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Social Security Act 2018

General provisions

5: Guide to this Act

You could also call this:

"An Introduction to the Social Security Act 2018"

Illustration for Social Security Act 2018

This Act has several parts that tell you what it is about. You can find general information in Part 1. It explains things like what words mean. You can find information about assistance in Part 2. This includes things like jobseeker support and sole parent support. It also talks about other kinds of help you might get. Part 3 is about obligations. This means what you and the government must do. You can find more information about this in section 104. Part 4 talks about things that can affect your benefits. This includes things like having a job or being in hospital. You can find more information about this in section 183. Part 5 is about enforcement and sanctions. This means what happens if you do not follow the rules. You can find more information about this in section 231. Part 6 talks about how benefits are given out. This includes things like how you apply and how you get paid. You can find more information about this in section 296. Part 7 is about reviews and appeals. This means what you can do if you disagree with a decision. You can find more information about this in section 390. Part 8 has other information. This includes things like how laws are made and changed. You can find more information about this in section 416. The Act also has a Schedule 2 that lists all the defined terms. It tells you what words mean in the Act. Most of the provisions in this Act are the same as old laws. They are just written in a new way. You can find more information about this in section 9. But sometimes the new laws are different from the old ones. You can find more information about these changes in Schedule 11.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6783123.

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"Main ideas for helping people with jobs and money"

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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

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

                                  1. Hardship assistance

                                1. temporary additional support:

                                    1. Special assistance

                                  1. 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).