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Social Security Act 2018

Other provisions - Regulations

418: Regulations: general

You could also call this:

“Rules can be made to help the Social Security Act work properly”

The Governor-General can make rules about many parts of the Social Security Act 2018. These rules are called regulations. They can cover things like:

  • Which health practitioners can do certain tasks
  • How long someone needs to have restricted work capacity to get a supported living payment
  • What incentive payments young people can get
  • When work-test obligations apply
  • How drug tests work for benefit recipients
  • What counts as a good reason for not taking a drug test
  • How to review child support payments
  • How youth support payments work
  • How young people can choose to have their money managed
  • How contracts with service providers should be set up
  • What counts as income when calculating benefits
  • How to handle privacy and information sharing

The Governor-General can also make regulations about anything else needed to make the Act work properly.

These regulations are a type of law called secondary legislation. This means they need to be published in a specific way, as set out in the Legislation Act 2019.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6783988.

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417: Benefits cannot, in general, be assigned or charged, or pass by operation of law, or

“Your benefit is protected and usually can't be given away or taken from you”

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419: Regulations: general powers not limited by special powers, or

“Government can use both general and special powers to make social security rules”

Part 8 Other provisions
Regulations

418Regulations: general

  1. The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, make regulations for the purposes of all or any of the following provisions:

    Part 2—Assistance

  2. sections 27, 28, 37, 41, 42, 80, 81, 88, 134, 164, 167, and 379 (prescription, for provision’s purposes, of health practitioners acting within their scope of practice (see the definition in Schedule 2 of prescribed health practitioner)):
    1. section 35(2)(a) (supported living payment: on ground of restricted work capacity or total blindness: when does person have restricted work capacity: period prescribed):
      1. section 55(1) (youth payment: incentive payments):
        1. section 62(1) (young parent payment: incentive payments):

            1. Part 3—Obligations

          1. section 143(1)(b) (time when work-test obligation applies):
            1. section 152, definition of evidential drug test, paragraph (c):
              1. section 152, definition of pass, paragraphs (a) and (b):
                1. section 152, definition of screening drug test, paragraph (c)(iii):

                      1. Part 5—Enforcement: sanctions and offences

                    1. section 250(1)(e) (excuse of good and sufficient reason: failure to comply with drug-testing obligation):

                        1. Part 6—Administration

                      1. section 304A(1)(g) (additional grounds for review of whether person’s information share child support payment is or was all or any of their weekly income):
                        1. sections 341(1) and (3)(d) and 342(1)(b) (which relate to youth support payments):
                          1. section 344(2) (young person beneficiaries may elect money management):
                            1. section 373(1)(a)(ii) and (b) (administration service providers: contracts):
                              1. section 374(1)(c) (administration service providers: contents and form of contracts):

                                  1. Schedules

                                1. paragraph (j) of the definition of general provisions child support payment in Schedule 2 (additional kinds of payments that are general provisions child support payments):
                                  1. clause 11 of Schedule 3, definition of appropriate number of weeks, paragraph (b) (calculation of income: interpretation):
                                    1. clause 10(3) of Schedule 6 (code of conduct: relationship with Privacy Act 2020 code of practice):
                                      1. clause 20(2) of Schedule 6 (disclosure of information about people to whom service provider’s contract applies).

                                        1. The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, make regulations providing for any other matters contemplated by this Act, necessary for its administration, or necessary for giving it full effect.

                                        2. Regulations under this section are secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

                                        Compare
                                        Notes
                                        • Section 418(1)(i): repealed, on , by section 7 of the Social Assistance Legislation (Budget 2019 Welfare Package) Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 23).
                                        • Subpart 418(1)(ja): inserted, on , by section 35(1) of the Child Support (Pass On) Acts Amendment Act 2023 (2023 No 27).
                                        • Subpart 418(1)(na): inserted, on , by section 35(2) of the Child Support (Pass On) Acts Amendment Act 2023 (2023 No 27).
                                        • Section 418(1)(p): amended, on , by section 217 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
                                        • Section 418(3): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).