NZ Government Directs Sport Authority to Drop Trans Inclusion Guidelines

The government has told New Zealand’s sport authority to stop promoting transgender inclusion in community sport.

New Zealand transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard competes in the women's +87kg weightlifting competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo on Aug. 2, 2021. Mohd Rasfan/AFP via Getty Images

Sport NZ, the government agency responsible for sport and recreation in New Zealand, has scrapped its guidelines on transgender inclusion in community sport following instructions from the government.

The principles, unveiled in 2022, stated that individuals should be able to participate based on their self-determined gender, and not as the sex they were assigned at birth.

They applied to organised sports taking place through clubs, schools, and events, but adoption was voluntary and left to the discretion of individual sporting codes.

In late 2024, more than 50 New Zealand Olympians and sports representatives signed an open letter saying the guidelines disrespected the principles of fairness and safety. Then-Minister for Sport Chris Bishop asked Sport NZ to “review and update” them.

Now, the guidelines have been withdrawn entirely and removed from Sport NZ’s website.

The decision comes amid political pressure from coalition partners. The National Party-led government relies on agreements with the minor ACT Party and New Zealand First.

Ahead of the 2023 election, New Zealand First campaigned to make publicly funded sporting bodies ineligible for funding if they did not offer exclusive biological female categories “where ordinarily appropriate.”

When the coalition agreement was negotiated, NZ First successfully added a clause committing the government to ensuring that “publicly funded sporting bodies support fair competition that is not compromised by rules relating to gender.”

Government Calls a Halt on Review

The review requested by Bishop was handed to his successor, Mark Mitchell.

However, rather than making any amendments, the government instructed Sport NZ to halt all work on the guiding principles and remove them altogether.

“After considering the review, the government has informed Sport NZ that it should not be involved in publishing guidelines related to gender in sport,” Sport NZ chief executive Raelene Castle said in a statement.

“Sporting organisations will continue to make their own decisions on the participation of transgender people in community sport, and there are a range of expert organisations that can provide support.”

Asked by journalists whether there was a problem with the guidelines, Mitchell said there was nothing wrong with them, but the government “does not want to be telling codes how to run their own sports.”

”Fundamentally, we want to see rising participation in sport, but we want to make sure there is safety and fairness in all sports,” he said.

He denied the government had a specific stance on the issue of transgender participation.

Criticism From Opposition

Labour’s rainbow issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert said removing the principles was a step backwards.

“It’s about enabling organisations to keep people safe, to support people, and most of all create inclusive environments. But here we have the government removing and excluding people from playing sport, and that’s not acceptable,” he said.

“Sport NZ has always advocated for the inclusion of trans people in sport, no matter what age they are.

“We want people to be involved, we want all New Zealanders to be playing sport. Most of all, we don’t want people excluded, and I don’t think that’s what New Zealanders expect either.”