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Customs and Excise Act 2018

Administrative provisions - Disclosure of information - Disclosure to government agencies

314: Direct access to information for purposes of benefit and benefit debt recovery

You could also call this:

"Government helpers can check your info to make sure you get the right benefit"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

The government wants to help the department in charge of benefits to get the information they need. You might be getting a benefit, and the department needs to check if you are eligible for it. They also need to check how much benefit you should get. The department is allowed to look at a database to get this information. They can only look for information about people who are getting benefits or who have applied for benefits. When the department looks at the database, they must keep a record of what they do. This record includes who looked at the database, why they looked at it, and when they looked at it. A benefit is money the government gives you to help you. You can read more about what a benefit is in the Social Security Act 2018. The department in charge of benefits is the one that administers the Social Security Act 2018. A specified person is someone who has applied for a benefit or is getting a benefit. But it does not include people who do not have to follow certain immigration rules. You can read more about these rules in the Immigration Act 2009.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039743.

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Part 5Administrative provisions
Disclosure of information: Disclosure to government agencies

314Direct access to information for purposes of benefit and benefit debt recovery

  1. The purpose of this section is to facilitate direct access by the department to information stored in a database for the purpose of assisting the chief executive of the department to—

  2. verify the entitlement or eligibility of any specified person to or for any benefit:
    1. verify the amount of any benefit to which a specified person is or was entitled or for which a specified person is or was eligible:
      1. enable the recovery of any debt due to the Crown by a specified person in respect of any benefit.

        1. The chief executive of Customs may, for the purpose of this section, allow the chief executive of the department to access a database in accordance with a written agreement entered into by the chief executive of Customs and the chief executive of the department.

        2. In accessing a database for the purpose of this section, the chief executive of the department may search only for arrival and departure information relating to preselected specified persons who are of interest to the chief executive of the department.

        3. The chief executive of the department must take all reasonable steps to ensure that—

        4. only persons with appropriate powers delegated to them by the chief executive of the department—
          1. have access to the database; and
            1. use the database; and
            2. a record is kept of—
              1. every occasion on which persons access a database; and
                1. the reason that the database is accessed; and
                  1. the identity of each person who accessed the database; and
                  2. every person who accesses a database for the purpose of this section complies with subsection (3).

                    1. In this section,—

                      benefit means any of the following:

                      1. a benefit as defined in Schedule 2 of the Social Security Act 2018:
                        1. a funeral grant lump sum payable under section 90 of that Act:
                          1. any special assistance payable under a programme approved under section 100 or 101 of that Act:
                            1. an allowance established by regulations made under section 645 of the Education and Training Act 2020

                              department means the department for the time being responsible for the administration of the Social Security Act 2018

                                specified person—

                                1. means a person—
                                  1. who has applied for a benefit:
                                    1. in respect of whom an application for a benefit has been made:
                                      1. who has been granted a benefit:
                                        1. in respect of whom a benefit, or part of a benefit, has been granted; but
                                        2. does not include a person who is exempted by regulations or a special direction made under the Immigration Act 2009 from the requirement to—
                                          1. apply for a visa or entry permission in the prescribed manner under section 103(1)(b), (c), and (d) of that Act; or
                                            1. complete documentation on departure from New Zealand under section 119(1)(c) of that Act.

                                          Compare
                                          Notes
                                          • Section 314(5) benefit: replaced, on , by section 459 of the Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32).
                                          • Section 314(5) benefit paragraph (d): amended, on , by section 668 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (2020 No 38).
                                          • Section 314(5) department: replaced, on , by section 459 of the Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32).