5 March 2026
Rhys Lewis
[FYI request #33650 email]
Tēnā koe Rhys Lewis
Official Information Act request
Thank you for your email of 8 March 2026, requesting information about main
benefits.
I have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
Please find my decision on each part of your request set out separately below.
•
What checks does WINZ do to establish the financial position of a person
before cutting their benefit.
I have interpreted your request to refer to the cancellation of a benefit. To obtain
and maintain a benefit, clients are required to meet the relevant eligibility criteria
and maintain fulfilment of their obligations. A client’s benefit may be cancelled if
they are found to no longer meet the eligibility criteria. If a client’s benefit is
cancelled, the Ministry does not undertake a financial viability assessment.
You can find more information about the different types of income support,
including
the
relevant
eligibility
criteria,
here:
https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/map/income-support/index.html.
•
How many cases were there where a person had a benefit cut between 1
July 2025 and 31 December 2026, and of those cases how many people
were left with less than $300 a week of income, or WINZ did not establish
the financial position of the person who had the benefit cut?
Please see the attached
Appendix for
Table One detailing the number of working
age main benefit recipients who had their benefit cancelled between 1 July and 31
December 2025, broken down by reason group.
Your request for the number of people who were left with less than $300 a week
of income is refused under 18(g) of the Act as the information is not held by the
Ministry and I have no grounds to believe that the information is either held by or
closely connected to the functions of another department, Minister of the Crown
or organisation.
I will be publishing this decision letter, with your personal details deleted, on the
Ministry’s website in due course.
The Aurora Centre, 56 The Terrace, PO Box 1556, Wellington
– Telephone 04-916 3300 – Facsimile 04-918 0099
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact
[MSD request email].
If you are not satisfied with my decision on your request, you have the right to
seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to
make a complaint is available a
t www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.
Ngā mihi nui
pp.
Anna Graham
General Manager Ministerial and Executive Services
