07/07/2026
Last week, Well Women and Family Trust proudly made a submission to the Social Services and Community Select Committee on the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill.
Well Women and Family Trust strongly opposes this Bill.
Our submission highlights the potential impacts of this Bill, the barriers it could create to accessing essential reproductive healthcare, and the importance of protecting the rights, health, and wellbeing of everyone in Aotearoa, including our gender diverse and Takatāpui whanau.
Well Women and Family Trust is committed to using our voice to advocate for equitable access to healthcare and to represent the communities we serve.
We thank our friends at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa, Inters*x Aotearoa and Te Ngākau Kahukura for their continued advocacy and activism in this space.
You can read our submission below.
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To: Social Services and Community Select Committee.
Re: The Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill.
Well Women and Family Trust is a Health Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. We provide reproductive healthcare in the form of cervical screening, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations, long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) and health checks for those living within our service area.
We also provide training for nurses around the motu to become cervical smear takers through an NZQA-accredited training course. Alongside this, we work as a support-to-screen provider for cervical and breast screening and colposcopy.
Well Women and Family Trust is proud to provide healthcare for all those who need it, regardless of s*xual orientation and gender identity. We are proud of our growing work in Le***an, Gay, Bis*xual, Transgender, Takatāpui, Inters*x, Q***r, As*xual plus (LGBTIQA+) communities.
Well Women and Family Trust strongly oppose this Bill.
Well Women and Family Trust believe this Bill will harm transgender and gender diverse communities further, and make access to healthcare even more challenging for trans masculine (transmasc) and non-binary people. We are concerned that this Bill will directly impact the mahi we do and create uncertainty about how legislation, policy, contracts, and eligibility criteria are interpreted. We are proud to walk the talk of inclusivity every day, as reflected in the language we use throughout our organisation. We are concerned that this Bill could force us to use only descriptors such as women and females throughout our service, instead of terms like those with a cervix, those with a uterus and pregnant people. We are concerned that this Bill is intentionally ambiguous.
Well Women and Family Trust holds concern that the Bill assumes s*x is strictly binary and does not adequately account for inters*x people, whose biological characteristics may not fit typical definitions of male or female, and highlights that several organisations have repeatedly raised concerns regarding the effect this Bill will have on inters*x people.
Well Women and Family Trust is concerned that this Bill may make cervical screening and access to reproductive healthcare for inters*x people challenging.
Well Women and Family Trust believes that the Bill poses a risk to the mahi we do, as it could create uncertainty about how legislation, policy, contracts, and eligibility criteria are interpreted. While it may not automatically change who can access our services, organisations may be forced to review their language, eligibility frameworks, and referral pathways to ensure that only “women” access reproductive healthcare.
Reproductive healthcare, and in particular cervical screening, is already complex and challenging for transmasc and non-binary people. Currently, the National Cervical Screening Programme (NCSP) and the National Cervical Screening Register (NCSP-R) automatically unenrolls anyone who changes their gender marker from female to any other gender within the public health system, regardless of whether they have a cervix. This means transmasc and non-binary people who have changed their gender marker and have a cervix are not being notified that they are due for screening, putting them at greater risk of being under-screened and potentially developing cervical cancer.
Currently, the solution is to manually re-enrol transmasc and non-binary people by printing off a paper form, scanning and emailing it back or sending it via post.
The National Cervical Screening Register should be fixed to ensure everyone with a cervix is appropriately enrolled and recalled for screening. Legally defining what a man and a woman are will not solve this issue and may instead create further barriers for trans masculine and non-binary people.
Well Women and Family Trust proudly attended Big Gay Out 2026. At the event, we provided cervical screening and education for Rainbow Communities. We worked long and hard to provide a safe and inclusive service for everyone with a cervix. At the event, we re-enrolled at least five gender-diverse people in the cervical screening programme, outside of this event, we have only enrolled one other person in the past 18 months.
We re-enrolled these men and non-binary people because we were able to use inclusive language that signalled our organisation was safe to engage with and would provide informed care. This legislation may mean we can no longer support this already underserved community, putting them at greater risk of poor health outcomes.
Well Women and Family Trust hold concerns that this Bill may unintentionally restrict access to abortion services for those under 20 living in Aotearoa. Under the Age of Majority Act 1970, an adult is generally defined as someone aged 20 or older, unless otherwise specified by another law. This Bill defines “woman” as “adult biological female”. There are concerns that under-20s may be excluded from legislation that mentions “men” or “women” without also specifying age.
This is particularly concerning in relation to abortion access in Aotearoa. The Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act does not state an age to be able to access care. If this Bill were to be made law, there is concern that the new definition of “woman” could create uncertainty regarding access to abortion services for those under 20, which may result in these services being inaccessible to those under 20 wanting abortion services.
Well Women and Family Trust believe this Bill does not consider, and therefore breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tiriti). This is concerning for Well Women and Family, as we work to support Māori people and communities, a priority area for us.
Under Article 2 of Te Tiriti, Māori are guaranteed the right to rangatiratanga and the protection of culture and knowledge (Te Ngākau Kahukura, n.d.). It is the right of Māori to have the Crown support their right to self-identify and have that identity recognised outwardly. Takatāpui Māori should be allowed to have their identity legally recognised and be afforded the safety that comes alongside that. This Bill will cause a breach of Te Tiriti and cause further harm by the Crown towards Māori (Te Ngākau Kahukura, n.d.). Takatāpui exist as both indigenous peoples and members of the rainbow community. Under Te Tiriti, Takatāpui Māori must be included in policy-making decisions and are legally required to have safe and accessible healthcare services (Te Ngākau Kahukura, n.d.). Well Women and Family Trust are proud to play a small part in providing these services to Takatāpui Māori. We are concerned that this Bill will impact our ability to provide life-saving services in an inclusive and mana-inhancing way.
We urge the government to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and honour Takatāpui Māori by not supporting this Bill.
The Human Rights Commission | Te Kāhui Tika Tangata (HRC) has long interpreted s*x discrimination protections to include gender identity, meaning that gender diverse people are protected under the Human Rights Act. Well Women and Family Trust support the HRC's concerns that this Bill conflicts with established human rights principles by excluding people already protected from discrimination under Aotearoa's existing human rights framework (Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission, 2026).
The HRC highlights that the 2025 report by the Law Commission, Ia Tangata, recommends that protections for transgender, non-binary, and inters*x people be made more explicit in the Human Rights Act, and that this Bill moves in the other direction, further harming gender diverse populations. (Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission, 2026).
Ia Tangata, published in 2025 and commissioned by the Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission, provides the most comprehensive review to date of how Aotearoa’s anti-discrimination laws are applied to gender-diverse communities (Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission, 2025).
The report made 27 recommendations to strengthen anti-discrimination protections for gender-diverse communities, with the main recommendation being that section 21 of the Human Rights Act be amended to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the grounds of:
1) Gender identity (or its cultural equivalents), with a definition that includes gender expression.
2) Having an innate variation of s*x characteristics, or being inters*x (Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission, 2025).
This Bill is in direct contradiction to this expert advice, and supports our concerns that this Bill may force us to discriminate against gender diverse and inters*x communities by being unable to provide inclusive practice, language and clinics.
For organisations working in cervical screening, contraception, abortion care, and other reproductive health services, there are concerns that the Bill's definition of a "woman" as an adult biological female could create uncertainty in legislation or policies that use the term "women" when referring to younger people or transgender people needing healthcare. While the Bill does not directly amend health legislation, there is concern that the ambiguity is intentional and may be used to restrict access and language.
Well Women and Family Trust supports concerns raised by other healthcare providers and researchers about this Bill who have described the Bill as unscientific and inconsistent with contemporary understandings of s*x and gender in healthcare, and have expressed concern about impacts on health equity and patient wellbeing, and highlighted that this Bill will create barriers to healthcare for gender diverse and inters*x people, and increase cases of discrimination in healthcare (Parker et al., 2026) (Hopkinson, 2026).
Well Women and Family Trust supports concerns raised by our colleagues at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa that this Bill will directly impact the services they provide and create further barriers to healthcare for gender-diverse people, who already face complexities when accessing reproductive healthcare and interacting with the public health system (Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa, 2026).
Well Women and Family Trust looks forward to continuing to provide inclusive, safe and non-discriminatory reproductive healthcare to everyone who needs it. We look forward to continuing to walk our journey of being a healthcare provider that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi in our practice and in our mahi. We look forward to, and continue to be proud of being a safe landing for all who need us. When we open our door to our people, we see them as they are, as full and complex humans who deserve respect, kindness, and honour. We do this by respecting their identity, name, and story, and by offering all the support we can. Well Women and Family Trust will never be perfect at this, but honouring someone's gender identity and providing a safe space for them is the least we can offer, and for some people, that means everything.
Thank you, Social Services and Community Select Committee, for taking the time to read and consider our submission.
References:
Hopkinson, J. (2026, May 26). Health experts dub NZ First's "man" and "woman" Bill farcical, unscientific and harmful to trans people. New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa. https://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/article/news/health-experts-dub-nz-firsts-man-and-woman-Bill-farcical-unscientific-and-harmful
Inters*x Aotearoa. (n.d.). Definition of woman and man.
https://www.inters*xaotearoa.org/copy-of-definition-of-woman-and-man-s
Parker, G., Filoche, S. K., Carroll, R., Noy, L., Hyde, E., Kelsey, F., Graham, K., Kerekere, E., Ker, A., & Veale, J. (2026, June 3). 'Affirmation' from health-care providers tells different story to Bill's anti-trans angst. Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand.
https://kaitiaki.org.nz/article/affirmation-from-health-care-providers-tells-different-story-to-bills-anti-trans-angst/
Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa. (2026, May 26). What the "man" and "woman" Bill really means. https://s*xualwellbeing.org.nz/what-the-man-and-woman-Bill-really-means
Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission. (2025). Ia Tangata: Protections in the Human Rights Act 1993 for people who are transgender, people who are non-binary and people with innate variations of s*x characteristics (NZLC Report R150). Wellington, New Zealand: Author. Retrieved fromhttps://www.lawcom.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Reports/NZLC-R150.pdf
Te Ngākau Kahukura. (n.d.). Upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Retrieved June 30, 2026, from https://www.tengakaukahukura.nz/upholding-te-tiriti-o-waitangi
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission. (2026, June 23). Definitions of Woman and Man legislation are not necessary, and risk further harm to Rainbow people. https://tikatangata.org.nz/news/definitions-of-woman-and-man-legislation-not-necessary-risks-further-harm-to-rainbow-people
