Home support workers are warning that rising fuel prices and stagnant reimbursement rates are pushing them to the brink, with some questioning how long they can keep doing the job that allows thousands of elderly and disabled New Zealanders to remain in their homes. Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa‑Packer says the situation has become untenable and is calling on the Government to urgently lift the mileage rate.
After meeting four Wellington-based workers this week, Ngarewa‑Packer says the picture is stark. The workers described juggling back‑to‑back clients across the city, maintaining their cars at their own expense, and receiving just 63.5 cents per kilometre — a rate unchanged since 2022 and now badly out of step with fuel costs. “Every kilometre, every litre of petrol, every warrant of fitness comes out of wages that were already too low,” she said.
Because home support work requires travelling between individual clients’ homes — often in different suburbs and at irregular times — carpooling or alternative transport simply isn’t possible. Ngarewa‑Packer says that effectively means 23,000 workers are subsidising essential health services with their own money, even as fuel prices climb.
The workers she met were also deeply concerned for the people they care for. Many clients are elderly, disabled, or medically fragile. “They were telling me about their own financial stress, and in the same breath asking what happens to their clients if they can’t afford to keep doing this job,” she said.
Under the Home and Community Support (Payment for Travel Between Clients) Settlement Act 2016, the Minister of Health can increase the mileage rate immediately. Health NZ previously estimated it would cost $45.7 million per year to bring reimbursements up to the IRD rate — a figure Ngarewa‑Packer argues represents the amount workers are effectively paying out of pocket just to reach their clients.
She also notes that home support workers missed out on pay equity adjustments last year. “Now, as the fuel crisis bites, they are being asked to absorb that cost too. Enough is enough,” she said, urging the Government to act before its scheduled review on 20 May.
