Sport NZ scraps trans inclusion guidelines following government direction

Sport NZ has withdrawn its transgender “inclusion guidelines” for community sport, following a directive from the government.

Originally published in 2022 to promote “inclusive participation”, the guidelines were under review at the request of then-Sports Minister Chris Bishop.

The review was completed and handed to current Minister Mark Mitchell, who instructed Sport NZ to cease work and remove the guidelines entirely.

The decision aligns with the government’s coalition agreement with New Zealand First, which opposes public funding for sporting bodies lacking exclusive biological female categories.

Sport NZ confirmed it would no longer provide gender-related guidelines, leaving decisions to individual sporting organisations. The move has drawn criticism from Labour and the Green Party, who label it a “politically motivated rollback on inclusion”.

Image credit: Austris Augustus