UPDATE: The Select Committee changed some words, but it did not fix the fundamental harm in the DSS Bill.

The DSS Bill is the Government’s attempt to undo the Supreme Court’s recognition that family care is real work. It lets the Crown deny being an employer, blocks carers’ employment and discrimination claims, and declares care beyond funded hours is not work. This is not disability support; it is the Government protecting itself from the true cost of care. Family carers are not free labour. 

The Bill still makes disabled people’s support dependent on available government funding and Ministerial rules, rather than recognising adequate support as a right. It still allows income and asset testing. It still assumes families and whānau will provide care, regardless of exhaustion, safety, poverty or choice.

There is still no independent appeal when essential support is denied or reduced. No guarantee that support will continue during a dispute. No proper safeguarding system. No enforceable commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Enabling Good Lives or the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Bill lets the Minister choose who to consult and says that failing to consult does not invalidate a programme. That is not “Nothing About Us Without Us.”

Disabled people are not budget risks.  Whānau are not free labour. Care is work. Consultation without power is not participation.

#KillTheDSSBill