Social Security Act 2018 — New Zealand Legislation

Status: ✅ Approved    Version: 3.0

Field	Value
ID	GUARD-GOV-022
Category	Governance
Subcategory	social-security-policy
Type	policy
Owner	Ministry of Social Development
Approved by	—
Approved date	—
Review due	—

Description

New Zealand's primary legislation governing social security assistance, benefits, and welfare obligations. Administered by the Ministry of Social Development, it establishes eligibility criteria, payment rates, and beneficiary obligations across multiple assistance types including jobseeker support, sole parent support, disability allowances, and emergency benefits.

Source document

Social Security Act 2018 | New Zealand Legislation

Last fetched: 2026-04-22

Related guardrails

• GUARD-GOV-021 — Social Welfare (Reciprocity Agreements, and New Zealand Artificial Limb Service) Act 1990
• GUARD-GOV-023 — Residential Care and Disability Support Services Act 2018 (NZ)
• GUARD-GOV-006 — Data and Statistics Act 2022 (New Zealand Public Act)

Change history

Version	Date	Author	Summary
1.0	2025-01-15	auto-generated	Initial entry created from external legislation source
2.0	2026-04-22	auto-generated	Updated metadata with verified page title, current content hash, and refined description. Confirmed source URL and legislation status. Enhanced tags for consistency with governance taxonomy.
3.0	2026-04-22	auto-generated	Refreshed content hash and fetch timestamp. Verified source URL stability and metadata accuracy. No changes to substance or structure.