Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2015

  • revoked
  • Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2015: revoked, on 1 April 2017, by clause 8(a) of the Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2017 (LI 2017/30).

Reprint as at 1 April 2017

Coat of Arms of New Zealand

Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2015

(LI 2015/33)

Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2015: revoked, on 1 April 2017, by clause 8(a) of the Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2017 (LI 2017/30).

Jerry Mateparae, Governor-General

Order in Council

At Wellington this 23rd day of February 2015

Present:
The Right Hon John Key presiding in Council

Note

Changes authorised by subpart 2 of Part 2 of the Legislation Act 2012 have been made in this official reprint.

Note 4 at the end of this reprint provides a list of the amendments incorporated.

This order is administered by the Ministry of Social Development.

Pursuant to sections 61H and 61HA of the Social Security Act 1964 and sections 15 and 16 of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001, His Excellency the Governor-General, acting on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council, makes the following order.

Order

1 Title

This order is the Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2015.

2 Commencement

(1)

This order comes into force on 1 April 2015.

(2)

By way of explanation,—

(a)

clause 4 comes into force on 1 April 2015 by virtue of section 61HA(5) of the Social Security Act 1964:

(b)

clause 5 comes into force on 1 April 2015 by virtue of section 15(6) of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001:

(c)

clause 6 comes into force immediately after clauses 4 and 5 come into force.

Order: validated and confirmed, on 11 December 2015, by section 13 of the Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Act 2015 (2015 No 119).

3 Increasing amounts of funeral grants

(1)

In the Social Security Act 1964, sections 61DB, 61DC, and 61DD, replace “$1,998.57” with “$2,008.76”.

(2)

The amendments made by subclause (1) apply in respect of persons who die on or after 1 April 2015.

4 Mandatory adjustments under section 61HA of Social Security Act 1964

In each provision of the Social Security Act 1964 listed in the first column of Part 1 of Schedule 1 of this order, replace, in each place, the amount set out opposite to that provision in the second column with the amount set out opposite to that provision in the third column.

5 Mandatory adjustments under sections 15 and 16 of New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001

In each provision of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 listed in the first column of Part 2 of Schedule 1 of this order, replace the amount set out opposite to that provision in the second column with the amount set out opposite to that provision in the third column.

6 Discretionary adjustments under section 61H of Social Security Act 1964

(1)

In each provision of the Social Security Act 1964 listed in the first column of Part 1 of Schedule 2 of this order, replace the amount set out opposite to that provision in the second column with the amount set out opposite to that provision in the third column.

(2)

In each provision of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 listed in the first column of Part 2 of Schedule 2 of this order, replace the amount set out opposite to that provision in the second column with the amount set out opposite to that provision in the third column.

(3)

The amendments made by this clause take effect from the close of 31 March 2015.

7 Revocation

The Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2014 (LI 2014/39) is revoked.

Schedule 1 Mandatory increases

cls 4, 5

Part 1 Increases to social security benefits and allowances

Provision amendedOld amount ($)New amount ($)
Schedule 3 (Rates of generally abolished former widows’ benefits under section 21 as saved by clause 3 of Schedule 32 for reciprocity agreement applicants or recipients)
Clause 1299.45300.98
Clause 2217.75218.86
Schedule 3A (Rate of sole parent support)
Clause 1299.45300.98
Schedule 4 (Maximum rates of orphans’ benefits and unsupported childs’ benefits)
Clause 1(a)203.42204.46
Clause 1(b)186.06187.01
Clause 1(c)168.62169.48
Clause 1(d)145.30146.04
Schedule 6 (Rates of supported living payment benefits)
Clause 1(a)211.46212.54
Clause 1(b)261.31262.64
Clause 1(c)343.27345.02
Clause 1(e)217.75218.86
Clause 1(f)217.75218.86
Clause 1(g)217.75218.86
Clause 1(h)217.75218.86
Clause 3217.75218.86
Schedule 9 (Rates of jobseeker support)
Clause 1(aa)139.37140.08
Clause 1(a)174.21175.10
Clause 1(ab)217.75218.86
Clause 1(b)209.06210.13
Clause 1(ba)299.45300.98
Clause 1(c)299.45300.98
Clause 1(d)174.21175.10
Clause 1(e)174.21175.10
Clause 1(f)174.21175.10
Clause 2174.21175.10
Clause 5174.21175.10
Schedule 16 (Rates of generally abolished former DPB for solo parents under section 27B as saved by clause 3 of Schedule 32 for reciprocity agreement applicants or recipients)
Clause 1299.45300.98
Clause 2217.75218.86
Schedule 22 (Rates of benefits payable to long-term hospital patients)
Clause 143.2343.45
Schedule 26 (Rates and component of youth payment and young parent payment, and criteria for incentive payments)
Clause 1174.21175.10
Clause 2139.37140.08
Clause 3299.45300.98
Clause 4174.21175.10
Clause 5174.21175.10

Part 2 Increases to superannuation entitlements

Provision amendedOld amount ($)New amount ($)
Schedule 1 (New Zealand superannuation entitlements)
Clause 1(a)421.76424.20
Clause 1(b)387.58389.70
Clause 1(c)319.23321.05
Clause 2(b)604.54608.04

Schedule 2 Discretionary increases

cl 6

Part 1 Increases to social security asset limits, etc

Provision amendedOld amount ($)New amount ($)
Schedule 6 (Rates of supported living payment benefits)
Clause 2347.75348.86
43.5643.78
Schedule 19 (Rates of child disability allowance and disability allowance)
Clause 146.2546.49
Clause 261.3861.69
Clause 338.2838.48
Schedule 26 (Rates and component of youth payment and young parent payment, and criteria for incentive payments)
Clause 10210.88211.96
260.88261.96
Clause 11210.88211.96
310.88311.96
Schedule 31 (Asset and income limits that may be applied to certain assistance)
Clause 11,045.591,050.92
Clause 21,742.241,751.13
Clause 31,372.901,379.90
Clause 41,474.781,482.30
Clause 5477.59480.03
Clause 6548.90551.70
Clause 7797.24801.31
Clause 8666.06669.46
Clause 9701.73705.31
Clause 10516.13518.76
Clause 11607.36616.71
Clause 12900.57914.71
Clause 13719.82723.49
Clause 14758.39762.26

Part 2 Increases to superannuation entitlements

Provision amendedOld amount ($)New amount ($)
Schedule 1 (New Zealand superannuation entitlements)
Clause 1(a)424.20431.10
Clause 1(b)389.70396.17
Clause 1(c)321.05326.30
Clause 2(a)638.46652.60
Clause 2(b)608.04618.08
Clause 343.2343.45
Clause 438.2838.48

Michael Webster,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

Explanatory note

This note is not part of the order, but is intended to indicate its general effect.

This order, which comes into force on 1 April 2015, increases a range of benefits, allowances, asset limits, superannuation entitlements, etc. The increases reflect both mandatory adjustments and some additional discretionary increases. Where an annual CPI increase is required, it reflects the increase of 0.51% in the New Zealand Consumers Price Index from the December 2013 quarter to the December 2014 quarter, calculated for all quarters using the New Zealand Consumers Price Index (All Groups), excluding cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Annual CPI increases are required under section 61HA of the Social Security Act 1964 for the following benefits: former widows’, sole parent support, orphans’ and unsupported childs’, supported living payment, jobseeker support, former domestic purposes, the hospital rate, and youth payments and young parent payments. These increases are set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1.

Annual CPI increases are also required, under section 15 of the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001, to superannuation entitlements. Section 16 of that Act requires that those increases may be more than the CPI increase in certain cases. The total of the increases required by both sections 15 and 16 is set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1.

The discretionary increases made under section 61H of the Social Security Act 1964 are in respect of—

  • funeral grants:

  • the income thresholds for a totally blind beneficiary to be eligible for an additional allowance:

  • the rates of child disability allowance and disability allowance:

  • the abatement rates and income limits for the youth payment and young parent payment:

  • various asset and income limits that may be applied to certain assistance.

The increases are set out in clause 3 and Part 1 of Schedule 2.

Further increases to the disability allowance income limits are made in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to ensure that current recipients of New Zealand superannuation or the veterans’ pension do not lose eligibility for a disability allowance as a result of the increase to the rates of those benefits under this order and the Veterans’ Support Amendment Regulations 2015.

Increases to superannuation entitlements, which build on the increases set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1, are also made, in order to implement the Government’s commitment to ensure that the net married couple rate of New Zealand superannuation is set at a minimum of 66% of the net average wage. These increases are set out in Part 2 of Schedule 2.

Under section 61H(3) of the Social Security Act 1964, this order expires on the close of the period of 12 months commencing with the date on which it was presented to the House of Representatives, unless it is expressly validated and confirmed by an Act of Parliament before that date.

Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2012.

Date of notification in Gazette: 26 February 2015.

Reprints notes
1 General

This is a reprint of the Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2015 that incorporates all the amendments to that order as at the date of the last amendment to it.

2 Legal status

Reprints are presumed to correctly state, as at the date of the reprint, the law enacted by the principal enactment and by any amendments to that enactment. Section 18 of the Legislation Act 2012 provides that this reprint, published in electronic form, has the status of an official version under section 17 of that Act. A printed version of the reprint produced directly from this official electronic version also has official status.

3 Editorial and format changes

Editorial and format changes to reprints are made using the powers under sections 24 to 26 of the Legislation Act 2012. See also http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/editorial-conventions/.

4 Amendments incorporated in this reprint

Social Security (Rates of Benefits and Allowances) Order 2017 (LI 2017/30): clause 8(a)

Subordinate Legislation (Confirmation and Validation) Act 2015 (2015 No 119): section 13