It includes a community work experience sanction, requiring them to find and complete work experience at a community organisation before the sanction is lifted.
A draft Cabinet paper from July shows officials recommended beneficiaries under this sanction should still be able to access hardship assistance – with which minister Louise Upston disagreed.
Upston says this was for the sake of consistency, to ensure new non-financial sanctions being introduced next year would be consistent with the existing sanctions.
But Labour’s Social Development spokeswoman Carmel Sepuloni says it’s mean-spirited, and “punitive for the sake of being punitive”.
“I find [that decision] really difficult to comprehend, given how tough it is for families out there at the moment, particularly those on the lowest incomes,” Sepuloni says.
Hardship assistance includes payments such as Special Needs grants (including food grants), temporary additional support and emergency benefits.
Sepuloni says it can cover food, clothing, electricity or other supports around the home.
Deputy Labour leader and Social Development spokeswoman Carmel Sepuloni. Photo / Brett Phibbs
She says job seekers under the non-financial sanctions will be unable to access this, at the same time many community service organisations are struggling – shown by the news last week community advocate Dave Letele was closing his South Auckland foodbank.
“And the minister is making it harder to access hardship support on the front line through the Ministry of Social Development [MSD] as well,” Sepuloni says.
“Where are these struggling Kiwis going to go for the support that they need, if they can’t get it from the Ministry of Social Development and they’re struggling more and more to get it from their community service providers?”
Social Development Minister Louise Upston. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Last week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon pointed to the availability of hardship assistance for people in need, following the news Letele was closing his foodbank.
Upston says the new non-financial sanctions – including Money Management, which puts half a person’s benefit on to a payment card – won’t be introduced until next year.
“My message very clearly is to avoid any of that – we just want people to comply with their obligations, and it’s great to see 98% of beneficiaries are.”
In August, the Government launched the traffic light system to communicate to people receiving a benefit whether or not they were complying with obligations.
