Social Security Act 2018

General provisions

5: Guide to this Act

You could also call this:

"A Guide to Understanding the Social Security Act: What it's About and How it Works"

This Act has many parts that tell you what it is about. You can find general information in Part 1. It explains things like what words mean in the Act.

Part 2 is about the help you can get, like money for food or a place to live. It also talks about extra help you might need, like money for childcare or a winter energy payment. You can get help in different ways, like if you are struggling or if you have a disability.

The Act also has parts about what you need to do to get help, like Part 3, and what happens if you do not follow the rules, like Part 5. You can find information about how to apply for help and how it is paid in Part 6. If you are not happy with a decision, you can ask for it to be reviewed, which is explained in Part 7.

The Act has many other parts, like Part 8, that talk about other important things. It also has a list of words and what they mean, which you can find in Schedule 2. The Act is based on old laws, but it has been updated to make it easier to understand, as explained in section 9. Sometimes the Act is changed, and you can find those changes in Schedule 11.

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Part 1General provisions

5Guide to this Act

  1. Part 1 contains general provisions (for example, on definitions).

  2. Part 2 contains provisions on assistance, as follows:

    Main assistance

  3. jobseeker support:
    1. sole parent support:
      1. supported living payment—
        1. on the ground of restricted work capacity or total blindness; or
          1. on the ground of caring for another person:
          2. orphan’s benefit:
            1. unsupported child’s benefit:
              1. youth payment:
                1. young parent payment:
                  1. emergency benefit:
                    1. Supplementary assistance

                    2. accommodation supplement:
                      1. winter energy payment:
                        1. childcare assistance:
                          1. child disability allowance:
                            1. disability allowance:
                              1. funeral grants:
                                1. Hardship assistance

                                2. temporary additional support:
                                  1. Special assistance

                                  2. special assistance for visitors affected by overseas epidemics:
                                    1. approved special assistance programmes (see the guide in section 15).
                                      1. Part 3 contains provisions on obligations (for example, MSD’s obligations, and each beneficiary’s obligations—see the guide in section 104).

                                      2. Part 4 contains provisions on factors affecting benefits (for example, jobseeker profiles, insurance, entitlement to overseas pensions, shared care of a dependent child, hospitalisation, being in custody in prison or on remand, and absence from New Zealand—see the guide in section 183).

                                      3. Part 5 contains provisions on enforcement, sanctions, and offences (for example, sanctions for failing to meet obligations—see the guide in section 231).

                                      4. Part 6 contains provisions on administration (for example, on applications for and granting of benefits, reviews of entitlement, when benefits commence and end or expire, how benefits are paid, tax on benefits, debts and deductions, notices and communications, and reciprocity agreements with other countries—see the guide in section 296).

                                      5. Part 7 contains provisions on reviews and appeals (reviews by benefits review committees and appeals to the appeal authority, to the courts, or to the medical board—see the guide in section 390).

                                      6. Part 8 contains other provisions (for example, on powers to make regulations or orders, repeals and revocations, and consequential amendments—see the guide in section 416).

                                      7. Schedule 2 lists all terms defined for purposes of this Act, and sets out, or indicates where to find, the definitions.

                                      8. The provisions of this Act, as section 9 indicates, are generally—

                                      9. the provisions of specified former 1964 and 1990 enactments in rewritten form; and
                                        1. intended to have the same effect as the corresponding provisions of those former enactments.
                                          1. Subsection (10) is overridden by section 9(6) (which relates to identified changes in legislation that are specified in Schedule 11, and to amendments to this Act that are made after the beginning of 26 November 2018).

                                          Notes
                                          • Section 5(4): amended, on , by section 4 of the Social Security Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 25).
                                          • Section 5(4): amended, on , by section 4 of the Social Assistance Legislation (Budget 2019 Welfare Package) Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 23).