Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Social Development have launched public consultation as part of the Government’s review of Working for Families, to understand how it can better meet the needs of families. The review will not affect current Working for Families payments.

Key CA ANZ recommendations include:

• Ministry of Social Development be the key agency for liaison with those entitled to benefits or tax credits and be resourced accordingly.
• Further thresholds be built into the system and that the focus be changed to ensuring entitlements are received rather than that debt is collected.
• Any system needs to be hyper-responsive to changes in family circumstances and this should be reflected in the user interface technology. 
• Abatement rates should be reconsidered, in line with the Government’s work on increasing New Zealand’s productivity.