NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Budget 2013: Family caregivers will get minimum wage

By Martin Johnston
Reporter·NZ Herald·
16 May, 2013 05:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Cliff Robinson with his intellectually disabled children John and Marita, both in their 40s, whom he cares for full-time at their home in Thames. Photo / Natalie Slade

Cliff Robinson with his intellectually disabled children John and Marita, both in their 40s, whom he cares for full-time at their home in Thames. Photo / Natalie Slade

People who look after their highly disabled adult family members are at last in line to be paid by the Government - but only the minimum wage.

Groups representing family carers are pleased that, after a long legal battle, the Government has at last agreed to make the payments but are also disappointed by some of the restrictions imposed.

The Green Party, however, after hearing the associated legislation introduced in the House hours after Health Minister Tony Ryall's announcement of the funding, slammed the bill.

"The aim of this legislation is to stop payouts, not to assist families," said Green MP Catherine Delahunty.

"This bill is an attack on the rights of disabled people who want to pay a family member to care for them and an attack on the right to challenge discrimination."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Budget provides $23 million a year to pay carers who look after a disabled family member aged 18 or older who is assessed as having high or very high needs.

This is the Government's response to the case brought by eight families seeking payment, which the Crown lost in the Court of Appeal last May.

Mr Ryall said, "Our society expects parents to care for and support their dependent children. But the Court of Appeal ruled that this 'social contract' does not extend to continuing to care for adult sons and daughters who have a lifelong disability."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Ministry of Health expects the scheme will apply to around 1600 disabled people with high and very high needs.

Those assessed as eligible can employ a family carer to provide personal care and household management or continue to use a commercial provider.

Asked to explain the high and very high needs eligibility criteria, Mr Ryall's office gave as one example a person having motor neuron disease or muscular dystrophy and needing a powered wheelchair and a high level of personal care.

Carers Alliance chairman John Forman welcomed the new scheme, which he said was a significant step forward. But many affected people would be disappointed that the pay rate was so low.

Discover more

New Zealand

Fixed-term contracts for all state tenants

16 May 05:30 PM
New Zealand|politics

Budget 2013: Funding boost to pay for case management

16 May 05:30 PM
New Zealand|politics

Fake mouse upstages quips

16 May 05:30 PM
New Zealand|politics

Warrant-of-fitness for state housing

16 May 05:30 PM

"They should at least pitch it at a level that's being paid in those agencies that provide community-based disability support."

Mr Forman said there would also be disappointment that spouses and partners of disabled people were specifically excluded from the scheme.

"I don't think many people think that's very fair at all. I think it will be a major point of contention."

The ministry said it would "explore" later this year the extension of the scheme to family carers of adults with chronic health conditions, "as the family care expectations and impacts for this group are similar to adults with disabilities and their family carers".

One of the families in the litigation, now back at the Human Rights Review Tribunal for settlement, is the Robinsons from near Thames. Cliff, aged in his 70s, is a father and caregiver to two intellectually disabled children, Marita and Johnny, both in their 40s. Johnny also has schizophrenia and diabetes.

Mr Robinson took the children out of homes when they were toddlers and has cared for them since.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"What would cost the Government less," he has asked, "paying parents as caregivers, or meeting the cost of institutional care full-time for their children?"

Health

• People who care for a disabled adult family member can be paid by the Government.

• But not if the disabled person is their spouse or partner.

• Scheme starts on October 1.

• Disabled person's needs must be assessed as high or very high.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• Carer gets minimum wage, $13.75 an hour.

• Maximum of 40 hours' pay a week.

• Estimated cost to Government, $23 million a year.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand|crimeUpdated

Assault charge after migrant worker allegedly beaten for hours over unpaid wages

02 Jul 06:05 AM
New Zealand

'It's a mess': Auckland roadworks chaos to last another two years

02 Jul 06:02 AM
Sport|athletics

Arli Liberman: The art of scoring in sport

02 Jul 06:01 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Migrant worker allegedly beaten for hours over unpaid wages, man faces serious assault charge

Migrant worker allegedly beaten for hours over unpaid wages, man faces serious assault charge

02 Jul 06:05 AM

The Migrant Workers' Association says it is supporting the victim.

'It's a mess': Auckland roadworks chaos to last another two years

'It's a mess': Auckland roadworks chaos to last another two years

02 Jul 06:02 AM
Arli Liberman: The art of scoring in sport

Arli Liberman: The art of scoring in sport

02 Jul 06:01 AM
Premium
Battle for fiscal hole unit ends as Act and NZ First block Nicola Willis’ proposal

Battle for fiscal hole unit ends as Act and NZ First block Nicola Willis’ proposal

02 Jul 06:00 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP