Carer Support Subsidy NZ: How to Apply and Claim

If you're providing more than four hours of daily unpaid care to a parent — and you've reached the point where you're waking up exhausted before the day starts — the Carer Support Subsidy exists specifically for you. It funds temporary replacement care so you can take a break, and the 2026 flexible funding rules make it significantly more useful than it used to be.

What the Subsidy Covers

The Carer Support Subsidy is a government-funded allocation expressed in days per year. Each day is worth approximately $82–$85 (rates vary slightly by region and adjustment cycle). You can use these days to pay someone to provide temporary care while you step away — whether that's a trusted friend, a private support worker, or a short-term rest home stay.

The allocation is determined through your parent's NASC assessment. The interRAI evaluation includes a specific section measuring informal carer distress — if you're burning out, that clinical data directly justifies a higher respite allocation. Don't minimise your own exhaustion during the assessment.

Eligibility

You qualify as a carer if you provide more than four hours per day of unpaid care to someone who has been assessed by a NASC and has an active care plan. The care recipient must be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident. There's no income test on the carer — the assessment is purely needs-based.

Both family members and non-family members can be the designated carer, but you cannot claim the subsidy to pay yourself. The subsidy pays a replacement carer so you get a break.

How to Claim Step by Step

Step 1: Confirm your parent has a current NASC assessment with an active Carer Support allocation. If there's no allocation, contact NASC and request a reassessment — specifically ask for the carer distress component to be reviewed.

Step 2: Arrange replacement care. This could be a friend, neighbour, or a private support worker. It can also be a short-term rest home admission (you'll pay the difference between the daily subsidy and the rest home's actual daily rate).

Step 3: Complete the Carer Support Claim Form (available from your NASC or from the Health New Zealand website). Record the dates of care, the name of the replacement carer, and their details.

Step 4: Submit the claim to Health New Zealand within 90 days of the last date of respite care. Processing takes approximately 10 working days.

Step 5: Payment goes directly to the replacement carer, or reimburses you if you've already paid them.

The 2026 Flexible Funding Rules

The 1 April 2026 purchasing operational policy expanded what you can use your Carer Support allocation for. Under the revised rules, you can use your budget for self-directed respite activities and hiring support carers, provided the spending aligns with your funding plan.

Key limits to know:

• $1,500 threshold: any single purchase of equipment or services using hosted flexible funding above $1,500 needs prior approval from your host or NASC agency
• High-guidance hosts: the approval threshold drops to $500
• Excluded purchases: residential care (unless temporary respite), overseas travel, complementary therapies
• Annual allocation: you receive a set number of days per year — unused days do not roll over

Tax Rules for Replacement Carers

If you hire a private support worker using your Carer Support days and they provide care outside their own home for 30 hours or less per week, they're classified by the IRD as a private domestic worker. They must register as an IR56 worker and account for their own income tax. If they work more than 30 hours per week, you become their employer and must register with the IRD — this is a significantly heavier compliance burden, so structure arrangements to stay under the 30-hour threshold where possible.

Beyond the Subsidy: Other Carer Support

The Disability Allowance (up to $82.85/week) can cover ongoing costs like medical transport and personal alarms. The Supported Living Payment may apply if you've reduced or stopped paid work to provide full-time care. And if your parent qualifies, you may be able to become a paid support worker through the Paid Whanau and Family Care policy — a separate scheme that lets family members provide funded personal care hours through an HCSS agency.

For the complete Carer Support claim process — including pre-filled claim templates, the flexible funding spending log, and the IR56 compliance kit — the Home and Community Support Services guide has everything in one place.

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