Government to make pay for family carers fairer

The Government announced a raft of changes to funding for family members of disabled people.

The Government’s announced a raft of changes in an attempt to improve funding for carers with a family member that has high needs due to disability, health conditions, mental health, addiction or old age.

The previous National Government introduced a policy called Family Funded Care in 2013.

The proposed changes will include increasing pay rates for family carers from minimum wage to a maximum of $25.50 per hour.

This extends eligibility for care funding to parents of children under 18-years-old and spouses, repealing a law that stops families complaining to the Human Rights Commission or courts if their concern is about a breach in human rights relating to funding decisions, and committing to removing the employer relationship requirement between a disabled person and their family carer.

The changes will come into effect in 2020 after going through a Select Committee process.

“Repealing Part 4A will restore people’s human rights to be involved in decision making, and have the right to complain about policies that affect them and their families,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.

This year’s Budget included $32 million for the changes over the next four years.

The Government expects this will allow an extra 640 families with a disabled member to receive care funding, Ms Ardern said.

'It’s not everything, but it’s certainly progress'

Anne Gilbert, the mother of 27-year-old Edward who has Down syndrome, said the announcement will give carers in her position a sense of acknowledgment that was never on offer for her.

“It’s the valuing of family and whanau… it’s a step, it’s not everything but it’s certainly progress.

“If there had been better financial support for me I wouldn’t have had to worry about the bills to the extent I’ve had to worry about,” Ms Gilbert said.

She said people often want to look after their family member in the best way their can, which is at home, but this comes with a large financial and social cost.

“When you can no longer work in your job or follow you career path, you lose all social connections – who you are in the world changes,” she said.

Carers New Zealand founder Laurie Hilsgen said the Government’s proposed changes answer everything the disability and caring communities have been calling for, but said the success of the policy will come down to how fair the payments and related requirements for receiving payments are.

“When we tried to engage with the previous Government over a long period of time about payment and such issues… We couldn’t have that conversation,” Ms Hilsgen said.

Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero said she started asking the Government to address the situation, along with other advocates, after disabled people and organisations told her about the current law, leading to her also agreeing that it’s discriminatory.

“This will make a real meaningful difference to the lives of many disabled New Zealanders and their families,” she said.

Ms Tesoriero said she hopes the disabled community will see the benefits in the changes and have the opportunity, with their families, to be fully involved in the policy revamp.

“It’s really critical that the implementation of this is right,” she said.

National’s health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse is defending the previous Government’s introduction of Family Funded Care, which included no opportunity to complain about perceived breaches of human rights related to funding to the Human Rights Commission or the courts.

“We didn’t want those families who needed clarity to be clogging up the Human Rights Tribunal and the High Court.”

Mr Woodhouse predicts courts will be clogged up if the Government’s proposed changes become law.

“It’s very, very light on detail and certainly paltry in the money they’ve allocated to it,” he said. 

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