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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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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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Rent arrears assistance
If money is tight and you're worried you'll lose your housing because you owe rent, you may be able to get Rent Arrears Assistance.
- You don't need to be on a benefit to qualify for this help.
- It's a one-off payment.
- You'll need to pay the money back. We'll put a repayment plan in place to suit your financial circumstances.
You may be able to get Rent Arrears Assistance if you:
- are 16 or older
- have signed the tenancy agreement (or you're a tenant by way of a Family Violence Act order)
- have overdue rent you need to pay
- may be evicted because you haven't paid your rent
- are able to stay there if you pay the rent you owe, eg:
- your tenancy isn't about to expire
- you can afford to keep paying the rent.
Residency
You also need to meet one of these residency criteria:
- you're a New Zealand citizen
- you have a resident visa or permanent resident visa and have lived in NZ continuously for at least 2 years since getting it
- you're recognised as a refugee by Immigration New Zealand
- you're recognised as a protected person by Immigration New Zealand
- you're getting a main benefit from us (eg, Jobseeker Support), or
- you fit into one of these categories:
- you have a Christchurch Response Visa
- you get Christchurch Mosque Attack Assistance, or
- you get a Special Needs Grant because you came to New Zealand on a temporary visa to be with your NZ partner and your relationship ended due to domestic violence.
Assets
Your assets also need to be under a certain limit. Assets include money in the bank, or things like a caravan. They don’t include the things you need for day-to-day living, eg, your car.
If you're: |
Your assets are worth less than: |
Single |
$8,100 |
Married, civil union or de facto couple (with or without children) or sole parent |
$16,200 |
Income
If you don't get a main benefit from us (eg, Jobseeker Support or Sole Parent Support), it will also depend on how much you and your partner earn.
(A Student Allowance or Accommodation Supplement is not counted as a main benefit).
Income limits - NZ Super and Veteran's Pension
Your NZ Super and Veteran's Pension payments are not counted as income.
If you get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension from Work and Income, your income needs to be under these limits:
If you're: |
Weekly income (before tax) is less than: |
Single |
$626.37 |
Couple (with or without children) |
$909.81 |
Sole parent 1 child |
$760.08 |
Sole parent 2+ children |
$800.78 |
Income limits - Don't get a main benefit
If you don't get a main benefit, your income needs to be under these limits:
If you're: |
Weekly income (before tax) is less than: |
Single |
$1,270 |
Couple (without children) |
$1,866 |
Couple (with children) |
$2,189 |
Sole parent 1 child |
$1,730 |
Sole parent 2+ children |
$2,010 |
How much you get depends on the amount of rent you owe. The most you can get is $2,000 and you'll need to pay it back.
You can only get this payment once in 12 months, unless there are exceptional situations, eg:
- sickness or injury, or
- you're in a family violence situation, or
- a victim of violent crime.
Step 1: Call us
If you're:
- getting NZ Super or Veteran's Pension, call Senior Services on 0800 552 002
- a student, call StudyLink on 0800 88 99 00
- getting another payment from us, call us on 0800 559 009
- not getting any payments from us, call us on 0800 559 009.
We'll book you an appointment to discuss your application.
Step 2: There are some documents you’ll need to provide
If you’re getting ongoing payments from us or have received payments from us in the last 6 months, you'll need to provide:
- a letter or notice showing how much overdue rent you need to pay, from either:
- your landlord
- the Tenancy Tribunal, or
- Tenancy Services
- either:
- the tenancy agreement with your signature on it, or
- a tenancy order with your name on it.
- proof of any changes in your situation, eg:
- payslips for changes to income, or
- birth certificates for new partners or children.
If you aren’t getting ongoing payments from us, you’ll need to provide:
- a letter or notice showing how much overdue rent you need to pay, from either:
- your landlord
- the Tenancy Tribunal, or
- Tenancy Services
- either:
- the tenancy agreement with your signature on it, or
- a tenancy order with your name on it.
- proof of income, savings or investments for you and your partner (if you have one), eg:
- an IRD summary
- pay-slips, or
- a letter from your employer
- information about your non-cash assets (these don't include what you need for day-to-day living, eg your home or your car. They do include things like a caravan, boat or a second property)
- your bank account number.
- ID for you and your partner (if you have one) - this needs to be:
- one type of Government issued ID, eg, a passport, birth certificate or driver’s licence, or
- two types of secondary ID, eg, insurance or bank statements, or household bills
- ID for your children (if you have them) - this needs to be their:
- birth certificate, or
- passport
- proof that you’re a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, eg:
- a birth certificate
- a passport, or
- citizenship papers.
Step 3: You may need to fill in a form
We'll let you know if you need to:
- fill out a Rent Arrears Assistance form
- get your landlord to fill out a Supplier Registration form so we can pay the rent arrears to them.
If your application's approved, we'll pay the rent arrears directly to your landlord.
You can download a PDF of this information EasyRead format, or in one of the languages below.