Napier City Council
Courageous
Q1: Do you provide communal single-sex changing and showering facilities?
Yes. In both facilities.
Q2: Do you provide single occupancy changing and showering facilities? If so, how many at each site?
NAC: Yes. Two universal changing rooms with showers, x1 in each.
Please note the spaces can be multi-use for families, both contain a shower/toilet space and then a half-wall division into a changing space which have change tables. Both rooms have the same configuration.
OS: Yes. Ten cubicles in total: four cubicles in each of the women’s and men’s changing rooms; two cubicles provided specifically for Transgender, family, or disabled visitors and are large enough for families or single use.
Q3: Please provide any policies or procedures that apply to trans-identified people who wish to use the changing and showering facilities in your sites.
In reference to the NAC, Council is guided by the Sport New Zealand principles:
Sport NZ's transgender guiding principles (now largely withdrawn by the government but existing as legacy guidance) focused on inclusion, wellbeing, privacy, and anti-discrimination, recommending practical steps like gender-neutral changing facilities (cubicles), inclusive language, diverse uniform options, and clear anti-harassment policies for public sports facilities, aiming for respectful participation for all, while allowing individual sports codes to set their own rules. The key takeaway for facilities is creating safe, dignified spaces for everyone, recognizing transgender people's right to play in their identified gender.
As Council has no policies or procedures applicable to this issue, part c) of your request is refused under section 17(e) of the Act – that the document containing the information does not exist or cannot be found.
Q4: How are your different changing and showering facilities labelled and described?
NAC: Standard male and female signage for the four main change rooms (symbol plus wording).
Please refer to Attachment 1 showing signage on the universal changing and showering cubicle.
None of the cubicles within the public and female spaces have signage.
OS: Please refer to Attachment 2 showing signage on the changing and showering cubicle provided specifically for Transgender, family, or disabled visitors.
The cubicles within the main changing facilities are not labelled, only the two individual multipurpose ones beside the other facilities.
Q5: At your sites, which changing room and showering facilities is a trans-identified male permitted to use?
NAC: This facility would permit the use of the male changing rooms; however, the first option would be the universal spaces. It would not currently permit use of the women’s changing rooms out of consideration to other users.
OS: This facility would permit the use the male changing facilities which have four individual shower cubicles as well as either of the Transgender/family/disabled changing facilities.
Q6: If applicable, do your facilities allow trans-identifying males to attend Women Only swim sessions?
NAC: One Women Only swim session occurs at the facility and is operated by an external group that rents the space once a week:
https://www.napieraquatic.co.nz/programmes/wahine-water-warriors/
Wahine Water Warriors operates with its own membership rules, abiding by the NAC rental terms and conditions, and health and safety policies.
As Council has no information on this group’s membership rules, this part of your request is refused under section 17(e) of the Act – that the document containing the information does not exist or cannot be found.
OS: This facility has no single sex swimming sessions.
Our Verdict
Napier seem to be on top of this, well done.