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The welfare system of Aotearoa New Zealand

The 1938 Social Security Act marked the beginning of a modern welfare state in Aotearoa NZ. This set covers the history of the welfare system in Aotearoa, acts, types of benefits for families, children and youth, and changes introduced by successive governments. SCIS no. 5415861

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Registration Fee Coupon books

Registration Fee Coupon books

These are the coupon books which were used by the New Zealand Government of Joseph Savage to record payment of fees which were levied to fund benefits under the Social Security Act of 1938. There a...

Department of Social Welfare

Department of Social Welfare

This is the Department of Social Welfare building in Southern Victoria Street. It was originally built in 1901 for a post office and extended in 1916. The Department of Social Welfare took over in...

SuperGold card

Aucklander Viviane Drury is waiting for a bus with her SuperGold card in hand in 2008. The SuperGold card entitles people aged 65 and over to free or subsidised goods and services, such as free tra...

Kia Piki Aki Welfare Expert Advisory Group.

Established in 2018, the Welfare Expert Advisory Group advises the government on the future of Aotearoa New Zealand’s social security system.

Ministry of Social Development [electronic resource] = Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora.

MSD provides strategic social policy advice to the New Zealand Government and provides social services to more than one million New Zealanders. Information about the Ministry and its key initiative...

Work and Income [electronic resource] : a service of the Ministry of Social Development = Te Hiranga Tangata.

The focus of this website is to provide information for people who use, or may use, Work and Income's services. There is information about finding work, getting income support or employing one of t...

Budget 2021: One of the biggest ideas is ‘social unemployment insurance’. What’s that then?

Budget 2021: One of the biggest ideas is ‘social unemployment insurance’. What’s that then?

The budget saw plans to design a new scheme to protect those who fall out of work. Justin Giovannetti explains how it might work. The government is designing a new addition to the country’s welfar...

Royal Commission on Social Policy

Royal Commission on Social Policy

In 1986 the government set up the Royal Commission on Social Policy to examine social conditions in New Zealand and recommend policies that would result in a more just and fair society. At the time...

Paid parental leave to increase to 26 weeks by 2020: RNZ Checkpoint

Paid parental leave to increase to 26 weeks by 2020: RNZ Checkpoint

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the paid parental leave extension will cost $325 million over the four year forecast period, which fits within Labour's fiscal plan.

Changes in the history of social welfare in Aotearoa New Zealand

Changes in the history of social welfare in Aotearoa New Zealand

This story looks back at some of the significant legislative acts and changes in the history of Social Welfare in Aotearoa New Zealand.

A snapshot of state support in Aotearoa New Zealand

A snapshot of state support in Aotearoa New Zealand

This collection of images tells a story about historical state-funded support such as state housing, free hospital care, public libraries, free milk and health camps in Aotearoa New Zealand's history.

The history of children and the welfare system in Aotearoa New Zealand

The history of children and the welfare system in Aotearoa New Zealand

This story covers a range of acts and changes by various governments to address social welfare issues for children in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Family welfare

Is the welfare of families the responsibility of the state? New Zealand’s governments have long provided financial support for families in need, but the balance of responsibility has shifted depend...

Voluntary welfare organisations: Depression and the welfare state

Voluntary welfare in the depression The economic depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s saw existing voluntary organisations such as the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and the Red...

Voluntary welfare organisations

Voluntary welfare organisations

Red Anzac poppies, long sold on the street to raise funds for the RSA, have been joined by daffodils, bandannas and ribbons of various hues – all ways that New Zealand’s voluntary welfare organisat...

Social Policy landmarks in Aotearoa

The Social Security Act of 1938, the beginning of social housing in 1937 and the Domestic Purposes Benefit of 1973 — were three landmark social welfare policies for women and families in Aotearoa N...

Social welfare and the state

What began in 1938 by the government as a system to improve the standard of living and housing was considered costly and unsustainable by the 1980s.

Income support in Aotearoa NZ

In Aotearoa New Zealand income support is available in various situations such as inability to work due to serious illness, injury and disability.

Kāinga Ora : homes and communities.

"Kāinga Ora brings together the people, capabilities and resources of the KiwiBuild Unit, Housing New Zealand and its development subsidiary HLC. This is designed to enable a more cohesive, joined-...

Welfare organisations

This essay written by Margaret Tennant was first published in Women Together: a History of Women's Organisations in New Zealand in 1993. It was updated by Margaret Tennant in 2018.

Whānau Āwhina Plunket

The role of Mere Harper and Ria Tikini in the history of Whānau Āwhina Plunket.

Pacific housing initiative

The Pacific Housing initiative is part of a government response to the growing housing needs of Pacific people in Aotearoa.

A-Z of benefits and payments

Various types of benefits are available for those eligible in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Youth Service supports youth to get the education they need to build confidence and increase their potential.

Some groups are disproportionately and negatively affected

Groups of people in Aotearoa New Zealand that the welfare system has failed to deliver.

Whānau social assistance programmes

The programmes Māra Kai, Oranga Whānau and Kaitoko Whānau are designed to support vulnerable whanau and build a long term sustainable Māori economy.

Māori centred social work practice : evidence brief / Dr Amohia Boulton & Ms Lynley Cvitanovic.

"Oranga Tamariki leadership, through its Professional Practice Group (PPG), has committed to move frontline social work practice to a Māori centred approach, using a mana-enhancing practice paradig...

Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora = Maori Women's Welfare League Inc.

The vison and mission of the Māori Women’s Welfare League Tatau Tatau is to influence positive change for wāhine Māori and their whānau.

Te Hiku o te Ika – Crown Social Development and Iwi/Māori

Partnerships between iwi/Maori and the Ministry of Social Development for improving the wellbeing of Māori.

Research papers

A brief timeline of social welfare in Aotearoa/New Zealand

This paper is about the economic and social welfare policies from 1846 to 1991. It also explores how the position of Maori people within this system has largely been dictated by those who benefited...

Latest child poverty figures

Child poverty statistics as reported in 2022.

Types of childcare assistance

Early Learning Payment (ELP) and Out of School Care and Recreation (OSCAR) are some examples of childcare available currently in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations in 1989 and ratified by Aotearoa New Zealand in 1993 guarantees basic and fundamental rights to the world's children.

If New Zealand can radically reform its health system, why not do the same for welfare?

In 2019 the Welfare Expert Advisory Group’s analysis stressed that immediate and significant reform was long overdue in the welfare services of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Welfare benefits for youth

What is Youth Payment and who is eligible for it.

Puao-te-ata-tu report

Puao-te-ata-tu report

Puao-te-ata-tu (day break) was a report published in 1988 by an advisory group which investigated the treatment of Māori by the Department of Social Welfare. The group found that a culture of racis...

Community Services Card Fact Sheet

A fact sheet outlining policy and the benefits of the Community Services Card.

Te Whānau — Te Kōhanga Reo

The role of whānau or family in kōhanga reo is as important as is Te Reo Māori, mokopuna (children) and Kaumātua (elders).

New Zealand Superannuation

Details on the New Zealand Superannuation — a fortnightly payment for people aged 65 and over.

What is social work?

Social workers seek to lift the quality of social work practice and advocate for social justice, human rights, and human dignity.

Whānau Ora success stories

Success stories from whānau centred programmes and services.

The welfare state in Post War New Zealand

Film about post-war New Zealand that covers aspects of the welfare state.

Health Camps and Stamps

New Zealand’s first health camps were set up by Elizabeth Gunn in 1919 to help children who were malnourished or suffering tuberculosis.

Housing and government: State loans and state houses

The Liberal government’s venture into housing provision, while unsuccessful, provided the basic model for later state intervention in the housing market. This involved two major forms of housing as...

A brief history of family support payments in New Zealand : background paper.

This document gives a brief history of the family related payments in New Zealand’s tax and welfare system and how they have changed over time.

Living on a benefit

The majority of people who come to the Soup Kitchen receive a government benefit.

Housing has been debated by major political parties for many years, and now with housing becoming even less affordable, it’s going to be one of the main social issues to be dealt with. The new Lab...

Remembering 100 years of free dental care for NZ children

It has been 100 years since New Zealand started to offer free dental care for children, and while the service has improved, many older Kiwis still recall the dreaded "Murder House" aka the school d...

End of free school milk

New Zealand schoolchildren received free milk between 1937 and 1967. The first Labour government introduced the scheme – a world first – to improve the health of young New Zealanders (and make use ...

Old-age Pensions Act becomes law

A world first, the act gave a small means-tested pension to elderly men and women with few assets who were ‘of good moral character’ and were leading a ‘sober and reputable life’. It was one of the...

Ethnic and religious intolerance: Intolerance towards Asians

Chinese and Indians were excluded from pensions until 1936 when the government lifted some of the discriminatory legislation and policy.

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