29 May 2025
As you will have no doubt heard, the Social Security Amendment Bill has been passed and the introduction of Community Work Experience (CWE) as a non-financial sanction on some job seekers commenced on 26 May 2025.
Community Work Experience consists of 5 hours per week for four weeks. For more information about what community organisations would be expected to do please click on this link: https://socialink.org.nz/blog/2025/05/15/work-experience-rollout/
SociaLink has been advised of the following important things to know:
- Organisations are under no obligation to take on clients completing their community work experience and not doing so will not impact any current or future funding arrangements with MSD.
- No funding is available for community organisations to support CWE.
- If a person has made genuine attempts but was unable to find a community work experience position within the search period, they will be given a replacement sanction.
SociaLink would like to monitor the uptake of CWE to better understand the impact across the social and community sector locally. We would very much appreciate it if you could share with us:
- how many requests to provide CWE your organisation receives
- the number of people you support with CWE
- any comments on how you think CWE is working
To provide your information, please CLICK HERE.
