> download Submission on Social Security Bill (PDF, 189KB)
The Social Security Amendment Bill is the first part of a package of welfare reforms which Government has promised to roll over the next two years.
The changes being offered up in this Bill affect the payment and management of welfare payments to young people and extend work testing to a wider group of people including those on invalids', sickness and widows' benefits.
These changes will, however, have little impact on the bigger questions around the cost and sustainability of New Zealand's welfare state. When will these bigger questions be asked and what are the foundations on which we should base a welfare system for the 21st Century?