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 seeks information held by your agency to help understand how ADHD is recognised within publicly funded health research. The information gathered will 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 (or transfer within 10 working days). If clarification would assist, please contact me as early as possible. If an extension under s 15A is required, please specify the reason and duration.

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

Format: Where datasets, funding lists, or assessment records are released, please provide them in machine-readable format (CSV or original spreadsheet format) along with any data dictionaries or field definitions.

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

Please provide:

1. ADHD related Research Funding (2015–present)
-Any funded projects, grants, or proposals that explicitly reference ADHD.
-Any declined proposals involving ADHD (with personal identifiers redacted under s 9(2)(a)).
-Any analysis or records describing the demographic focus of ADHD-related research (e.g., tamariki Māori, Pacific children, women/girls, Rainbow+/Takatāpui populations).

2. Prioritisation & Assessment Criteria
-Any correspondence, internal advice, or assessment criteria describing how ADHD-related research is prioritised within HRC funding streams (e.g., Project Grants, Emerging Researcher Grants, Programme Grants).
-Any documents describing how equity considerations, particularly for Māori, Pacific peoples, women and girls, and Rainbow+/Takatāpui communities, are applied when assessing ADHD-related proposals.
-Any advice or criteria relating to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Māori health advancement, or Pacific health equity in relation to ADHD research proposals.

3. Analysis of Research Gaps
-Any reports, briefings, or internal analysis noting gaps in ADHD research compared with other neurodevelopmental or mental-health conditions.
-Any analysis describing known or potential inequities in ADHD outcomes or research representation for Māori, Pacific peoples, women and girls, and Rainbow+/Takatāpui populations.

4. Category Placement
If ADHD is not treated as a distinct research area:
-Please confirm this, and state under which categories ADHD-related research would usually be classified (e.g., mental health, child development, neurodevelopmental disorders, psychopharmacology).
-Please identify any implications for visibility, prioritisation, or reporting of ADHD research.

5. Additional Documentation
-Any analysis, advice, or data your agency holds relating to ADHD research populations, including where ADHD is included as a subgroup or secondary analysis within larger studies.
-Any ethical-committee guidance, briefing notes, or consultation documents relevant to ADHD-related health research, including any that relate to Māori, Pacific, women/girls, or Rainbow+/Takatāpui communities.

If information is not held
If the HRC does not hold some or all of the information requested, this absence itself helps clarify how ADHD is prioritised and tracked within national health research. Identifying such gaps is part of understanding systemic visibility issues.

Please confirm if information is not held, and include any documents or correspondence recording:
-decisions not to fund, monitor, or prioritise ADHD-related research; or
-decisions to classify ADHD research under broader categories.

Ngā mihi,
Elspeth Baker-Vevers