6 May 2026
Spencer Jones
[FYI request #33831 email]
Tēnā koe Spencer
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00203154
Thank you for your email on 25 April 2026, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for further
information about Smart Meter RF Exposure under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA). For
clarity, I wil respond to each question in turn:
Response
Thank you for your response dated 24 April 2026, reference HNZ00202225. I am making
this follow-up request under the Official Information Act 1982. Your response states that no
clinical guidance, advice, escalation pathway, or referral process exists for patients
reporting EMF sensitivity or smart meter-related symptoms.
To clarify the record and search position, please provide the following:
1. Search methodology
Please confirm:
* which Health NZ teams, units, or roles were consulted;
* which systems or repositories were searched;
* whether email, shared drives, document management systems, and public health records
were searched;
* what search terms were used, including whether “EMF”, “EHS”, “electromagnetic
hypersensitivity”, “smart meter”, “radiofrequency”, and “non-ionising radiation” were used.
We advise that your request was adequately investigated and we stand by its processing. The
responses were provided by the National Public Health Service (NPHS) Protection Directorate.
The NPHS's responsibilities for EMF and non-ionising radiation relate to public health risk
assessment and guidance, including the information published on our website.
2. Clinical responsibility
Please confirm whether Health NZ has any team, role, or clinical governance function
responsible for:
* patient presentations involving environmental sensitivity;
* EMF sensitivity / EHS complaints;
* non-ionising radiation health concerns;
* smart meter-related health concerns.
If no such function exists, please explicitly confirm this.
There is no team single team, role or clinical governance that undertakes these responsibilities.
The inter-agency committee on non-ionising radiation has both Health NZ and Ministry of Health
representation.
3. Patient handling pathway
Please confirm whether Health NZ holds any records, guidance, or advice explaining how
clinicians, Healthline, public health units, or triage services should respond when a patient
reports symptoms attributed to EMF exposure or smart meters.
If no such records exist, please confirm whether this is because:
* no guidance has ever been created; or
* guidance may exist local y or regionally but is not held centrally.
6. Recordkeeping clarification
If Health NZ’s position is that no relevant clinical guidance or pathway exists, please
confirm whether any record exists explaining why this issue has not been assessed as
requiring guidance or policy development. If no such record exists, please confirm under
section 18(e).
No guidance has been created as there is no conclusive evidence that EMF exposure or smart
meters cause harm to health if they meet the limits set out in the NZ radiofrequency exposure
standards.
4. Policy assessment
Please provide any records showing whether Health NZ has considered whether clinical
guidance should be developed for EMF sensitivity, EHS, or smart meter-related health
complaints. If no assessment has been undertaken, please explicitly confirm this under
section 18(e).
Due to the lack of conclusive evidence, no assessment has been undertaken. However, as part of
the interagency committee on non-ionising radiation, international literature is scanned and
assessed to improve understanding of science and health impacts from non-ionising radiation.
5. Appendix 1 linkage
Appendix 1 shows Health NZ holds recent EMF-related scientific and inter-agency
correspondence, including material concerning WHO RF-EMF work and non-ionising
radiation. Please confirm whether any of that material has been assessed for implications
for:
* patient-facing guidance;
* public health advice;
* Healthline or triage scripts;
* clinical escalation pathways;
* GP or specialist guidance.
If no such assessment has occurred, please confirm this.
Al material that comes from the World Health Organisation, academia or other agencies is
assessed for any health impacts through the interagency committee on non-ionising radiation.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address]. If you are not
happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman. Information
about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Health NZ may proactively
release a copy of this response on our website. Al requester data, including your name and
contact details, wil be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Sara Freitag
Manager, Government Services
