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Corrections Act 2004

Corrections system - Miscellaneous - Disclosure of prisoner information

180C: Social assistance may be suspended immediately if discrepancy discovered

You could also call this:

"Your benefit payments can stop straight away if the government finds incorrect information about you."

If you are getting benefits, allowances, or a student loan, the chief executive of the department that gives you this money can stop your payments right away. This can happen if some information about you is shared with the department under section 180A, and this information does not match what they already know about you. The department must tell you in writing why your payments are being stopped, as explained in section 180D.

The chief executive can only stop your payments if they want to, based on the information that does not match. You will get a notice explaining what is happening to your payments. This notice might also tell you about other actions the department wants to take, as explained in section 181 of the Privacy Act 2020.

The department can take other actions against you, like stopping your benefits or student loan, by following section 181 of the Privacy Act 2020 instead of this rule. This rule does not stop the department from taking these actions. Some words used here have special meanings, like "adverse action", "allowance", "benefit", "discrepancy", "student loan", and "working day", which are explained in other parts of the law, such as the Privacy Act 2020 and the Social Security Act 2018.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1275304.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Banking and loansGovernment and voting > Government departments
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180B: Information that may be requested and disclosed, or

"What information you can ask for about a prisoner"

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180D: Notice required by section 180C(1)(d), or

"Notice to tell you why your payments are suspended"

Part 2Corrections system
Miscellaneous: Disclosure of prisoner information

180CSocial assistance may be suspended immediately if discrepancy discovered

  1. The chief executive of the requesting department may suspend immediately the payment to a person of the benefits, allowances, and student loans, or any of them, payable to the person if—

  2. information has been disclosed to the requesting department under section 180A; and
    1. a discrepancy relating or apparently relating to the person arises, or is identified in that information; and
      1. that chief executive wishes, on the basis of that discrepancy, to effect the suspension; and
        1. immediately after the suspension is effected, the requesting department gives the person written notice of the kind specified in section 180D.

          1. In this section and section 180D,—

            adverse action has the same meaning as in section 177 of the Privacy Act 2020

              allowance means an allowance established (whether established for the first time or continued) by regulations made under section 645 of the Education and Training Act 2020

                benefit has the same meaning as in Schedule 2 of the Social Security Act 2018

                  discrepancy has the same meaning as in section 177 of the Privacy Act 2020

                    student loan has the meaning given to it by section 4(1) of the Student Loan Scheme Act 2011

                      working day has the same meaning as in section 7(1) of the Privacy Act 2020.

                      1. A notice under subsection (1) may also be used to give the person concerned notice under section 181 of the Privacy Act 2020 in relation to some proposed adverse action other than the suspension or suspensions concerned; but in that case that section applies to the taking of that action.

                      2. Subsection (1) overrides section 181 of the Privacy Act 2020.

                      3. Nothing in this section prevents any adverse action from being taken in respect of benefits, allowances, or student loans in accordance with section 181 of the Privacy Act 2020 instead of this section.

                      Notes
                      • Section 180C: inserted, on , by section 5 of the Corrections (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 24).
                      • Section 180C(2) adverse action: amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
                      • Section 180C(2) allowance: amended, on , by section 668 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (2020 No 38).
                      • Section 180C(2) benefit: amended, on , by section 459 of the Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32).
                      • Section 180C(2) discrepancy: amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
                      • Section 180C(2) student loan: amended, on , by section 223 of the Student Loan Scheme Act 2011 (2011 No 62).
                      • Section 180(2) working day: amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
                      • Section 180C(3): amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
                      • Section 180C(4): amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
                      • Section 180C(5): amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).