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Benefits and payments homepage
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Overview
Take a look at the range of benefits and payments we have available.
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Not working
Redundancy, health condition or disability or another reason you can’t work
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Living expenses
Food, school costs, power, accommodation or other living expenses you need help with
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Relationship changes
You’ve had a relationship break-up, family breakdown or violent relationship end
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Health and Disability
Counselling, prescription and GP costs, medical alarms and other costs we can help with
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Seniors
Travelling overseas, how to apply, payment rates and dates, overseas pensions, income and other info for Seniors
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Caring
Caring for someone else’s child or someone with a health condition, injury or disability
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Urgent or unexpected costs
Dental, glasses, car repairs, fridge, washing machine, funeral or other urgent costs you need help with
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Children
Childcare, school uniforms, stationery, having a baby and other costs if you have children
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Payment issues
Fixing issues with Accommodation Supplement, Special Benefit and other payments we’ve made
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16-19 year olds
Education, training, work and benefit help for 16-19 year olds
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Benefits and forms
A-Z list of benefits, forms, benefit rates
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Work homepage
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Overview
Find out what services we can offer to help you find work and when you start a new job.
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Looking for work
We have jobs available now in various industries and you can search on our job websites.
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Help with your job search
From advice on making a plan, to tips on where to look and following up leads.
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Training and experience
Our programmes can help you get ready for work with training and work experience.
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Apprenticeship Support Programme
Get help to retain and bring on new apprentices.
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CVs and cover letters
We’ve got great templates and advice for writing your CV or cover letter, and filling out job applications.
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Help with work costs
Get help to pay for the things you need to start work
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Job support and advice
Get all the support and advice you need to stay in work.
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Health and disability
If you want to work, we can support you to find the right job for you.
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Start your own business
We can help you get your business up and running.
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Job interviews
Get advice about how to prepare for and deliver a great interview.
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Help for 16-19 year olds
We’ve got extra support for young people to get ready for work and find a job.
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On a benefit homepage
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Overview
Check out what you need to do when you're getting a benefit or other payment from us.
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Something's changed
Address, contact details, overseas travel, childcare, relationship or anything else that’s changed.
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Income
Declare income, wages deduction calculator and tables
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Childcare
Change in your childcare situation, continue childcare payments, cohort entry schools and other childcare information
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Re-apply
Re-apply for Jobseeker Support, Sole Parent Support, Temporary Additional Support and more
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Payments
Check or stop your payments, payment cards and other information
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Debt
Check your debt, repayments and other debt information
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Rights and responsibilities
Our commitment to you, obligations, complaints, benefit fraud and more
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Housing homepage
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Overview
Find out how we can help you with housing.
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Nowhere to stay
Get help if you have nowhere to stay right now.
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Find a house
Find out where to look for private housing, or apply for public (social) housing.
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Living in your home
Get help with accommodation costs, and advice on any housing issues and public housing tenancies.
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Move house
Find out how we can help if you’re moving house.
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How to apply for COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme
Apply for the COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme using our online application form.
The COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme is for businesses with employees who need to self-isolate and can’t work from home. Self-employed people can also apply.
Read the full details of who can get the Leave Support Scheme.
You can apply for the Leave Support Scheme again if your employee, or you if you’re self-employed, gets COVID-19 again and has to self-isolate.
The Short-Term Absence Payment is also available to employers to help pay employees who are waiting on a COVID-19 PCR test result and have been told to stay at home. People doing Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) are not eligible for the Short-Term Absence Payment because they don’t need to wait long for results. If you're not sure which COVID-19 payment to apply for, use our online tool to check:
When you can apply
From 14 March 2022 you’ve got up to 8 weeks after your employee’s self-isolation ends to apply for the Leave Support Scheme, unless your employee’s self-isolation period ended before this date, then you can apply at any time. This also applies to you if you are self-employed.
The people named in your application must meet eligible health criteria.
Fill out the online form
The online form you fill out depends on whether you have people working for you or not. If you are applying for more than one person (including yourself) use the employer form.
You must be in New Zealand, or Australia, when you make the application.
If you've made a mistake on your application
You can call us on 0800 40 80 40 and we'll fix it for you.
You don't need to submit another application.
State sector organisations
A state sector organisation can ask for an exception to become eligible to apply for the Leave Support Scheme. State sector organisations should contact their monitoring agency if they wish to discuss this.
The information on this page is a summary of the eligibility criteria and obligations set out in the declaration for COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme.
It does not replace the terms of the declaration and if there are any differences between this page and the declaration, the declaration prevails.