Department for Work and Pensions (2005) Opportunity and Security Throughout Life, DWP Five Year Strategy, Department for Work and Pensions, London. The New Zealand social security system The New Zealand social welfare system provides for four major transfer payments for the working age population: the unemployment benefit, the sickness benefit, the invalids benefit and the domestic purposes benefit.1. Instead of categorising people according to why they are unable to work, these new developments focus on the support people need to help them move into work. Inflexible transport remains a major barrier to the social and labour market participation of disabled people, with such groups less likely to be car owners and more likely to use public transport when travelling to work. “Impairment” can be understood as a functional limitation; for example, a person may have limited hearing, not have the use of their own legs, or experience learning difficulties. This has meant a voice within the Cabinet for disability issues and a strong Ministerial advocate who recognises the salience of disability issues, and the importance of a rights and opportunities agenda for New Zealand society. This was partly due to the different reassessment periods for invalids' beneficiaries (two years, five years, or never), and partly due to the short length of time that regional health advisors and regional disability advisors had been in place. Increased attention is being paid to the role of part-time work and recognition of potential capacity and transitions towards full-time work. People on the DPB and invalids benefit tend to receive it for longer periods, but this reflects the ongoing nature of certain disabilities, and childcare responsibilities, and isn’t evidence of benefit dependency. In the sample of beneficiary records that we examined, we identified longer-term sickness beneficiaries who could usefully have been referred to a regional health advisor or regional disability advisor for review. Disabled people are more likely to have no formal educational qualifications (39% of disabled adults in households reported that they had no educational qualification, compared with 24% of non-disabled adults). Any errors or omissions remain the author’s responsibility.Correspondence Dr Neil Lunt, Social Policy Programme, Massey University at Albany, Private Bag 102-904, North Shore Mail Centre, Albany. Other benefit categories, including SB, IB, and Domestic Purposes Benefit were to be integrated into the Community Wage framework. 3.11 For our sample of beneficiaries, we examined how health practitioners answered the questions in the medical certificate, how much detail was provided, and how useful that information was for determining eligibility. Three Support Funds are available in New Zealand to help people with disabilities and impairments to get or keep employment: Job Support, Training Support and Self Start. While many of these themes are retained within the current policy environment (reducing the fiscal burden, the voluntary compliance of employers, and contracts for external service delivery), elsewhere in policy there have been major shifts in emphasis and approach. Given that increases are not the result of fraud, numbers will not fall by simply “clamping down” on claimants. Johnson, A. 3.43 The Pension Amendment Act 1936 saw provision extended beyond war veterans, miners, and the visually impaired to include “invalids”, and rates were increased and measures expanded to those with sickness in the Social Security Act 1938 (McClure 1998). Nine were referred to the regional health advisor or regional disability advisor. Department for Work and Pensions (2004) The Incapacity Benefits – Present and Future, Presentation by the Department for Work and Pensions, February, Department for Work and Pensions, London. Ongoing engagement with the medical profession is likely to be required to clarify general practitioners’ roles of clinician, advocate, and adjudicator in relation to health and wellbeing. A constituent part of Labour’s agenda for welfare reform has been the stress on evidence-informed activity, trialling small-scale innovations and pilot approaches to see “what works”.8. New Zealand Disability Strategy (2001) Making a World of Difference: The New Zealand Disability Strategy, Ministry of Health, Wellington. It situates these changes within the broader context of both active labour market policy and disability initiatives. She managed to wrestle with Police after barking like a dog and swearing in front of the widow of the man her son is accussed of murdering. A key question, as the quality and range of services increases, is how to engage with those recipients who do not acknowledge an obligation to move towards work (Corden et al. In contemporary times, the disadvantaged position of disabled people 4 is well documented. The benefit is income-tested. It came to light after RNZ detailed the story of Mary*, a hotel worker made redundant when the Covid-19 lockdown began.. She applied for a job seeker's benefit but was told she would not receive anything till her redundancy runs out in September. Watch: RNZ's The Panel host Wallace Chapman talks to RNZ social media producer Jogai Bhatt about how a rare illness led him to his first radio gig after being on the Invalids Benefit … Labour’s intention has been to align its traditional values (which have required some tailoring) with an increasingly changeable and unstable world. 2005:13–14). Despite employability being contingent on support, the irony is that those that find themselves on SB and IB may need more support but have received less. Maharey, S. (2005b) “Extending opportunities to work: New service model prototype”, Office for the Minister for Social Development and Employment, undated, Wellington. These approaches sought to narrow the gateway to benefits and to ensure those with work capacity did not avoid the obligations that were at this time being placed on other groups of beneficiaries, including those in receipt of UB and Domestic Purpose Benefit. Work is underway to ascertain more accurately the extra costs associated with living with a disability. In this light, the design of SB and IB is somewhat curious and outdated, presenting as it does a threshold to be crossed; a target to be reached. As well as a role for employers, active engagement is also being sought from a range of medical professionals, particularly in primary health care. Barnes, H., P. Thornton and S. Maynard Campbell (1998) Disabled People and Employment: A review of research and development work, Policy Press, Bristol. In addition, the standard case management reports available to case managers include a report that identifies the sickness beneficiaries in each case manager's portfolio who have exceeded the expected recovery period. Their approach was no different when they considered ongoing eligibility for long-term beneficiaries. She managed to wrestle with Police after barking like a dog and swearing in front of the widow of the man her son is accussed of murdering. New Zealand has witnessed con siderable policy activity in the field of Sickness Benefit (SB) and Invalid’s Benefit (IB), as well as disability policy more broadly. not taking steps to work such as attending interviews) will receive lower Job Seekers Allowance rates of benefit. These situations include when: 3.33 Overseas evidence also suggests general practitioners’ views about work sickness depends on a general practitioner’s own personal views, patient characteristics, time available, expertise in occupational health, and views about continuity of care (Mowlam and Lewis 2005). Instead, referrals relied on the initiative of the individual case manager. Singley (2003) notes that most beneficiaries want to work but a range of personal, family, community and work-related (skills, experience, education) considerations interact with demand for labour to produce less than optimu m outcomes.21 Multiple barriers and entrenched discrimination may require considerable ongoing investment.22 Similarly, ensuring employment sustainability will result in welfare in work becoming a key consideration. Work and Income gives you up to 6 weeks of your NZ Super or Veteran’s Pension in advance. It came to light after RNZ detailed the story of Mary*, a hotel worker made redundant when the Covid-19 lockdown began.. She applied for a job seeker's benefit but was told she would not receive anything till her redundancy runs out in September. people applying for the invalid's benefit; people receiving the sickness benefit who, in the view of the health practitioner or case manager, might be eligible for the invalid's benefit; or. Lunt, N. (2006) “Employability and New Zealand welfare restructuring” Policy & Politics, in press. (2001) Job Retention and Advancement in Employment: Review of research evidence, In-house Report 98, Department for Work and Pensions, London. The personal … During consultations around the Disability Strategy: Dominant themes were the need to be flexible in how work is defined, offered and rewarded, and the need to focus on what people experiencing disability can do. These responses provided limited or no information about the person's ability to work (in their own profession or in another line of work). 3.6 A-Z list of benefits, forms, benefit rates. In our view, more widespread use of vocational assessments would be useful. Ministry of Social Development (2004) “What we are doing”, Independence Works, July:2–3. You need to apply for most benefits online, then meet with a case manager before your application is accepted and you start being paid. Thus, “welfare” is condemned and replaced by social development; income assistance becomes focussed on help, support and facilitating transitions; faster delivery of financial entitlement is combined with a concern to ensure individuals retain or retu rn to work. You’ll usually qualify if you’re already on a benefit, except NZ Super or a Veteran’s Pension. To tackle the differences in labour market outcomes and jobs, it is necessary to move further upstream and consider school, education, skills and broader social attitudes. Income test: The benefit is reduced for income exceeding NZ$4,160 a year. To date, there has been relatively little attention paid by academic commentators to the increased emphasis on working actively with SB and IB clients. there is not enough information in the certificate and existing reports, assessments, or Work and Income records to decide entitlement; the medical information is ambiguous or conflicting; a previous medical certificate contains a substantially different diagnosis or recommendation; the beneficiary is involved in activities that appear to be inconsistent with recorded incapacities; or. The New Service Model for Work and Income seeks to integrate Employment-Focused Services when an individual is assessed for any benefit. Work and Income's information technology system, SWIFTT, records the "recommended incapacity duration". Some regions encouraged case managers to refer any new application for an invalid's benefit or reassessments of an invalid's benefit to the regional health advisor or regional disability advisor before an invalid's benefit was granted. During 2020, as part of MSDs response to the COVID-19 pandemic, additional weekly and monthly COVID-19 reporting were produced for 2020, while a reduced amount of supporting information was provided with the Benefit Fact Sheets. 4 Here I am using “ disabled people” to indicate my understanding and commitment to the “social model of disability” . [108] [109] In mid-1985, French Defence Minister Charles Hernu was forced to resign after New Zealand authorities arrested DGSE (French intelligence services) agents who confessed to … We understand that caution needs to be exercised in applying the recommended durations to the circumstances of individual beneficiaries. 2005, Lewis et al. “Mutual obligation”, “conditionality”, or the melding of “rights and responsibilities” is central to discussions of welfare reform, including reform of the disability rolls. It also provided an opportunity for the advisor and health practitioner to discuss other services that could help the person. 3.26 To date, there has been relatively little attention paid by academic commentators to the increased emphasis on working actively with SB and IB clients. In 2003, $3 million was allocated over five years to support disabled students in tertiary study. Investment in case managers, the linchpins of the new system, is crucial, as is resisting the increase of workloads, and providing supervision and adequate support for those engaged in intensive case management activities. New Zealand Government (2004) “Schools join new Designing Careers pilot”, press release, 15 September, Wellington. As Jensen et al. But there is also a longer-term shift of seismic proportions concerned with reconstructing the terrain around a social model of disability, offering support, facilitating opportunities, encouraging aspirations and changing the way societies think about disability: Societies need to change the way they think about disability and those affected by it. British developments are different in that they have more in the way of measures to engage employers, both in the form of outreach, and in terms of compliance with provisions of anti-discrimination legislation. 2005:1–7). A constituent of the realignment between economic and social policy has been the “work-first” approach to reducing poverty, and attempts to widen labour market opportunities as a route to fostering social inclusion. The circumstances for which social security was initially developed are seen as outdated, requiring th at social security be modernised not only in terms of administration and delivery, but also, more fundamentally, in terms of purpose . Hiscock, J., P. Hodgson, S. Peters, D. Westlake and M. Gabbay (2005) Engaging Physicians, Benefiting Patients: A Qualitative Study, Research Report No 256, Department for Work and Pensions, London. Find out about allowances or benefits from ACC, Work and Income or Veterans’ Affairs for people who can’t work due to a long-term disability or illness. Benefits and forms . There have been a series of developments aimed at wrapping specialist support services around clients who are identified as being close to the labour market and potentially benefiting from enhanced and intensive support – whether health, motivational or vocational. Attempts have been made to “re-wire” the benefit system to allow individuals to take risks and try out labour market opportunities. reviewing the circumstances of longer-term sickness beneficiaries (that is, people who have received a sickness benefit for more than one year). Within the public sector, an Office for Disability Issues was established in 2002, and, in early 2005, a consumer reference group was appointed to assist the Office in its work. I was on the invalids benefit after being self employed for 25 years of spraying ados solvent glues. To help case managers determine eligibility, it is important that health practitioners record sufficient information on the medical certificates. Information about the treatment a person was receiving was one consideration for regional health advisors and regional disability advisors when they reviewed applications – particularly in the case of applications from longer-term sickness beneficiaries and invalids' beneficiaries. If reforms of disability benefits are not driven by a good understanding of the problems and well grounded in evidence, there is a danger that groups already at risk of poverty and social exclusion are further disadvantaged (compare to Stanley and Maxwell 2004:1). Mannion, R. (1994) Disabling Transport: Mobility, Deprivation and Social Policy, PhD thesis, University of Manchester, Manchester. A Phase one trial was undertaken but Phase two was never completed. Join to Connect Invalids Benefit. 3.30 Since 1999, Labour administrations have prioritised welfare reform, and this has included attempts to tackle numbers on SB and IB. Whilst not explicitly examining causation, the authors suggest that there are several factors correlated with benefit growth, including the changing structure of employment and types of work available, employer recruitment and retention practices, and changing wage/replacement income ratios. Report this profile Experience Invalids Beneficiary Invalids Benefit View Rene’s full profile See who you know in common Get introduced Contact Rene directly Join to view full profile People also … In other areas, the aim is to reduce ratios from 1:350 to 1:225 for SB and IB.11 Specialist case managers work with medical practitioners and job brokers to devise return-to-work strategies. unusual changes to the assessment of when the person would be ready to plan to return to work; changes in diagnosis from one medical certificate to the next; and. Four were centrally funded but offered by community-based groups (targeting Maori and mental illness), while the scheme provided by Work and Income targeted new sickness beneficiaries, offering voluntary case management to encourage maintenance of labour market links and exploring alternative pathways back into work. 3.14 Within New Zealand , it may be time to undertake a more comprehensive review of legislation; despite discussions within the New Zealand Disability Strategy, this has, to date, remained off the policy agenda. In October 1998, the designated doctor review scheme was revised and doctors signing the certificate were ab le to certify SB for four weeks and then at 13-week intervals. As Adamson (2004) notes, the Training Incentive Allowance was not effective for those in receipt of IB in terms of moves to employment – but if self-confidence, wellbeing, and interaction measures were chose n then a more positive picture emerged. There have been ongoing debates around the appropriate balance within case management of client support and ensuring client compliance, and whether specialist case management for particular benefit types and those with complex needs is more effective than generic provision (see also Dickens et al. Gourley, M. (2004) Message from the Disabled Persons Assembly, Progress in Implementing the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2004, Fourth Annual Report from the Minister for Disability Issues to the House of Representatives, Wellington. At the time of our audit, most of this group had not yet been reviewed. In this subgroup of our sample, of the 47 applications that had not been referred to the regional health advisor or regional disability advisor for a recommendation on eligibility, nine applications had information on the file that suggested that such a referral was warranted. At the heart of change is the move beyond individuals – beyond focusing on either their disability or their lack of motivation. Other services include Training Support, Job Search Skills and Job Plus T raining. To establish eligibility for the sickness benefit, Ministry policy requires case managers to consider the information in the medical certificate. Despite the success of the “Like Minds, Like Mine” campaign that focused on removing stigma and discrimination around mental illness, there has been no parallel development for disability more broadly, nor in terms of educating employers about abilities of disabled employers (cf. Singley, S. (2003) Barriers to Employment Among Long-term Beneficiaries: A Review of Recent International Evidence, Centre for Social Research and Evaluation, Ministry of Social Development, Wellington. They said that they did not have time to use it, or that it was not helpful. Some advisors provided more advice than others. "In fact, all main benefits saw reductions so that in total, benefit numbers dropped by 4,176 – … This New Service Model thus offers employment services to all beneficiaries, regardless of benefit type, and is being trialled in 12 sites. The usefulness of medical certificates was sometimes limited because the information recorded was not complete or sufficiently specific. Taranaki, Wanganui & Manawatu, New Zealand. We have made eight recommendations in this Part, about: The revised medical certificate introduced in September 2007 has provided relevant information for determining eligibility. 3.37 A brief description of the eligibility criteria for each benefit is contained in Table 1. Single core benefit * Replaces existing benefits for unemployment, sickness, invalids, widows, DPB for sole parents, care of the sick and infirm, DPB for women alone. Ministry of Health (2004) Living With a Disability, Ministry of Health, Wellington. Gourley, M. (2005) Message from the Disabled Persons Assembly, Progress in Implementing the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2005, Fifth Annual Report from the Minister for Disability Issues to the House of Representatives, Wellington. Social Market Foundation 2005:11). We also noted instances where information on the medical certificate or in other records suggested that case managers should have referred the application to the regional health advisors or regional disability advisors before deciding on eligibility, but had not done so. The medical certificate includes an optional question about any treatment the person is receiving for medical conditions listed as affecting the person's ability to work. The work capacity process for IB and SB sought to identify the level of work, if any, a beneficiary was capable of, and to determine what assistance would help them move into paid work (abridged from Wilson et al. Ongoing policy will continue to ensure work pays, but this must be balanced with an awareness that most beneficiaries will not become wage earners through incentives alone (Corden and Sainsbury 2001, Corden et al. Case managers are also required to refer other cases to the regional health advisor or regional disability advisor for advice before deciding if the beneficiary should be assessed by a designated doctor. As part of the long-term agenda, breaking the equation of disability with impairment and incapacity is essential, although no easy task. Lewis, J., A. Corden, L. Dillon, K. Hill, K. Kellard, R. Sainsbury and P. Thornton (2005) New Deal for Disabled People: An In-Depth Study of Job Broker Service Delivery, Research Report No 246, Department for Work and Pensions, London. Attempts at ensuring better-informed policy development have been a part of the SB and IB reform package, involving user and expert views (for example, a Sickness and Invalid’s Benefit Client Reference Group, which consists of 10 people and meets regularly), and social science research, and policy and programme evaluation. Even if you are not on a main benefit i.e. However, in a number of areas (e.g. The medical certificate is the main source of information a case manager uses to determine eligibility – and then ongoing eligibility – for a benefit. Regional health advisors and regional disability advisors were providing case managers with valuable support for complex applications, although their practices could be more consistent from region to region. If necessary, case managers should refer to previous medical certificates. Currently, 70% of Work and Income staff time is spent administering 10 base benefits and 36 supplementary payments. 9 See also Tucker (2004) for a similar point in relation to W ork and Income ’s ‘Handicapped Child’s Allowance’ that was only renamed the Child Disability Allowance under the Social Security Amendment Act 1998. A fuller notion of employability clearly encompasses the supply, demand and matching of labour (Lunt 2006). At present there is a growing alignment in the priorities expressed by many within the disability sector and the objectives of the government around SB and IB. Work and Income had a number of designated doctors5 who were used to provide second opinions on a person's medical incapacity, to help case managers to determine both benefit entitlement and appropriate interventions. The following financial help and wage information may be useful for jobseekers, employees and employers. In Britain , there is a familiar emphasis on uncoupling disability status and benefit receipt, developing linking rules, and ensuring individualised and early provision by skilled caseworkers. There are early indications that changes to invalids benefits mean that some people living with illness and disability are having a drop in income, without any guarantee that they will transition into work, says a Hutt Valley Benefit …

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