Support for 18- and 19-year-olds
If you’re 18 or 19 and applying for Jobseeker Support or an equivalent Emergency Benefit, you’ll also need to do a Parental Assistance Test to check if you're eligible.
If you're already getting Jobseeker Support or an equivalent Emergency Benefit, you’ll continue to get it until you reapply or make a new application.
A Parental Assistance Test is used to check if you’re eligible for support when you apply.
You may be eligible if:
- you have a reason that you can’t reasonably rely on financial support from your parents, and/or
- your parents combined income is at or below $67,225 before tax.
If you have children in your care, you don’t have to do a Parental Assistance Test.
Parental Assistance Test
If you can’t rely on a parent because of a family situation, we call this a parental support gap.
You may have a parental support gap if, for example:
- there has been a family breakdown
- it's unsafe for you to have contact with a parent
- a parent is in prison or long-term hospital care
- a parent has died or
- you don't know where a parent is.
If you don’t have a parental support gap we’ll need information about your parents income to check if you’re eligible. We call this a parental income test.
To do a Parental Assistance Test, you need to:
- Complete the form
- Gather supporting information
- Submit it with your Jobseeker Support or equivalent Emergency Benefit application or reapplication.
If you have a partner aged 16 to 19
If you have a partner aged 16- to 19-years-old, we may also check if their parents can support them. They’ll also need to complete a Parental Assistance Test.
How to do a Parental Assistance Test
Step 1 - Complete the form
This form has sections for you, your parents and a supporting person (if applicable) to complete.
You will need:
- your personal details, including your client number
- your parents details, and their client number if they have one
- evidence to support your application.
Depending on your circumstances, you may also need to provide information about:
- any Orphan's Benefit or Unsupported Child's Benefit a carer has received for you
- your eligibility to Transition Support Services from Oranga Tamariki
- a parental support gap between you and a parent.
Parents
For the Parental Assistance Test, a parent is:
- your natural (birth) parent
- your adoptive parents
- a step-parent who is married to, in a civil union with, or in a de facto relationship with your natural or adoptive parent.
Parents do not include parental figures such as whāngai or foster care arrangements.
If there is no parental support gap, your parent or parents will need to provide:
- their personal details
- their relationship to you
- information about their income
- proof of income for the last 52 weeks.
Which parents need to provide income information
The income information we need depends on your family circumstances and whether you have a parental support gap with one or more parents.
We may need income information from:
- your natural or adoptive parent or parents
- a step-parent
- a combination of parents and step-parents.
In some situations, we may not need any parent income information.
Step 2 - Gather your supporting documents
If you have a parental support gap
You'll need to give us information to support your application if you have a parental support gap, such as:
- police reports or safety orders
- court orders or reports
- medical certificates for parents who are ill or in long-term hospital care
- a death certificate or obituary notice for parents who have died
- a supporting statement from a registered professional who knows your situation, or someone nominated by us.
Information about your parents income
If there’s no parental support gap, you'll need to give us information about your parents income such as wages, ACC payments, Child Support, dividends, rental income and payments from boarders.
If a parent gets a benefit, they can give us their client number so we can check their benefit payments.
Information we need from a supporting person
A supporting person may be a registered professional in the education, health, justice or social services sectors, or someone nominated by us. This could be, for example, a teacher, guidance counsellor, physiotherapist, doctor, nurse, lawyer or someone else we suggest.
They need to provide:
- their name and contact details
- their relationship to you
- information about how they know your circumstances
- their professional registration details (if applicable).
The supporting person will have to complete and sign the statement of support on the Parental Assistance Test form.
If you're a supporting person providing information about a parental support gap, read:
Step 3 - Submit your application
Send us your documents by:
- uploading them in MyMSD, or
- bringing them to your appointment at a service centre.
What happens after you apply
After you submit your Parental Assistance Test form and supporting information, we'll review your application. We may contact you if we need more information or evidence.
We'll let you know the outcome of your application as soon as we've made a decision.
If your circumstances change
You must tell us about any changes that may affect your eligibility for support.
As well as your usual obligations, you must also tell us if:
- your parents income increases
- your relationship with your parents changes, or their relationship with each other changes
- you enter or leave a relationship, or a child enters or leaves your care.
To tell us about these changes, complete and submit a Parental Assistance Test - Change in Circumstances form.
If you need to reapply
If you need to reapply, we’ll check:
- if there have been changes that affect your parental support gap, unless the circumstances are unlikely to change (for example, if a parent has passed away)
- if your parents income has increased.
We'll tell you what information you need to provide and if any supporting evidence is required.
Your privacy
We use the information you provide to check if you can get Jobseeker Support or an equivalent Emergency Benefit. Our privacy notice includes information for you and your parents about how information is used, shared and managed for the Parental Assistance Test.