Anti-poverty groups warn the bill could worsen poverty and homelessness amid high unemployment
Anti-poverty groups have expressed grave concerns over the Social Security Act Amendment Bill, which they claim will undermine the human rights and well-being of vulnerable jobseekers and their dependents.
The bill proposed several changes to benefit systems, which critics argued could exacerbate poverty and homelessness during a time when unemployment is at a four-year high.
Child Poverty Action Group executive officer Sarita Divis highlighted the potential harm of the Bill, particularly its proposed “non-financial sanctions,” which she says would have severe financial consequences. These include a “Money Management” system requiring half of a person’s benefit to be loaded onto a payment card usable only at approved stores. In a press release, Divis warned this could prevent recipients from paying rent, pushing them toward homelessness.
The bill also introduced a “Community Work Experience” scheme, which limits participants' access to emergency housing and special needs grants. Critics argued that this change disproportionately impacts low-income individuals and their children, who rely on such support for basic needs.
Citizens Advice Bureau NZ national policy advisor Louise May expressed concern over measures that increase the frequency of benefit reapplications from annually to every six months and extend the timeframe for obligation failures from one year to two. May stated that these changes could increase errors or benefit disruptions, leaving vulnerable individuals without critical income.
“In the CAB we witness the difficulties job seekers often experience in trying to make their applications and navigate the system. We regularly help people who have had their benefits cut or cancelled through error or mishandling of their case or because they happened to miss a phone call or appointment. Increasing the interactions people must have with Work & Income and tying sanctions to those interactions exposes people to greater risk of harm”, said May.
NZ Disability Advisory Trust’s senior disability service navigator, Nick Stoneman, criticised the amendments as a departure from the Social Security Act’s purpose: to protect basic human rights and prevent deprivation “Threatening people’s access to the support they need for meeting their basic costs, or actively removing that support, are not things that any government should do.” Stoneman said.
The groups are urging the government to withdraw the bill and adopt measures to alleviate poverty, such as increasing core benefit levels, raising the minimum wage to the living wage, enhancing disability allowances and removing sanctions.
