LGOIMA Request Details: LG2412

Date received: 10/12/2025

Requested information: Changing room provisions in Council owned swimming pool facilities

Status: Complete

Response:

The following information relates to the Makino Aquatic Centre. 

Do you provide communal single-sex changing and showering facilities? 
Yes. The Makino Aquatic Centre provides communal single-sex changing and showering facilities. These include male and female changing rooms with showers located adjacent to the 25-metre pool, as well as separate male and female changing rooms serving the Learn to Swim pool area. 

Do you provide single occupancy changing and showering facilities? If so, how many at each site? 
Yes. The Makino Aquatic Centre provides three family/accessible changing rooms. These are private, self-contained, single-occupancy spaces with showering facilities. They are available to all users, regardless of sex or gender, and are commonly used by families, people with disabilities, and anyone seeking additional privacy. 

Please provide any policies or procedures that apply to trans-identified people who wish to use the changing and showering facilities in your sites.  
The Makino Aquatic Centre does not have a policy that restricts access to changing or showering facilities based on gender identity. Our approach is guided by inclusion, dignity, and safety for all users. Visitors are able to use the changing facilities they feel most comfortable using. 
Private family/accessible changing rooms are also available for any customer who prefers or requires a more private option. 

In developing and applying our approach, Council has regard to sector guidance, including NZ Recreation’s “Trans and gender diversity guidance for exercise and recreation providers”, which promotes respectful, inclusive access to facilities while recognising the diverse needs of all users.  
How are your different changing and showering facilities labelled and described? 
The communal changing rooms are labelled as “Male” and “Female”. 
The private single-occupancy rooms are labelled as “Family/Accessible” and are not sex-segregated. 

Changing and showering facilities available to a trans-identified male 
At the Makino Aquatic Centre, a trans-identified male may use the changing and showering facilities they feel most comfortable using. This may include the male changing room or one of the private family/accessible changing rooms. 

If applicable, do your facilities allow trans-identifying males to attend Women Only swim sessions? 
Women Only swim sessions at the Makino Aquatic Centre are programmed to provide a comfortable environment for participants. Access to these sessions is managed in a way that is consistent with Council’s inclusive approach and applicable guidance. Where customers have specific questions or concerns, these are addressed on a case-by-case basis by centre management to ensure the safety, dignity, and wellbeing of all participants. 

Followup question;

You have asked us to confirm our position on ‘the change facilities that a trans identifying male can use - it appears you allow these males to use the female facilities if they feel most comfortable in them?’ 

 

Makino Aquatic Centre does not currently have a specific policy that prescribes which changing or showering facilities a trans-identified person must use. Instead, we take a reasonable, case-by-case approach. 

As a starting point, staff would recommend the use of private family or accessible changing facilities where available.

However, individual circumstances are considered, and decisions are made pragmatically with the aim of balancing comfort, privacy, and the wellbeing of all facility users.