20/05/2026
I talked to Emily Writes about this new Disability Support Services Bill that the coalition government is whipping through.
It paves the way for income and asset testing for disabled adults and children. It also narrows the ability of families to get support for their disabled children, and narrows support for disabled adults to be able to live full, independent lives.
Please keep in mind, we all read this bill late into last night, and then still had to get up early to sort our kids before getting back into it. We are all a bit tired today, and doing our best!
Emily has done a fabulous job of pulling ideas together.
Both the New Zealand Labour Party and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have stated that they oppose this Bill.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan MP states "The Government is abdicating from its responsibility to support disabled people and family carers ... This Bill is the death knell for a move towards embedding Enabling Good Lives principles in DSS funding. It moves away from greater independence, more choice and control for disabled people over the supports and services they access."
Kahurangi Carter noted that this was "a political choice. Disabled people and our whΔnau deserve a leader who ensures we can access our communities and live with dignity"...
Itβs not just that court case (which won, and is significant) - there are more cases coming down the line, as family carers who have been providing care 24/7 seek compensation for their unpaid labour. The government is seeking to minimise the fiscal risk to themselves here.
As well as cancelling all the existing claims in progress, this Bill prevents any further employment related claims.
It also does something quite underhand, in that it also limits what family carers can be paid. The Minimum Wage limitation deems that carers who are working unfunded hours are deemed to not be working. Schedule 1, Clause 5 effectively states that any hours a family carer provides in excess of their funded allocation are deemed not to be "work" for the purposes of the Minimum Wage Act 1983.
In plain terms: a family carer providing care beyond their funded hours has no legal entitlement to minimum wage for those additional hours.
The Bill will remove MSD's obligations to ensure carers take breaks under the Employment Relations Act, receive leave under the Holidays Act, work in safe conditions under the Health and Safety at Work Act, and receive parental leave entitlements. These are presented as administrative burdens being lifted from MSD. But, in reality, they are just being shifted onto family carers to have to manage instead.
Essentially, this Bill is loading up families to provide unpaid care, stripping back their employment rights, creating conditions for unpaid family care, and removing any responsibility by the Crown to unpaid family carers.
What can we do?
π Share this article as far and wide as you can.
π Share other articles by disability advocates on this topic. Both Nick Ruane Disability Advocate and Huhana Hickey have written good pieces. The more shares, the more attention the topic gets.
π Tell the people you know, in your world, how this affects you. Tell them how it affects your friends. Message and text them. Send them a link! But mostly talk to those around you about what is happening.
π Enrol to vote! Ask others if they're enrolled to vote! Make a plan to vote in the upcoming election. Elect a better government than this coalition.
π Write an email to your local MP and local candidates. Tell them how this issue affects you and what you think. It doesn't have to be long, or fancy- the important part is that you tell them.
π Speaking of writing, letters to the editor are still a solid thing to do. Local newspapers, national papers, the Listener - whatever magazine you read, write to them about this.
Read more:
https://www.emilywrites.co.nz/breaking-the-government-is.../ See less
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dgy9BRsZG/
I talked to Emily Writes about this new Disability Support Services Bill that the coalition government is whipping through.
It paves the way for income and asset testing for disabled adults and children. It also narrows the ability of families to get support for their disabled children, and narrows support for disabled adults to be able to live full, independent lives.
Please keep in mind, we all read this bill late into last night, and then still had to get up early to sort our kids before getting back into it. We are all a bit tired today, and doing our best!
Emily has done a fabulous job of pulling ideas together.
Both the New Zealand Labour Party and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have stated that they oppose this Bill.
Priyanca Radhakrishnan MP states "The Government is abdicating from its responsibility to support disabled people and family carers ... This Bill is the death knell for a move towards embedding Enabling Good Lives principles in DSS funding. It moves away from greater independence, more choice and control for disabled people over the supports and services they access."
Kahurangi Carter noted that this was "a political choice. Disabled people and our whΔnau deserve a leader who ensures we can access our communities and live with dignity"...
Itβs not just that court case (which won, and is significant) - there are more cases coming down the line, as family carers who have been providing care 24/7 seek compensation for their unpaid labour. The government is seeking to minimise the fiscal risk to themselves here.
As well as cancelling all the existing claims in progress, this Bill prevents any further employment related claims.
It also does something quite underhand, in that it also limits what family carers can be paid. The Minimum Wage limitation deems that carers who are working unfunded hours are deemed to not be working. Schedule 1, Clause 5 effectively states that any hours a family carer provides in excess of their funded allocation are deemed not to be "work" for the purposes of the Minimum Wage Act 1983.
In plain terms: a family carer providing care beyond their funded hours has no legal entitlement to minimum wage for those additional hours.
The Bill will remove MSD's obligations to ensure carers take breaks under the Employment Relations Act, receive leave under the Holidays Act, work in safe conditions under the Health and Safety at Work Act, and receive parental leave entitlements. These are presented as administrative burdens being lifted from MSD. But, in reality, they are just being shifted onto family carers to have to manage instead.
Essentially, this Bill is loading up families to provide unpaid care, stripping back their employment rights, creating conditions for unpaid family care, and removing any responsibility by the Crown to unpaid family carers.
What can we do?
π Share this article as far and wide as you can.
π Share other articles by disability advocates on this topic. Both Nick Ruane Disability Advocate and Huhana Hickey have written good pieces. The more shares, the more attention the topic gets.
π Tell the people you know, in your world, how this affects you. Tell them how it affects your friends. Message and text them. Send them a link! But mostly talk to those around you about what is happening.
π Enrol to vote! Ask others if they're enrolled to vote! Make a plan to vote in the upcoming election. Elect a better government than this coalition.
π Write an email to your local MP and local candidates. Tell them how this issue affects you and what you think. It doesn't have to be long, or fancy- the important part is that you tell them.
π Speaking of writing, letters to the editor are still a solid thing to do. Local newspapers, national papers, the Listener - whatever magazine you read, write to them about this.
Read more:
https://www.emilywrites.co.nz/breaking-the-government-is-attacking-disabled-people-and-their-carers-again/
