20 March 2024
Simon Tegg
[FYI request #25878 email]
Tēnā koe Simon
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00039071
Thank you for your Official Information Act request of 25 February 2024, regarding the Gender
Affirming Primary Care Advisory Group (GAPCAG), specifically:
1. Please provide the names and roles of the members of the GAPCAG and the project
team as described in the GAPCAG Terms of Reference.
2. Please also provide all information related to puberty blockers authored or received by
members of GAPCAG or the project team.
Response
1. Please provide the names and roles of the members of the GAPCAG and the project
team as described in the GAPCAG Terms of Reference.
I am declining to provide the names and roles of the members of the GAPCAG and the project
team as described in the Terms of Reference pursuant to the following sections of the Act.
Section 9(2)(a) i.e. “…to protect the privacy of natural persons, including those deceased”, and
Section 9(2)(g)(ii) i.e. “…to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the protection
of Ministers, members of organisations, officers and employees from improper pressure or
harassment.”
2. Please also provide all information related to puberty blockers authored or received by
members of GAPCAG or the project team.
One email has been identified for release within the scope of your request. This is attached as
Appendix one. I also refer you to Appendix two, which is a summary of relevant excerpts from
the GAPCAG meeting minutes held between July 2023 and February 2024 relating to puberty
blockers.
We have redacted information in the Appendices pursuant to the following sections of the Act.
Section 9(2)(a) i.e. “…to protect the privacy of natural persons, including those deceased”, and
Section 9(2)(g)(ii) i.e. “…to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the protection
of Ministers, members of organisations, officers and employees from improper pressure or
harassment.”
Note: In making the decision to withhold information under section 9 of the Act, I have
considered the countervailing public interest in releasing this information and consider that it
does not outweigh the need to withhold.

How to get in touch

If you have any questions, you can contact us at [Health New Zealand request email]. 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. All requester data, including your
name and contact details, will be removed prior to release.

Nāku iti noa, nā

Deborah Woodley
Director Starting Well
Commissioning
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Health NZ, PO Box 793,
Wellington 6140, New Zealand

APPENDIX 1
From: 9(2)(a)
Sent: Tuesday, 11 April 2023 10:53 am
To: 9(2)(a)
Cc: 9(2)(a)
Subject: Update on evidence brief - puberty blockers
Hi 9(2)(a)
Thank you for fol ow
RELEASED  ing this up and for the information. I hope we can see what the brief says when
they are done. I wonder if MOH do evidence briefs for other medical care? I don’t recall seeing any.
Thank you
9(2)(a)
From: 9(2)(a)
Sent: Tuesday, 11 April 2023 10:53 am
To: 9(2)(a)
UNDER
Cc: 9(2)(a)
Subject: Update on evidence brief - puberty blockers
Kia ora kōrua,
9(2)(a)and I have been fol owing up about the
THE   evidence brief of puberty blockers, and how they had
planned to factor in engagement with external stakeholders such as yourselves. From what I hear,
others have also been asking for updates and we are now able to share the update below with you:
OFFICIAL
‘The Evidence Brief is stil  being drafted.  The Evidence Brief is primarily a scientific assessment of
questions raised regarding safety and reversibility of puberty blockers based on currently available
research studies.  Within this scope it has remained as a process within the Ministry of Health and is
intended to provide information regarding the current state of evidence to Te Whatu Ora and
clinicians as they work with young people.  The Evidence Brief is not intended to be directive about
clinical practice which is where wider engagement would be important.’
INFORMATION
I understand that this means they won’t be engaging with external stakeholders as a part of this
process. If either or both of you would like to discuss this further, I’m very happy to schedule in a
meeting for us.
Ngā mihi,
9(2)(a)
Project Manager – Gender-Affirming Primary Care
Primary Health Care System Improvement and Innovation/Commissioning
ACT
9(2)(a)
Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
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UNDER
THE
OFFICIAL
INFORMATION
ACT

APPENDIX 2
11 July 2023
Update on the Manatū Hauora evidence review
9(2)(g)(ii) and 9(2)(a)  provided an update of the evidence review being conducted by Manatū Hauora. It
was noted that the scope of the original evidence brief has recently been broadened. This
means that, among other things, membership of the panel wil  be revised. This wil  result in a
RELEASED
delay in this work being completed.
3 October 2023
Manatū Hauora review
It was noted that there hasn’t been a further update on the progress of the Manatū Hauora
puberty blocker review.
UNDER
7 November 2023
There were no further updates on the Manatū Hauora Puberty Blockers Evidence Review, but it
THE
was noted that there was a proactive release of an Official Information Act (OIA) response on
the Manatū Hauora website.
OFFICIAL
5 December 2023
Update on puberty blockers
A draft is expected to be released soon although publication may be held until the beginning of
next year to allow time for review.
INFORMATION
15 February 2024
The Puberty Blockers Evidence Review wil  shortly be released. This is a systematic review led
by Manatū Hauora, and the evidence is unlikely to bring up anything unknown regarding the use
of puberty blockers.
ACT

Document Outline