Financial Advice New Zealand welcomes the Supplementary Order Paper on the KiwiSaver Amendment Bill, being debated in Parliament today.

“The current barriers to young New Zealanders in foster care enrolling in KiwiSaver disadvantage an already vulnerable group in our community. Change to legislation is well overdue,” says Financial Advice New Zealand CEO, Katrina Shanks.

“The ability for foster parents to enrol those in their care in KiwiSaver was removed during the Select Committee process. This was farcical. We strongly support the SOP submitted by MP Hamish Walker.”

“Over 6,000 young New Zealanders are in foster care and to date, have had to jump through numerous and onerous processes to enrol in what is a right for every New Zealander – KiwiSaver.”

“We support any legislative changes that reduce the barriers to KiwiSaver entry and encourage financial savings behaviour, especially in young New Zealanders.”

“As financial advisers, our members know how important a pathway to saving is for financial wellbeing, security and capacity. Financial Advice New Zealand and our members would like to proactively help those in foster care. So, we are offering on a pro-bono basis, financial advice on KiwiSaver to any foster child in New Zealand.

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