20 January 2026
Elspeth Baker-Vevers
[FYI request #33109 email]
Tēnā koe Elspeth Baker-Vevers
Official Information Act request
Thank you for your email of 3 December 2025, requesting information about ADHD
held by the Ministry of Youth Development (MYD), from January 2015 to December
2025. You requested:
1. Policy and Advice - Any policy documents, strategy papers, briefings, or
advice since 2015 that refer to ADHD or broader neurodiversity in relation
to youth development, wellbeing, participation, or equity. If none exist,
please confirm this.
2.
Research, Funding, and Youth-Voice Inputs - Any research, funding
rounds, community projects, or youth advisory group inputs since 2015
that have included ADHD as a topic or identified ADHD as a barrier to
youth participation. If none exist, please confirm this.
3.
Public-Facing Materials - Any public-facing resources, campaigns,
guidance, or youth-awareness materials since 2015 that mention ADHD,
including any broader disability or neurodiversity materials where ADHD is
specifically referenced. If none exist, please confirm this.
4.
Monitoring and Evaluation Any evaluation or monitoring frameworks that
include ADHD, including any broader disability or neurodiversity indicators
where ADHD is specifically referenced, within MYD’s reporting. If none
exist, please confirm this.
5.
Categorisation - If ADHD-specific work is not held, please confirm and
indicate whether ADHD is considered under broader categories such as
mental health, disability, youth equity, or NEET risk factors If MYD does
not hold some or all of the information requested, that absence itself helps
clarify how ADHD is currently recognised within the youth policy system. If
MYD does not hold some or all of the information requested, that absence
itself helps clarify how ADHD is currently recognised within the youth
policy system. Identifying such gaps is part of building the evidence base
for a coordinated response.
I have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
Please find my decision on each part of your request set out below.
The Aurora Centre, 56 The Terrace, PO Box 1556, Wellington
– Telephone 04-916 3300 – Facsimile 04-918 0099
Please find refer to the following links where publicly available information partly
addresses your requests 1-4.
• Report: Ākonga Youth Development Community Fund Evaluation
Framework and Youth Development Opportunities:
www.myd.govt.nz/assets/documents/Funding/final-akonga-fund-
evaluation-report-08-june-2023-compressed-compressed2.pdf
This report is an evaluation of MYD’s Ākonga Youth Development Community Fund
in June 2023 prepared by Big River Creative, an independent consultant. The
report includes discussion on provider support/programme accessibility for ākonga
with disabilities including neurodiverse young people, among discussing disabled
young people more broadly as a cohort.
• Appendix One: Actions Tracker: Youth Plan 12-Month Review:
www.myd.govt.nz/assets/documents/Youth-Plan/Phase-One-Review-of-
the-Youth-Plan-Proactive-Release/appendix-7-youth-plan-actions-tracker-
12-month-progress-report.pdf.
This document was attached to an October 2022 MYD report to the Minister for
Youth, entitled,
Phase One Report back on the Review of the Youth Plan. It
references a Youth Plan action – Design and implement the ‘Hear Me, See Me’
campaign, which spotlighted the work of several community groups, one of these
being ADHD New Zealand.
• Gathering voices: a review of the literature supporting the refreshed Youth
Plan:
www.myd.govt.nz/assets/documents/Youth-Plan/Phase-Two-
Refresh-Proactive-Release/Gathering-Voices-a-review-of-the-literature-
supporting-the-refreshed-Youth-Plan.pdf.
This document was a literature review completed as part of MYD’s Youth Plan
refresh in 2022/23. The review references neurodiversity as a factor influencing
the wellbeing of young people – noting neurodivergent young people are more
likely to report being treated as adults and placed under higher expectations than
their peers of a similar age
To answer the rest of Question 1, the information you seek cannot be reported to
the level of detail you require and accordingly, this request is refused under section
18(e) of the Act as this document does not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to
locate it, cannot be found.
I will be publishing this decision letter, with your personal details deleted, on the
Ministry’s website in due course.
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[MSD request email].
If you are not satisfied with my decision on your request, you have the right to
seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to
make a complaint is available
at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi nui
pp.
Anna Graham
General Manager
Ministerial and Executive Services
