Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Fewer people are being sanctioned under the government's beneficiary traffic light system than last month, new government data shows.
Social Development Minister Louise Upston says it shows more beneficiaries are doing what's required of them, and it is encouraging to see a decrease in the number of failures to meet obligations.
With just one full calendar month of data, it is not possible to track trends or draw conclusions - the traffic light system having taken effect on 12 August.
It shows 331,530 beneficiaries with work-related conditions or taking care of dependent children were in the system at the end of September.
Across September, 6975 failures to meet obligations were recorded compared to 7491 in August; and 4662 sanctions were applied compared to 5268 in August. It should be noted individual beneficiaries can have multiple failures recorded against them in a month.
Separate data from the end of September showed 0.6 percent of those in the traffic light system were in the 'orange' category and a further 1.2 percent were in 'red'. Orange means they have failed to meet an obligation and have five days to comply or explain why they cannot; the red light is for those who failed to do so and will face sanctions.
"It's really encouraging because it's showing that those who are receiving benefits understand the traffic light system, and 98 percent are complying with their obligations, which is great news," Upston said.
"We have a target to reduce the number of people on the jobseeker benefit and the traffic light system is one way to make it easier for people to see what their obligations are, what the steps are they need to take to help them in their mission to find a job."
A sanction means a benefit reduction or cancellation. The government has also outlined plans to bring in non-financial sanctions early next year, along with increasing levels of punishment for repeat failures; and halving the length of time before beneficiaries have to reapply from 1 year to six months. Any transgressions would also remain on their record for two years, double the current duration.
Of the 3981 people in the red category at the end of September, 225 - or 5.65 percent - were "not currently on a benefit", meaning it had been cancelled due to a sanction within the past 13 weeks. They could have it reinstated by recomplying.
Upston said those people whose benefit had been cancelled would appear in the statistics as a cancellation for that month.
Opposition parties railed against the system when it was brought in, saying the government was "waging a war on the poor".
Upston said the government wanted to make it "really easy and simple for people to understand whether they are taking the steps they need to take, and the feedback, I think, in these early results, is showing it's working".
Beneficiaries are expected to seek full-time work (30hrs+ a week); part-time work (15hrs+) if they have a health condition, injury or disability preventing them from working full time; or "prepare for work" if unable to work more than 15 hours a week.
Obligations that must be met include seeking work; taking any offer of suitable work; attend any job interviews or Work and Income interviews requested; pass a drug test from potential employers; work out a plan to find a suitable job; take part in any job training, work seminars, work experience or assessments required; and informing Work and Income how these requirements are being met "as often as we reasonably require".
Some benefits - for those with dependent children - also have social obligations rather than work-related ones, including enrolling the child with a medical practice, enrolling in early childhood education or school, and staying up to date with Well Child/Tamariki Ora checks.
Work-ready jobseekers were the most likely category to be in red or orange at 4.17 percent, compared to Jobseekers with a health condition or disability at 0.05 percent; those on Sole Parent Support at 0.04 percent, or those on other main benefits with conditions at 0.02 percent.
"It's what I would expect, the significant majority are those who are Jobseeker support work-ready, they will have more work obligations and might need to be in more contact with MSD, obviously be applying for jobs or attending training or seminars. They are the ones that have work obligations or be available or looking for work full time," Upston said.
However, it was also unclear which of those categories the 225 people whose benefit had been cancelled had initially come from.
The data also showed 77.3 percent of failures for Jobseekers with health conditions or disability was likely to lead to sanctions, compared to 66.8 for work ready, 57.1 percent for sole parents and 66.6 percent for other main benefits.
"The benefit system has obligations across the board, and our expectation is that when taxpayers are funding benefits and supporting people, that those people play their part in the traffic light system is a really simple way just to be to be really easy and clear to people about whether they're complying with their obligations or not."
"Our focus is absolutely on what people can do rather than what they can't."