Mediafion, and Outcomes
Any correspondence, reports, or analysis linking ADHD to:
-employment relafionship problems
-mediafion outcomes
-unjusfiﬁed dismissal claims
-adverse acfion linked to neurodivergence
-workplace harm or disadvantage
-employment complaints involving disability or accommodafion failures.

(Idenfifying informafion is not sought; anonymised or aggregated informafion is suﬃcient.)

4. Research, Equity, and Frameworks
Any MBIE, Employment NZ, or policy branch documents since 2015 that discuss ADHD within:
-disability employment policy
-mental health in the workplace
-neurodiversity inclusion
-workforce equity frameworks or diversity strategies.

Please also provide any analysis, data, or modelling on:
-income, pay-equity, or labour-market disparifies for people with ADHD
-comparisons with other neurodivergent or disability cohorts.

If any Māori data governance or Māori equity considerafions were applied when deciding whether to
col ect, categorise, or monitor ADHD-related informafion, please provide the relevant documents.

5. Employer and Public-Facing Informafion
Any informafion, guidance, campaigns, online content, or resources since 2015 that include ADHD-related
workplace guidance.

This includes:
-Employment New Zealand website content
-Small-business guidance (including through Business.govt.nz)
-Employer compliance materials
-Sector campaigns, toolkits, or model policies.

If none exist, please conﬁrm this.

6. Monitoring and Evaluafion
Any evaluafion, monitoring, or performance reports since 2015 that measure:
-ADHD-related outcomes
-accessibility or accommodafion trends
-neurodivergent worker parficipafion
-systemic barriers aﬀecfing ADHD within employment systems.

If none exist, please conﬁrm this.

If informafion is not held
If your agency does not hold some or al of the informafion requested, that absence also helps clarify how

ADHD is currently recognised within workplace and employment systems. Idenfifying such gaps is part of
building the evidence base for an informed, coordinated response.

Please conﬁrm if the informafion is not held by your agency, and include any exisfing documents or
correspondence that record a decision not to col ect or monitor ADHD-related informafion. If applicable,
please also indicate how related mafters are categorised (for example: neurodiversity, mental health,
disability, or workplace health).