Advocacy group Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP) has 38 cases on its books, with women appealing past MSD sanctions, in the hope of getting years of deductions repaid.
One of those women has been waiting more than two years for a decision.
AAAP coordinator Brooke Pao Stanley says the pace of the reviews is painful and they are currently waiting on decisions in multiple cases.
"The request we've put in on behalf of these women, we've been waiting to hear back from MSD about them … some from October 2019," she said.
"I think it's reflective of the fact that some of these women have had sanctions put on them since the '80s, I think it's reflective of the MSD system itself, it's too old.
