Families welcome care help
Govt to pay family carers up to $25.50 an hour, changing law on disabled care
Family carers are welcoming a plan to pay partners and spouses who look after ill family members up to $25.50 an hour. The Government will also extend Funded Family Care to those caring for children under 18 and will repeal part 4A of the Public Health and Disability Act, which bans families from challenging the policy on grounds of discrimination.
It will also change the employment relationship so the person being cared for is not the employer — though exactly how this will be managed is still to be worked out.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the changes after hosting disabled family members at Premier House yesterday with Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter, who said the 4A clause was “incredibly offensive”.
The changes were flagged in an announcement last September, and will come into effect next year once legislation has gone through a select committee process.
Funded Family Care was rushed through under urgency in 2013 and allowed family members other than spouses to be paid minimum wage for caring for loved ones with high or very high needs.
It also included the 4A clause that prevented court action on the grounds of discrimination.
John Forman, whose twins Timothy and Hollie are in their 40s and suffer from a rare genetic disorder, alpha mannosidosis, said the 2013 changes were a step forward — previously family carers received no pay — but three steps back. “It was
so punitive. Many families considered it just absolutely insulting.
“My daughter, who has now lost most of her vision and has dementia as well, is theoretically my employer and is responsible for ensuring that I don’t overwork myself, take holidays [and] reasonable breaks. “It is a nonsense, and it’s so good to know that the Government has announced that they’re going to undo that.” Forman said his family had the fortune of having income, but yesterday’s announcement would be especially beneficial for those who had given up incomes to look after spouses or children under 18. Under the new policy, family carers will be paid between $20.50 to $25.50 an hour, depending on their years of service. The Government expects 640 people would be paid under the new scheme, which would cost $32 million over four years.
“People will be able to be paid for care they are already providing . . . [and] not be struggling financially to provide care that the state would have paid if it had been someone other than a family member,” Genter said.
The pay rates are the same that apply after the pay equity settlement for care and support workers in New Zealand’s aged and disability residential care and home and community support services.
Asked why it had taken this long to reveal since the previous September announcement, Ardern said Budget bids had to be approved.
She said the Government was not changing the assessment process, and other potential changes to the disability support system were being worked through.