The Government has, once again, missed an opportunity to lift disabled children and their families out of poverty with no increase to Disability Allowance funding. The allowance is a weekly payment for people who have regular, ongoing costs because of an impairment and is currently set at a maximum of $65 per week. Overall, the budget announcement sees a $1.9 million decline in allowance funding.

Disabled children and their carers are significantly more likely to live in poverty in New Zealand. Households with disabled children are between 1.4 and 1.6 times more likely to be below all three poverty thresholds than households that only have non-disabled children.

The Disability Allowance can cover things such as doctor's visits, medicines, extra clothing, or travel. But to claim it, parents and caregivers must provide their receipts and get the costs verified by their doctor. Access also depends on MSD approval, with CCS Disability Action being called in regularly to advocate for families to receive eligible funding.

“This decline in real terms is incredibly disappointing. If the Government wants to lift Kiwi kids out of poverty, then the Disability Allowance not only needs to rise significantly, but it also needs to be set to a fair, fixed rate. International evidence shows us that raising disability allowances makes a meaningful difference in poverty reduction. The data in New Zealand is clear, material hardship is getting worse, not better,” says Mel Smith, Chief Executive, CCS Disability Action.

“The bureaucracy people face to receive funding is completely out of step with the level of funding they receive. It’s a waste of resource at every level. We hear many families say that they just give up – it’s an ‘extra’ they don’t have the capacity for,” explains Ms Smith. For working aged people the median amount claimed is just $14 per week.

A fair fixed rate would also address ethnic inequalities that CCS Disability Action first identified in 2020. Official data from the Ministry of Social Development - obtained by CCS Disability Action - shows persistent inequity in median Disability Allowance payment amounts between Pākehā, and Māori and Pasifika. Over the course of a year, that meant Pākehā received about $700, Māori about $500 and Pasifika got $320.

"We have been calling for an overhaul of the Disability Allowance for many years, so none of this information is new," says Ms Smith. "When will someone say, 'enough is enough'?"

ENDS

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