Disability support: petition asks to end partner income test
Published 6 October 2026
A petition asking Parliament to stop assessing three disability supports against a partner's income is now before a select committee. Ricky Andrews closed the petition on 30 June 2026 with 6,504 signatures. It was presented to the House on 6 July 2026 and referred to the Social Services and Community Committee.
The petition covers the Community Services Card, the Disability Allowance, and the Supported Living Payment. It asks that each be assessed on a disabled person's own income, not on a couple's combined income. It applies to people living with permanent disabilities and chronic illnesses.
The Ministry of Social Development currently counts a partner's income in all three tests. CCS Disability Action says the rule leaves disabled people worse off for being in a relationship. It is inhumane and unfair that disabled people are penalised for simply being in a relationship as many non-disabled people are. A relationship isn’t something that should be punished or discouraged; it is a normal and very human thing that disabled people should be able to enter without worrying about losing basic supports. We are asking the committee to recommend change.
How joint income testing works
The three supports in the petition do different jobs, and each has its own test.
The Community Services Card lowers the cost of some health services, including visits to a doctor. Eligibility is set by annual household income. From 1 April 2026, a single person living alone can keep the card if they earn up to $37,116 a year. A couple with no dependent children loses it above $55,501 between them (Work and Income).
The Disability Allowance helps with regular, ongoing costs caused by a disability. Examples include medicines, travel to appointments, and extra power. The maximum payment is $82.85 a week. A single person aged 18 or over can earn up to $870 a week and still qualify. For a couple, the limit is $1,295.11 a week combined (Disability Allowance).
The Supported Living Payment is the main benefit for people who cannot work because of a health condition or disability. A single person aged 18 or over receives $424.60 a week after tax. A partner's income is counted. The first $160 a week does not affect the payment. Income between $160 and $250 reduces it by 30 cents in the dollar, and income above $250 by 70 cents.
Two exemptions already exist. Totally blind people are not subject to the partner income test on the Supported Living Payment. No income limit applies to their Disability Allowance either (income rules for Supported Living Payment). A discretionary exemption from the Disability Allowance income limit also exists for some people with high disability costs. It is based on an assessment of the impact on employment, self-care, and community participation (Community Law Manual).
Why the tax and benefit systems differ
The petition rests on a comparison that has been documented in government-commissioned research. Income tax is assessed on individuals. Most benefits and social assistance are assessed on couples.
Michael Fletcher of Auckland University of Technology examined the difference in a 2018 report. It was commissioned by the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit. "Entitlement to most benefits and social assistance transfers in New Zealand are based on the couple's joint income where people are defined as partnered," the report states. "Income tax … however is based on individual assessment without regard to a person's relationship status" (Individualising entitlements in New Zealand's benefit and social assistance systems).
The report found the systems could be fully individualised, removing any need for relationship-status testing. It estimated the cost across the whole system at $1.5 billion to $2 billion. That figure covers all benefits, not the three supports named in the petition. No public costing of the petition's narrower proposal has been published.
The Welfare Expert Advisory Group made a recommendation on the same point in 2019. Recommendation 28 reads: "Move income support settings over time to be more neutral on the impact of being in a relationship in the nature of marriage" (Whakamana Tāngata).
Who is affected
Stats NZ counted 851,000 disabled people living in New Zealand households in 2023, or 17% of the population. Its 2023 Household Disability Survey asked about income adequacy. It found 53% of disabled people lived in households with not enough or only just enough income to meet basic needs. For non-disabled people the figure was 33%.
Health costs are part of that picture. Disabled people are 2.3 times more likely to be unable to afford a visit to a doctor, according to CCS Disability Action's submission on the Supported Living Payment review. It reported that one in five disabled adults cannot afford one at all. The figure for non-disabled adults is 12.7%.
Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint covered the effect of the partner income test in 2021. The segment was titled disabled people in relationships paying for the price of love. The programme described disabled people losing allowances after entering a relationship. It reported that the Ministry of Social Development assumes people in relationships share their finances.
Campaigners have given the effect a name. Supporters of the petition, including the lead petitioner, call it the "Love Tax".
Ricky Andrews described his own position to Radio New Zealand in March 2026, when the petition opened. His partner earns above the threshold for the Supported Living Payment. He said the situation was "just sad".
"The government essentially wipes their hands and say, your partner is your welfare system," he said.
Andrews told Radio New Zealand that he and his partner had always kept their money separate. "When I stopped working … we've both had to learn, and adjust that his money is now our money," he said. "But it's still very awkward … I never ask for money for my personal expenses."
Andrews has Parkinson's disease. His written submission to the committee sets out what he wants the committee to weigh. "As a petitioner and a citizen, I submit to this Committee that when we approach human dignity and state support through the solitary lens of immediate fiscal exposure, we are asking the wrong question," he wrote. The question he puts instead is: "What kind of country do we want to live in?"
What the Ministry of Social Development says
Work and Income's published guidance confirms that a partner's income is part of the test for both supports. On the Disability Allowance it states that eligibility "also depends on how much you and your partner earn". On the Supported Living Payment it states that eligibility "may also depend on you and your partner's income" (Supported Living Payment).
The Minister for Social Development, Louise Upston, was asked about benefit income thresholds by Radio New Zealand in March 2026. She said the thresholds were a long-standing feature of the welfare system. "Raising the threshold is not something I am looking at right now, my focus is on getting people off the jobseeker benefit and into work," she said.
The Ministry has not published a response to this petition. Select committees can ask a government department for a report on a petition before reaching a view.
The Government has separately accepted, with modification, the United Nations recommendation that it speed up work on the Welfare Expert Advisory Group's recommendations. Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People and the Ministry of Social Development share responsibility for that work (Whaikaha).
What the United Nations committee found
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reviewed New Zealand in 2022. The review assessed the country's record under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Committee raised concern about "the disproportionate levels of poverty among persons with disabilities, who are twice as likely to live in poverty than the general population". For Māori disabled people, it said, this rises to three times as likely. It linked those rates to "the protracted implementation of the recommendations from the Welfare Expert Advisory Group report".
It recommended that New Zealand expedite the Welfare Expert Advisory Group's recommendations (Concluding observations on New Zealand, CRPD/C/NZL/CO/2-3).
What CCS Disability Action is asking for
CCS Disability Action supports the changes outlined in the petition. We say disability-related costs belong to one person, and that support meeting those costs should be assessed on that person's income.
Phoebe Eden-Mann is National Policy Analyst at CCS Disability Action. She made a related point this year about repeat testing of the Supported Living Payment. "Disabled people with permanent disabilities should not have to keep proving they exist to get support," she said.
Our organisation is asking the Social Services and Community Committee to recommend four things.
Assess Community Services Card eligibility individually for people with permanent disabilities and chronic illnesses, as the first step.
Remove partner income from the Disability Allowance income test.
Introduce a part of the Supported Living Payment that is not abated against a partner's income.
Publish a costing and a phased timetable for the change.
We have raised related points in earlier submissions on benefit settings, including our submission on the Jobseeker Support and Accommodation Supplement Bill and our statement on Budget 2026.
What other organisations have said
Several organisations have argued against means testing disability support, through other policy debates.
Tania Thomas, Director of Advocacy at IHC New Zealand, commented on the Stats NZ figures. "More than half of disabled New Zealanders are struggling to find adequate housing, put food on the table and meet other basic needs, compared to a third of non-disabled people," she said. "Without urgent action, these inequities will persist for generations" (IHC New Zealand).
Disabled Persons Assembly NZ has campaigned on the adequacy of the Supported Living Payment. Chief Executive Mojo Mathers wrote about a change to indexation in a December 2024 submission. The change "removed the potential for disabled people receiving the Supported Living Payment (SLP) to receive an additional $20 per week or over $1,000 per year", she said (DPA submission).
Poverty advocacy groups have raised the relationship rules more broadly. Child Poverty Action Group, Auckland Action Against Poverty, and ActionStation wrote an open letter to the then Prime Minister. They described the rules as "punitive and harmful" and asked that people receiving benefits be treated as individuals, as Radio New Zealand reported.
How other countries treat disability costs
Two comparisons sit either side of New Zealand's approach.
In the United Kingdom, Personal Independence Payment covers the extra costs of disability. It is not means tested at all. Government guidance states that "entitlement to the benefit is not dependent on a person's financial status". It can be paid to people in full-time or part-time work (PIP Assessment Guide).
Australia applies a partner income test to its Disability Support Pension, with a higher cut-out than New Zealand's. A couple living together loses the pension above $4,000.80 a fortnight combined, or about $104,000 a year (Services Australia). A Department of Social Services spokesperson told Nine News that a person can be excluded from the test "in cases of hardship, abuse or family and domestic violence".
What happens next
The Social Services and Community Committee will consider the petition and report back to the House. It may seek advice from officials, hear from the petitioner, and refer the matter to a Minister. Progress is published on the New Zealand Parliament petitions website.
A committee can recommend action, but it cannot change the law. The change the petition seeks would require an amendment to the Social Security Act 2018. Only the Government can introduce that.
Frequently asked questions
What is joint income testing?
Joint income testing means a couple's incomes are added together when working out what one of them receives. A single person is assessed on their own income only. A partnered person is assessed on both incomes.
Which supports does the petition cover?
Three: the Community Services Card, the Disability Allowance, and the Supported Living Payment. It covers people living with permanent disabilities and chronic illnesses.
Would this change my support right now?
No. A petition asks Parliament to consider something. It does not change the law by itself, and current entitlements continue while the committee considers it.
Are any disabled people already exempt from the partner income test?
Yes. Work and Income's rules exempt totally blind people from the partner income test on the Supported Living Payment. No income limit applies to their Disability Allowance either. A discretionary exemption from the Disability Allowance income limit also exists for some people with high disability costs.
How much would the change cost?
No costing of the petition's proposal has been published. The 2018 Fletcher report estimated $1.5 billion to $2 billion to individualise the whole benefit system. That is much broader than the three supports in the petition.
About CCS Disability Action
CCS Disability Action is the largest pan-disability support and advocacy organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand.
We support people with all types of impairments and have been working alongside disabled people since 1935.
We are at the forefront of service provision, advocacy and information sharing in the disability sector. We partner with disabled people, their families and whānau to enable them to have choice and control in their lives. Our vision is to see every disabled person and whānau hauā interwoven into the lives of their whānau and community.