Nine people who failed a benefit obligation were given non-financial sanctions in the two months after the new measures were introduced. Photo: RNZ / Quin Tauetau
Very few people on a benefit who have failed an obligation have been given one of the new non-financial sanctions, while thousands have had their benefits cut.
The government introduced money management and community work experience sanctions at the end of May as part of the traffic light system to "have more tools available".
Ministry of Social Development data released to RNZ showed nine people who failed a benefit obligation were given non-financial sanctions in the two months after the new measures were introduced.
At least six of those nine people were asked to do voluntary work, called community work experience, which requires those on it to complete at least five hours per week for four weeks of work with community or voluntary sector organisations.
The number of those under money management was suppressed but is up to three of the nine - that sanction means they had half their benefit put on a payment card for four weeks.
A money management sanction cannot be imposed if a person's housing costs are more than half of their income.
The non-financial sanctions also only apply if it's the person's first failure, they have a case manager or dependent child and they meet with their case manager within five days.
Ministry of Social Development [MSD] group general manager client service delivery, Graham Allpress, said few met the criteria.
"When a person receives notice of an obligation failure, they have five working days to contact us. A non-financial sanction can only be considered if the person meets with us within the five-day period," he said.
"If they don't get in touch they will receive a financial sanction at the end of the period. This significantly reduces the size of the cohort eligible for non-financial sanctions."
Allpress said case managers would only impose a non-financial sanction when it would be the most appropriate sanction, based on a client's circumstances.
Meanwhile, 13,200 sanctions were issued during the June 2025 quarter - an average 4400 a month, a trend that continued in the September quarter. The main reasons were job seekers not attending appointments and failing to prepare for work.
When the new sanctions were introduced in May, Minister for Social Development Louise Upston said they were about having "more tools available" than benefit cuts to help people get back into work.
At the time she said it was not possible to know how many people would have the new sanctions imposed because it was up to the case managers.
In the traffic light system, fewer than 2 percent of beneficiaries are in orange or red, meaning they've missed an obligation.
Kay Brereton. Photo: RNZ / Teresa Cowie
The ministry said all nine of the people given non-financial sanctions were still on a benefit.
Beneficiary advocate Kay Brereton said she had not had anyone come to her who had been offered a non-financial sanction.
"I would much rather that people had non-financial sanctions than lost 50 percent of their benefit."
She said the money management sanction was not an option for many.
RNZ reported in March that government data showed beneficiaries sanctioned with money management cards were often unable to pay rent, putting them at risk of homelessness.
"People can only go onto the money management if their rent is less than half of their benefit payment and that's no one, it's very few people, homeless perhaps," Brereton said.
"The criteria means it doesn't fit most people's circumstances.
"What I would hope would come out of this is the minister going, 'My goodness people are paying more than 50 percent of their benefit in rent, there's something going wrong how the heck are they living, we're not giving them enough money.'"
It comes as two new sanctions began on Monday for those failing a benefit obligation for the first time.
Anyone Tuesday failing an obligation for the first time must either do a minimum of three job-search activities every week, or attend one or more employment-related training courses.
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