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Financial Assistance

Privacy Statement

The legislation administered by the Ministry of Social Development allows us to check the information that you give us. This may happen when you apply for a benefit and at any time after that.

• What our authority is to collect information
• Where we store the information
• Why we collect information
• Who we share information with
• How you can see the information we hold about you
• Your right not to give us information

What our authority is to collect information

The information you give us is collected under the authority of the legislation administered by the Ministry of Social Development.

Where we store the information

The information will be held by the Ministry of Social Development.

Why we collect information

The information is collected for the purposes of the legislation administered by the Ministry of Social Development (including Work and Income, Child, Youth and Family and other service lines of the Ministry), and in particular for:

• granting benefits and other assistance under the Social Security Act 1964
• providing employment related services
• statistical and research purposes
• providing advice to Government
• care and protection needs of children
• providing support and services for you and your family
• providing education related services.

Who we share information with

Work and Income may contact health providers to verify any health related information you give us.

Other information that you give us on your skills, aspirations, family circumstances etc, and that is not required to assess your entitlement to a benefit may be used to provide a better service to you by the Ministry of Social Development.

The information you give us may be compared with information held by Inland Revenue, the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Corrections, the New Zealand Customs Service, the Department of Internal Affairs, the Accident Compensation Corporation, Housing New Zealand Corporation, Ministry of Health and Immigration New Zealand. It may also be compared with social security information (for example, pension or benefit information) held by other governments (including Australia and the Netherlands).

Under the Tax Administration Act 1994, if you have dependent children, the information you give us may be shared with Inland Revenue for the purpose of administering Working for Families Tax Credits. Inland Revenue may also:

• use the information for the purposes of child support, student loans and taxation
• disclose it to the Department of Labour, Statistics New Zealand, the Ministry of Justice, the Accident Compensation Corporation, and the Ministry of Education
• disclose your personal information to your partner.

How you can see the information we hold about you

Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to ask to see all information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct that information.

To ask to see the information we hold about you, or for any other privacy questions, contact:

Privacy Officer
Ministry of Social Development
PO Box 1556
Wellington 6140
Fax: 64 4 918 0099

Your right not to give us information

You are not required to give us information, but if you do not give us all the information we ask for, your application for benefits may be declined.

Disclaimer

The information provided on this Ministry of Social Development website is intended to provide general information to the public and all reasonable measures have been taken to ensure that the information set out in this website is accurate. However, visitors to this website are advised that:

• The information provided does not replace or alter the laws of New Zealand or any other official guidelines or requirements.
• The contents of this website should not be construed as legal advice. Before relying on any information in this website users should independently verify its relevance for their purposes.
• The Ministry may change, delete, add to, or otherwise amend information contained on this website without notice.
• The Ministry is not responsible for the contents or reliability of any linked websites and does not necessarily endorse the views expressed within them. Listing is for convenience only and should not be taken as endorsement of any kind. The Ministry cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and has no control over availability of the linked pages.

The Ministry does not implicitly or impliedly endorse any website, organisation, or people who have off-site links to the Ministry’s website.

Copyright Statement

© Crown copyright 1988 - 2008

Material featured on this site is subject to Crown copyright protection unless otherwise indicated. The Crown copyright protected material may be reproduced free of charge for personal use without requiring specific permission. This is subject to the material being reproduced accurately and not being used in a misleading context.

Requests and enquiries concerning the reproduction of information on this website for any purpose other than personal use, or the use of scripts or codes, requires permission from Communications, National Office.

The permission to reproduce Crown copyright protected material does not extend to any material on this site that is identified as being the copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained from the copyright holders concerned.