Wellbeing Budget 2023

Budget 2023 also continues investment in successful income support and employment initiatives that have helped New Zealanders through COVID-19 and for which demand continues, and supports MSD to keep delivering the services that people need.

Pre-Budget announcements have highlighted a near $1 billion recovery package to support regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other weather events in the North Island, and implementing Te Aorerekura, the national strategy to eliminate family violence and sexual violence in New Zealand.

Other previously announced initiatives that support the Budget include the Annual General Adjustment to benefit and payment rates, the Winter Energy Payment, increased income thresholds for the Childcare Subsidy and Out of School Care and Recreation (OSCAR) subsidy and passing on child support payments to sole parents.

Budget 2023 supports MSD’s ability to meet the demand for income support and employment services, supports efforts to help people get sustainable jobs and retain them, especially those who are at risk in the labour market, and continues to support community initiatives to help those in need. It also funds other important initiatives like the new Children and Young People’s Commission, resolving historic claims of abuse in state care, ending the Minimum Wage Exemption for disabled workers, and improving the accessibility and take-up of childcare payments.

Key initiatives are outlined below:

Welfare Overhaul

Improving accessibility and supporting take-up of childcare payments to ease cost-of-living pressures on parents and support workforce participation – $35.162 million over 4 years.

Core Ministry of Social Development Cost Pressures

Funding remuneration increases arising from collective bargaining commitments for MSD employees and to give effect to the Public Sector Pay Adjustment – $342.606 million over 4 years.

Addressing cost pressures affecting key aspects of MSD’s operations, including information technology, property and maintaining security guards at MSD sites – $88.999 million over 4 years.

Supporting the ability of MSD to respond to increasing need for employment services and other client support – $67.065 million over 3 years.

Ensuring MSD can maintain frontline service levels to respond to sustained high demand for income support and employment services – $95.550 million over 3 years.

Employment

Supporting disabled people and those with health conditions to enter and remain in employment through Oranga Mahi – $36.262 million over 2 years.

Supporting employment opportunities for young people and those disadvantaged in the labour market through the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs and Auckland Council’s Ngā Puna Pūkenga partnership – $28 million over 2 years.

Continuing to support proven services and programmes that help those at risk of poor labour market outcomes into sustainable employment – $30.715 million over 4 years.

Continuing to support Employment Service in Schools to achieve sustainable employment for disabled learners –  $2 million over 1 year.

Permanently reinstating the Training Incentive Allowance to help sole parents, disabled people and those with significant health conditions and their carers to participate in study –  $127.597 million over 3 years.

Increasing the capacity of the Direct Career Guidance Service, to provide professional support to more people who want to enter the workforce or change jobs  – $2 million over 2 years.

Continuing to support people who are facing redundancy or have recently lost their jobs to get back to work quickly through Early Response Redeployment Support and Rapid Return to Work – $7.6 million over 2 years.

Helping people with musculoskeletal pain or impairment  to stay in or move into work – $3.394 million over 2 years.

Communities and Whānau

Continuing support for youth development providers delivering support for at-risk ākonga and young people to strengthen their resilience through the Ākonga Youth Development Community Fund –  $12.2 million over 2 years.

Continuing to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Masjidain – $0.994 million over 1 year.

Supporting the community food sector and access to affordable, healthy and culturally appropriate food –  $24.8 million over 2 years.

Continuing to support Growing Up in New Zealand, one of New Zealand's key longitudinal studies providing insights into the lives of young people – $30 million over 4 years

Supporting MSD to resolve a further 1,000 claims of historic abuse of people in state care – $58.4 million over 1 year.

Supporting Community Connectors to help individuals and whānau connect with the services they need –  $41.702 million over 2 years.

Helping to strengthen the capability, resilience and diversity of the social sector by funding community, provider and sector groups –  $5.3 million over 2 years.

Continuing to support Building Financial Capability providers to provide financial advice and debt services in their communities –  $29.188 million over 4 years.

Crown Entity Cost Pressures

Supporting the continued delivery of orthotic services through Peke Waihanga Artificial Limb Service – $1.54 million over 1 year.

Establishing and supporting the Children and Young People’s Commission and strengthening system-level advocacy for children and young people – $32.585 million over 4 years.

Disability

Replacing the Minimum Wage Exemption, which allows disabled people to be paid less than the minimum wage – $37.312 million over 4 years.

Preventing Family and Sexual Violence (Pre-Budget)

Continuing to provide specialist Child Advocates to children who have experienced family violence – $5.997 million over 4 years.

Continuing to provide 24/7 online and remote support to people seeking help for family violence across New Zealand – $10.055 million over 4 years.

Supporting Māori to access Kaupapa Māori specialist sexual violence services that provide a long-term, whānau-centred way of healing– $8.603 million over 3 years.

Continuing to fund specialist non-government organisation participation in the Multi-Disciplinary Cross Agency Team in Counties Manukau– $1.920 million over 2 years.

Supporting family and sexual violence providers to improve their accessibility to disabled people – $3.419 million over 2 years.

Responding to North Island Weather Events (Pre-Budget)

Funding employment programmes and services that support New Zealanders affected by the North Island Weather Events –  $35.2 million over 2 years.

Extending assistance for community groups and providers so they can continue to help people in regions affected by the North Island Weather Events –  $5 million over 1 year, plus a tagged contingency of $30 million over 1 year.

Supporting Community Connectors to help individuals and whānau connect with the services they need in regions affected by the North Island Weather Events –  $13.067 million over 1 year*.

Supporting the community food sector in regions affected by the North Island Weather Events –  $6 million over 2 years.

Enabling Enhanced Taskforce Green to provide more support for communities in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle –  $1 million.

Providing a coordinated public service response in regions affected by the North Island Weather Events –  $4.120 million over 1 year.

* This funding is included in the $41.702 million total allocated under Community Connectors under Communities and Whānau.

Te Pae Tawhiti Programme

Continuing work on MSD’s transformation programme, Te Pae Tawhiti, including beginning work on Horizon One of the Programme –  $100 million over 2 years.