Letter to Hon Erica Stanford Re: Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum – Human Rights Concerns Regarding Erasure of LGBTTQIA+ Content
I write to you regarding the draft Health and Physical Education curriculum content released on 28 October 2025, and to express Rights Aotearoa's extremely grave concerns that the draft framework fails to meet New Zealand's domestic and international human rights obligations.
Thursday, 30th October 2025
Honourable Erica Stanford Goldsmith
Minister of Education
VIA EMAIL
Tēnā koe Ms Stanford,
Re: Draft Health and Physical Education Curriculum – Human Rights Concerns Regarding Erasure of LGBTTQIA+[1] Content
I write to you regarding the draft Health and Physical Education curriculum content released on 28 October 2025 via the Tāhūrangi portal, and to express Rights Aotearoa's extremely grave concerns that the draft framework fails to meet New Zealand's domestic and international human rights obligations.
Rights Aotearoa is New Zealand's leading non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting and defending universal human rights, with a particular focus on the rights of transgender, non-binary, and intersex individuals. We work closely with affected communities, legal experts, and education stakeholders, and we bring this expertise to your attention in the hope of constructive engagement.
The Problem: Complete Erasure of LGBTTQIA+ Content
The draft curriculum, produced following the removal of the Ministry's Relationships and Sexuality Education guidelines as part of the coalition agreement with New Zealand First, contains no explicit reference to sexual orientation, gender identity, or intersex variations. In the absence of supplementary RSE guidance, schools are left with vague curriculum language and no practical direction on how to address the lives, relationships, and wellbeing of LGBTTQIA+ students.
This is not curriculum simplification. It is systematic erasure that renders approximately 20 percent of New Zealand students invisible in their own education. This is wholly unacceptable morally, legally, and philosophically.
Legal Obligations Being Breached
As Minister of Education, you bear ultimate responsibility for ensuring that New Zealand's education system complies with the law. The draft curriculum, as currently framed, places the Crown in breach of multiple statutory obligations:
Section 21 of the Human Rights Act 1993 prohibits discrimination in the provision of education on the grounds of sexual orientation and sex (which includes gender identity). The right to be free from discrimination is not merely a negative obligation to avoid direct discrimination—it requires positive steps to ensure that all students receive education that acknowledges and respects their identities. A curriculum that systematically omits LGBTTQIA+ identities fails this test.
Section 19 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 guarantees freedom from discrimination. An education system that renders rainbow students invisible in curriculum content—particularly in the learning area most directly concerned with identity, relationships, and wellbeing—fails to uphold this fundamental protection.
Section 127 of the Education and Training Act 2020 requires every school to provide a physically and emotionally safe environment for all students. Emotional safety for rainbow students requires that their identities be affirmed and validated, not erased. Schools cannot meet their statutory duty of care when the national curriculum provides them with no guidance on how to support LGBTTQIA+ students.
Beyond domestic law, should the draft curriculum be adopted, Aotearoa is in breach of its obligations under Articles 2 and 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which require that education be directed toward respect for human rights and the development of the child's identity, without discrimination. We are also failing to meet our commitments under Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Impact: Student Wellbeing and School Liability
The consequences of this erasure are not abstract. Research consistently demonstrates that LGBTTQIA+ students experience significantly higher rates of bullying, mental distress, and suicide ideation than their peers. Inclusive curriculum content is a proven protective factor that reduces harm and improves outcomes.
At a time when this Government has rightly prioritised youth mental health, removing evidence-based protective factors for one of the most vulnerable student populations is both counterproductive and harmful.
The draft curriculum also exposes schools and teachers to significant risk. Without clear guidance, educators are left to interpret vague curriculum language in a politically contentious environment, facing potential complaints regardless of the approach they take. Schools still must meet their obligations under the Education and Training Act to provide emotionally safe environments—but the curriculum provides them with no tools to do so for rainbow students.
This is not fair to schools. It is not fair to teachers. And it is certainly not fair to students.
International Context
New Zealand has built a reputation as a progressive leader on LGBTTQIA+ rights. This curriculum regression places us behind comparable jurisdictions including Australia, the United Kingdom, Scotland, and Canada—all of which provide explicit, comprehensive guidance on teaching about diverse sexual orientations and gender identities as part of relationships and sexuality education.
Our international standing on human rights is undermined when our national curriculum fails to meet basic standards of inclusion that are considered best practice in peer democracies.
The Path Forward
I recognise that the draft curriculum is open for consultation until 24 April 2026, and I appreciate that this process provides an opportunity for revision. Rights Aotearoa is prepared to engage constructively with your Ministry during this consultation period.
However, for that engagement to be meaningful, we require clarity on several matters:
- Will the Ministry restore supplementary RSE guidance that provides schools with explicit direction on teaching about sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex variations, separate from or alongside the main curriculum framework?
- Will the final curriculum explicitly reference diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and intersex variations, ensuring that rainbow students are visible and affirmed in their education?
- Will the Ministry commit to meaningful consultation with rainbow communities, including Rights Aotearoa, InsideOUT Kōaro, rainbow young people, and affected education stakeholders, before the curriculum is finalised?
- Will schools be provided with appropriate professional development and resources to deliver inclusive RSE in accordance with their legal obligations under the Education and Training Act?
Rights Aotearoa stands ready to contribute our expertise to assist the Ministry in developing curriculum content and guidance that meets New Zealand's human rights obligations while remaining educationally sound and age-appropriate.
Conclusion
Minister, I recognise the political complexities you face in balancing coalition commitments with your statutory responsibilities. However, coalition agreements cannot lawfully override New Zealand's binding human rights obligations. The education system must serve all students—including the twenty percent who identify as rainbow.
This is a moment that will define your tenure as Minister of Education. You have the opportunity to demonstrate leadership by ensuring that every young New Zealander sees themselves reflected in their education, and that schools are equipped with the guidance and resources they need to support all students.
If we do not receive assurance that these concerns will be meaningfully addressed during the consultation process, Rights Aotearoa will consider all available legal and advocacy options to protect the rights of rainbow students in Aotearoa.
I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you or your officials to discuss these matters further.
Nāku noa, nā
Paul Thistoll
Chief Executive
Rights Aotearoa
📧 paul@rightsaotearoa.nz
📱 02040063160
🌐 www.rightsaotearoa.nz
[1] The extra “T” in LGBTTQIA+ stands for Takatāpui and will be the acronym Rights Aotearoa uses going forward to be culturally inclusive.
