01 March 2007
Media Release
For Immediate Release

Social Security Amendment Bill supports expansion of Work and Income Services

“The Wellington People's Centre statement is incorrect, and they appear to have misunderstood the intent of the Bill,” Liz Jones, Deputy Chief Executive, Work and Income, said today.

“The Bill supports the expansion of our services, including our financial support, to all our clients, and is an important step towards assisting people towards work, as and where appropriate.

“We want to offer the right support based on each person's circumstances, from their first point of contact with Work and Income. This can be through a phone call, a visit to one of our offices, or by talking to a case manager.

“If a person seeks financial support for a particular need, then Work and Income will look at all forms of assistance to meet that need, as well as ensure they have their full and correct entitlement. We are already doing this and the Bill and improvements to our services uphold this important principle.

“People will still be able to request financial assistance verbally. However, people will need to provide a written application. We consider this is a reasonable requirement.

“Payment will still be backdated to the time they first contacted Work and Income, assuming it is within a reasonable timeframe.

“Work and Income provides extra assistance to clients who have any difficulty filling in forms or understanding their entitlements. We use professional interpreters, provide our information in many communities’ languages and our clients have access to a multi-lingual contact centre with 11 different languages.

“The Ministry would be very happy to discuss the Bill with the Wellington People’s Centre,” Liz Jones said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media