A new consultation process has been launched to determine changes that are required to make New Zealand's child support more fair and equitable. The New Zealand Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has announced that it has launched a new initiative to determine the ideal national structure of the child support system, including the formulas used to determine payments, penalties and debt rules. The proposed changes are outlined in a Government paper Support Children, released on September 2nd. Announcing the need for a change in ... Read More

The New Zealand Government is attempting to provide fairer access to social assistance for all New Zealanders, and has released a new paper discussing the issue. In a statement made on August 30th Peter Dunne, Revenue Minister of New Zealand, said that there are currently several inconsistencies and issues within the national social assistance system. According to the Minister, some individuals are able to restructure their financial affairs, in order to unfairly receive monetary assistance from the Government, like Working for Families, student ... Read More

Student loan holders could soon benefit from reforms aimed at easing the management and administration of their debts. After a round of public consultations, the New Zealand Government intends to instate several changes to the national student loan system. On August 27th Peter Dunne, Revenue Minister of New Zealand, announced that a bill had been tabled in Parliament with the alterations, saying “Student Loan Scheme Bill paves the way for borrowers to communicate with Inland Revenue online and vice versa, and is part ... Read More