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Social Security Act 2018

Assistance - Special assistance

99: Overseas epidemics affecting visitors to New Zealand: Minister may give overseas epidemic management notice

You could also call this:

“Minister can write a notice when overseas diseases stop visitors from going home”

If you are visiting New Zealand and a serious disease breaks out in another country, it might make it hard for you to go back home. The Minister can write a notice about this situation. Here’s what you need to know:

The Minister can write a notice saying that a serious disease outside New Zealand might cause problems for visitors. This could happen if the disease stops you from quickly returning to your home country.

The notice starts working right away when the Minister writes it. It will stop working after 3 months, or on a day the Minister chooses, whichever comes first. The Minister can write a new notice about the same disease if needed.

Before writing the notice, the Minister must get advice from the person in charge of the Ministry of Health. They need to think carefully about this advice.

The serious diseases they’re talking about are called “quarantinable diseases”. These are defined in the Health Act 1956.

This notice is a type of law called “secondary legislation”. This means it needs to follow certain rules about how it’s published and shared with people.

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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=DLM6783309.

Topics:
Government and voting > Emergency management
Health and wellbeing > Public health
Immigration and citizenship > Border control
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98: Interpretation, or

“This part explains important words used in the rules about extra money help”

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100: Special assistance for visitors affected by overseas epidemics, or

“Help for visitors stuck in New Zealand because of sickness in their home country”

Part 2 Assistance
Special assistance

99Overseas epidemics affecting visitors to New Zealand: Minister may give overseas epidemic management notice

  1. The Minister may, by written notice, declare that the effects of an outbreak outside New Zealand of a stated quarantinable disease are likely to cause hardship to people temporarily in New Zealand by preventing or hindering their prompt return to stated places.

  2. The notice comes into force on its commencement, and expires on the earliest of the following:

  3. the day 3 months after its commencement:
    1. a day stated in the notice:
      1. a day stated by the Minister by further written notice.

        1. Before or after the notice expires, the Minister can give a new notice in respect of the same disease.

        2. The Minister must not give the notice except on, and after considering, the written recommendation of the chief executive of the Ministry of Health.

        3. In subsection (1), quarantinable disease has the same meaning as in section 2(1) of the Health Act 1956.

        4. A notice under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

        Compare
        Notes
        • Section 99(6): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).