Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

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 / Bay of Plenty Times

1816 lose benefits after going abroad

Bay of Plenty Times
1 Dec, 2015 03:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

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

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Some Bay beneficiaries have had their benefits cut after going overseas without letting officials know. Photo / FIle

Some Bay beneficiaries have had their benefits cut after going overseas without letting officials know. Photo / FIle

More than 1800 Bay of Plenty people had their benefits cut last financial year for travelling overseas without letting officials know.

Ministry of Social Development figures show the number of people that had benefits cut for going overseas without telling Work and Income was 1816 - down on the previous year's 2083. Benefits related to jobseeker support were those most often cut.

Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Diane Bruin said some beneficiaries came to the service for advice after realising their benefit had been cut for travelling.

Some were unaware they needed to let Work and Income know about their plans.

"Also, if they are going to a family bereavement, they don't necessarily think about letting Work and Income know," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ms Bruin advised any beneficiaries travelling to advise Work and Income about their plans.

If they were going for less than six weeks then it might not affect their benefit.

They should tell Work and Income how long they would be away, the reason and how the travel had been funded.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said beneficiaries received a basic income to live on but it did not provide for holidays.

Nationwide, 31,714 New Zealanders had their benefits cut for undisclosed overseas travel last financial year, compared to 35,565 the previous year.

Ministry of Social Development service delivery deputy chief executive Carl Crafar said welfare reforms came into effect in July 2013 to put stronger obligations on beneficiaries. They included changes to the rules around when people could be paid a benefit while overseas.

All beneficiaries were now required to tell Work and Income about their travel intentions or their benefits were stopped on departure.

Discover more

Soaring student debt to impact down the line

30 Nov 08:45 PM

Motoring dash yields big haul for Tauranga foodbank

30 Nov 09:30 PM

Mr Crafar said the rules still allowed for overseas travel on compassionate or health grounds in certain cases.

To support the changes, the ministry enhanced information matching systems it had with New Zealand Customs.

If people had not told Work and Income about their intention to travel and an automatic information match was made, their benefit would be suspended and they would receive notification.

The suspension would remain in place until they returned and contacted Work and Income, said Mr Crafar.NZME

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Serious injuries reported in single-vehicle crash at Whangamatā

Bay of Plenty Times

Q&A: Western BOP councillor candidates tackle the big issues

Bay of Plenty Times

'I always learn new things': Teen's passion for conservation


Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Serious injuries reported in single-vehicle crash at Whangamatā
Bay of Plenty Times

Serious injuries reported in single-vehicle crash at Whangamatā

Police were called to the single-vehicle crash on State Highway 25 about 11.40am.

08 Sep 12:21 AM
Q&A: Western BOP councillor candidates tackle the big issues
Bay of Plenty Times

Q&A: Western BOP councillor candidates tackle the big issues

07 Sep 11:43 PM
'I always learn new things': Teen's passion for conservation
Bay of Plenty Times

'I always learn new things': Teen's passion for conservation

07 Sep 11:17 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
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
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • 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