annual general adjustment
every year on 1 april, payment rates change
what is the annual general adjustment?
Every year on 1 April, our payment rates and thresholds are increased to be kept in line with increases to the average wage or the Consumer Price Index.
We call this the Annual General Adjustment of Benefit and Pension.
You can find out what the benefit rates are here: Benefit rate summaries - Map (workandincome.govt.nz)
what happens in msd systems to apply the annual general adjustment increase
To ensure young people get the correct rate of payment, MSD systems are automatically updated with the new rates. This is a system action completed for all benefits on the weekend prior to 1 April.
Once the rates have been updated this will be displayed in MyMSD and the young person's Current Payment Summary in ART.
Sometimes the system doesn’t update the young persons record with the new rates. For example, the record was suspended, or no Accommodation Supplement region code was added to their Accommodation Supplement.
In these cases, YSSU will manually update these records.
impact of annual general adjustment on supplementary assistance
Young people who are currently receiving supplementary assistance (including Accommodation Supplement, Temporary Additional Support and Disability Allowance) will have these payments reassessed as part of the Annual General Adjustment. Increases in Annual General Adjustment may mean that supplementary assistance is reduced.
Young people will rarely be worse off from Annual General Adjustment. However, young people may need some support to understand why they cannot see an increase in payment – check out the next sections to learn how Annual General Adjustment can affect temporary Additional Support and when it falls part way through a pay period.
changes to temporary additional support when the benefit rate increases
When benefit payment rates increase every year through the Annual General Adjustment, some young people will see changes to their Temporary Additional Support rates:
- Young people with a deficiency less than the maximum rate of Temporary Additional Support will likely see a reduction as their deficit will have reduced due to the increase in their benefit payment.
- Young people with a deficiency more than the new maximum rate will receive an increase in their Temporary Additional Support rate as their deficit of income is still more than the maximum Temporary Additional Support eligibility.
partial payments
Annual general Adjustment can start part way through a young person's pay period. This can cause confusion and lead to queries from them, or their advocates.
For example, when 1 April falls on a Saturday the following weeks payment will be based on 5 days (27 March – 31 March) at the previous rate and 2 days (1 April – 2 April) at the increase rate.
The young person's next payment will reflect all Annual General Adjustment changes and increases.