Ref: 245080
20 February 2026
Elspeth Baker-Vevers
By email to
[FYI request #33081 email]
Tēnā koe Elspeth,
Response to your request for Official Information
1. On
1 December 2025, you requested from Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights
Commission (
Commission) the following information under the Official Information
Act 1982 (
OIA) regarding the recognition, monitoring, and treatment of attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (
ADHD) across our work:
1. Recognition and Scope
Any documents identifying whether ADHD is recognised within the Commission’s
work on:
-disability rights
-health or mental-health discrimination
-education rights
-employment rights
-policy or guidance relating to unlawful discrimination
Please include any internal definitions or categorisation frameworks showing how
ADHD-related matters are classified.
2. Monitoring, Complaints, and Findings (2015–present)
Any:
-complaints or enquiries
-systemic reviews or thematic investigations
-research or monitoring reports
-submissions to Government
-published or internal findings
that refer to ADHD or identify systemic discrimination affecting people with ADHD.
If ADHD is grouped under broader categories (e.g., disability, mental health,
neurodiversity), please specify which.
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3. Projects, Engagement, or Resourcing
Any work programmes, projects, engagements, or resourcing since 2015 that
explicitly include ADHD or neurodevelopmental disabilities within scope.
4. International Human Rights Reporting
Any material referring to ADHD or related neurodevelopmental conditions in New
Zealand that has been:
-submitted by HRC to UN treaty bodies
-received from UN bodies
-referenced in UNCRPD monitoring, shadow reports, or independent submissions
5. Legislative and Rights Analysis
Any assessments or advice addressing ADHD in relation to:
-Human Rights Act 1993 (disability discrimination)
-New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (s 19 – freedom from discrimination)
-UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)
If no ADHD-specific material exists, please confirm.
Formats: Where datasets, tables, or structured information are released, please
provide machine-readable formats (CSV or original spreadsheet file) with
accompanying data dictionaries or definitions.
If information is not held
If the Commission does not hold some or all of the information requested, that
absence itself helps clarify how ADHD is currently tracked and managed across the
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 documents recording:
decisions not to collect or monitor ADHD-related information; or
decisions to categorise ADHD under another label (e.g., disability, mental health,
neurodiversity).
2. On
12 December 2026, we notified you that an extension of time was required due
to the volume of information and consultations that may be necessary. We
apologise for the delay and are pleased to now provide our response. We
attach a
zip file containing 22 documents relevant to your request.
3. As already mentioned to you, this information may not be comprehensive, given the
broad request and broad timeframe. However, we have carried out extensive
searches and expect that we have identified the most relevant information.
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1. Recognition and Scope
4. You requested any documents identifying whether ADHD is recognised within the
Commission’s work on disability rights; health or mental-health discrimination;
education rights; employment rights, and policy or guidance relating to unlawful
discrimination, including internal definitions or categorisation frameworks.
5. The Commission’s dispute resolution service recognises ADHD, along with other
neurodevelopmental and health-related conditions, within the prohibited ground
of disability in the Human Rights Act 1993. Disability is defined under section
21(1)(h) of the Act.
6. ADHD-related matters are therefore considered within the Commission’s dispute
resolution work on disability rights and unlawful discrimination, including in
employment, education and the provision of goods and services, where the
statutory tests for discrimination are met. The Commission does not maintain a
separate internal definition or categorisation framework for ADHD. Matters are
instead assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Act’s definitions and legal
thresholds. That work is carried out under Part 3 of the Human Rights Act.
7. Outside our enquiries and dispute resolution service, the Commission, and
particularly the Disability Rights Commissioner, has a broader role in promotion and
protection of the rights of disabled people. Systemic advocacy, including through
our membership of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism for the Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), generally focuses on disabled people
as a population group, rather than on the rights of people with specific impairments.
However, you will see from some of our work below that we have undertaken some
targeted advocacy in relation to neurodivergent people.
2. Monitoring, Complaints, and Findings (2015–present)
Complaints or enquiries
8. The Commission undertook a summary-level word search of our database of
enquiries and complaints received by our dispute resolution service between 1
January 2015 and 31 December 2025 to identify matters that referred to ADHD or
related concepts. We searched using the terms:
• ADHD
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
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• neurodiversity
• neurodiverse
• neurodivergent
• difficulty concentrating
• neurodevelopmental disorder
• learning difficulties
9. This search identified 223 enquiries and complaints in which one or more of the
terms appeared. Of those, 195 related to the terms “ADHD” and/or “attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder”. Of the 223 matters overall:
• 101 matters were general enquiries or broader human rights matters that did
not involve an allegation of unlawful discrimination
• 122 matters were complaints alleging unlawful discrimination under the
Human Rights Act 1993
• Of those 122, 116 contained sufficient information to identify both a
prohibited ground of discrimination and an area of life under the Act. The
remaining records did not consistently specify a prohibited ground or area of
life or did not proceed to an assessment of those elements.
10. Issues or matters related to ADHD were generally classified under the broader
prohibited ground of disability, rather than being recorded as a separate category.
The Commission does not maintain a separate classification for ADHD,
neurodiversity, or related conditions.
11. The remaining records did not consistently specify a prohibited ground or area of life
or did not proceed to an assessment of those elements. The table below
summarises the 116 matters where both a prohibited ground and a relevant Human
Rights Act area of life were recorded. These classifications reflect intake or
assessment information and do not represent findings of unlawful discrimination.
Area of life
Age
Disability
Total
Educational establishments
0
32
32
Employment
1
21
22
Government activity
1
36
37
4
Area of life
Age
Disability
Total
Land, housing, and
0
1
1
accommodation
Pre-employment
0
6
6
Professional and trade
0
1
1
associations
Provision of goods and
0
16
16
services
Vocational training bodies
0
1
1
Total
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114
116
Systemic reviews or thematic investigations
12. The Commission has not undertaken any systemic reviews or thematic
investigations relating specifically to ADHD for the period requested.
Research or monitoring reports
13. The Commission has not produced research specifically on ADHD within the period.
Broader monitoring work is addressed in our response to question 4 below.
Submissions to Government
14. The Commission has not made submissions to Government specifically relating to
ADHD in the specified time-period. However, relevant work, included in the attached
bundle, includes:
• Submission to Day of General Discussion on the Right to Education for
Persons with Disabilities (15 April 2015)
• Submission to the Inquiry into the identification and support for students
with significant challenges of dyslexia, dyspraxia and autistic spectrum
disorders (2 October 2015)
• Submission on Draft Disability and Learning Support Action Plan (2019)
• Submission on Petition of Christine McCarthy, which requests: That the
House of Representatives increase the minimum age of criminal
responsibility to 16 years old (12 July 2022)
• Submission on Ram Raiding Offending Bill (20 October 2023)
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Published or internal findings
15. The Commission has not released any publications or made internal findings
specifically relating to ADHD during the specified period.
3. Projects, Engagement, or Resourcing
16. The Commission has not had work programmes, projects, or resourcing specifically
dedicated to ADHD since 2015.
17. We have, however, undertaken broader work on neurodevelopmental disabilities,
much of it led by Disability Rights Commissioners Paul Gibson (2011-2017) and
Paula Tesoriero (2017-2022).
18. In 26 June 2017, the Commission hosted a round table on neurodisability, bringing
together non-governmental organisations and Government agencies.
19. Other relevant work is provided in the attached bundle, including:
Justice system work
• Speeches and presentations to Police, Youth Court Judges, and High Court
Judges
• Panel participation and international presentations, including on
“neurodisability and the journey into youth justice and detention” at the
Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities
• Letters to former Ministers of Justice
Other engagements
• Neurodiversity workplace discussions
• Op-eds on neurodisability and children’s rights
• Attendance and contributions at relevant symposia
• Speech at ADHD awareness month
• Speech:
The kid with ADHD who fished up the land of the Kiwi and other
stories from exclusion to inclusion: human rights, disability, and education in
the post disability convention world
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (including mention of ADHD and neurodivergent
conditions among others that share the exclusion of eligibility for publicly funded
disability support services)
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link to page 7
• Letter to Minister and call to action, which can be found at
https://tikatangata.org.nz/our-work/the-reality-of-fasd-in-aotearoa
National Preventive Mechanism under the Optional Protocol to the Convention
Against Torture
• The Commission is part of the National Preventive Mechanism (
NPM) under
the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture
.1
• In 2024, the NPM agreed to scope the issue of neurodivergence in detention
settings.
• The Commission engaged a researcher to conduct a literature review and
prepare recommendations. This work is in draft form, and we are withholding
it under OIA section 9(2)(g)(i). We would be happy to provide you with a copy
of the report once it is final.
4. International Human Rights Reporting
Submitted by HRC to UN treaty bodies
20. We have not identified any Commission submissions to UN treaty bodies referring
explicitly to ADHD. However, the following submissions refer to neurodevelopmental
conditions more broadly:
• Submission from the
New Zealand Independent Monitoring Mechanism
• Submission
of Human Rights Commission under the Convention Against
Torture
Received from UN bodies
21. UN bodies have made the following recommendations to New Zealand that touch
on ADHD or related neurodevelopmental conditions
•
Concluding observations Committee on the Rights of the Child (28 February
2023)
•
Concluding observations Committee Against Torture (24 August 2023)
•
Concluding observations Committee on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (26 September 2022)
•
Concluding observations Committee Against Torture (2 June 2015)
1 The NPM is made up of the Chief Ombudsman, the Independent Police Conduct Authority, the Inspector
of Service Penal Establishments and Mana Mokopuna - Children and Young People's Commission. The
Commission is the Central NPM.
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Referenced in UNCRPD monitoring, shadow reports, or independent submissions
22. All submissions, shadow reports and monitoring reports are publicly av
ailable here.
23. The Commission does not hold ADHD specific material for international reporting.
Our references are made under broader categories of neurodevelopmental
disability.
5. Legislative and Rights Analysis
24. We have not identified any Commission assessments or advice specifically
addressing ADHD in relation to:
• Human Rights Act 1993
• New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
25. The Commission produces case studies relating to complaints that proceed through
mediation. However, we are unable to release these due to privacy under s 9(2)(a) of
the OIA.
Alternative avenues
If you are unhappy with this response, you are entitled to complain to the Ombudsman
under the OIA. Information about making a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or on freephone 0800 802 602.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Nāku noa, nā,
Eleanor Vermunt
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