• 4.1 Welfare for the Blind - Historical Overview
• 4.2 Current Benefits Available
• 4.3 Provision and Economic Cost of Benefits Provided

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This section discusses the welfare benefits available to blind and vision impaired people in New Zealand. The section begins with an historical overview of blind welfare and summarises the rationale and objectives underlying welfare provision. The welfare benefits currently available to blind and vision impaired persons are identified and the annual costs of providing these estimated.

4.1 Welfare for the Blind - Historical Overview

In 1924, an amendment to the Pensions Act 1896 meant that the blind were the first disability group to become eligible to receive a pension (McKenzie, 2002). The legislation provided for a flat rate that was not means tested to an upper limit of £143 per annum for total income from all sources. A financial incentive known as the blind subsidy was also offered to encourage the blind to find paid employment, therefore enabling them to play a more active role in the community. The incentive comprised the offer of an additional bonus of 25 percent of any wages earned, provided that the annual accumulated income from all sources did not exceed £182 (McKenzie, 2002).

The 1924 amendment also provided the foundation for more profound changes that would come later in the form of the Social Security Act 1938. This legislation provided for disability, unemployment, and sickness benefits. A basic annual benefit of £78 was available to an unmarried invalid. The 25 percent earning subsidy remained, meaning that the blind were able to earn up to £143 a year without impact on their pension. In 1943, the special earning provision was increased to £156, with the exception remaining unchanged until 1957 (McKenzie, 2002).

In considering the rationale for the blind subsidy during this period, the Ministry of Social Development reports the subsidy to be in line with the societal conditions of the time "when there was considerable sympathy to the plight of blind people. In addition, the technology and aids available for people with disabilities at the time were basic and therefore employment opportunities were severely restricted." (Ministry of Social Development, Personal Communication, 26^th February, 2004).

Means testing of blind benefits was abolished in 1954 by the Commonwealth Government of Australia and also removed in Sweden and Denmark. The rationale for this move was that the blind experience additional costs to sighted people and that these costs remain irrespective of employment status (McKenzie, 2002). As a result of the overseas experience, efforts were stepped up in New Zealand for a similar abolishment of means testing. In 1957, the New Zealand government increased the upper earnings limit from £156 to £520, meaning that the blind were free to pursue normal careers without negative financial consequences. At the same time, however, the government rejected a petition to

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abolish the means test totally, stating that its removal for one disability group only was not justified.

Under a new government, however, the means test was eventually removed by the Social Security Amendment Act 1958. As a result there was an immediate increase in the number of blind workers, both in industry and the public service. However, an anomaly not addressed by the 1958 legislation was the 'intimacy tax' that discriminates against blind partners of sighted spouses who are employed (McKenzie, 2002). Through this provision, the earnings of the spouse are taken into account in the assessment of the benefit, a consideration still in effect today.

Between the late 1950s and early 1970s a variety of subsidies and discounts were offered to the blind including air travel, steamship travel, postage, rail travel, sighted guides, and bus travel. However, there was still tension between advocates seeking special consideration to be granted to the blind, and the government's desire to treat all those with disabilities the same.

The Accident Compensation Act 1972 enabled those blinded in an accident to claim ongoing blindness-related expenses, as well as a lump sum. Only around 10% of blind persons were blinded as a result of an accident, and so in order to establish some measure of fairness, the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act 1975 was introduced. Under this legislation, those with disabilities could access assistance with employment-related expenses, loans for essential home alterations and motor vehicles, and childcare, among other things.

In 1981, the Department of Social Welfare set up a Rehabilitation Committee. This organisation focused on promoting a greater political voice for the sight impaired rather than recommending greater financial assistance from the government.

In 1985, the Labour Government announced extra funding for the support of the severely disabled. A number of individual benefits were increased and the six month stand-down period before the disability allowance could be received was removed. However, in the following year, all benefits became subject to taxation, largely negating any gains. Some blind recipients of government assistance who were also working were then pushed into higher tax brackets that now assessed total income, making them worse off than before the benefit review.

With a new National government in 1990 came benefit cuts. As part of this reform, the government divided the disabled support industry into 'purchasers' (who bought services and were funded directly by the government) and 'providers' of actual services.

The Human Rights Act 1993 become an important piece of civil rights legislation for the blind in making it illegal to discriminate against anyone because of their disability in the

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areas of "government or public sector activities, employment, access to education, access to public places, vehicles, and facilities, provision of goods and services, provision of land, housing, and accommodation, industrial and professional associations, qualifying bodies and vocational training bodies and partnerships." (ABC NZ, 2003)

Further sources of civil rights protection for blind and vision impaired persons in New Zealand are the New Zealand Disability Strategy and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. A central goal of the Disability Strategy is to remove barriers that impinge on the human rights of those with disabilities and to create an environment in which disabled people can thrive.

Through the goal of ensuring that the needs and rights of the disabled are considered in government decision-making, inclusiveness is a key element of the New Zealand Disability Strategy. In addition to directing each government department to consider disabled people in their decision-making, departments are also required to have an implementation plan outlining how they are contributing to the aims of overall strategy. Local territorial authorities and other government bodies are also expected to contribute to the overall goals of the strategy.

4.2 Current Benefits Available

The main government and quasi-government providers of support and assistance to the blind and vision impaired are Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) and the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).

4.2.1 Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ)

Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) administers a range of benefits to the unemployed, those retired and those permanently or temporarily unable to work because of disability or illness (see Appendices for a full description of benefits available). Blind and vision impaired persons are eligible for all standard benefits and may also be eligible for the Blind Subsidy, an additional benefit payable with the Invalids Benefit (see later discussion).

Provision of benefits is dictated by three key Acts of Parliament: the Social Security Act 1964; the Social Welfare (Transitional Provisions) Act 1990 and the New Zealand Superannuation Act 2001.

The benefits available have a range of objectives including: to support job seekers until they find paid employment; to support those permanently or temporarily unable to work because of disability or illness; to recompense for regular costs incurred because of disability; to recompense for medical costs for those on low incomes and/or with high, on-going medical costs; to provide childcare support and subsidies; to support for accommodation costs; and to provide family support.

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4.2.2 Accident Compensation Corporation

Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) provides a range of compensation and support to those suffering personal injury. ACC aims to prevent injury and provide treatment, care and rehabilitation if injury does occur. A primary goal is to assist people back to work or independence at a price that offers high value to levy payers and all New Zealanders

ACC operates under the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2001 which reprioritises the corporation's activities in line with the Government's key goals of injury prevention, complete and timely rehabilitation, fair compensation and the observation of claimant's rights.

General assistance to which those blinded or vision impaired through accident may be eligible includes weekly financial compensation (calculated from pre-injury earnings), lump sum compensation, the Independence Allowance and rehabilitation assistance (e.g. provision of special equipment or aids, home help and transport subsidises). (See Appendices for detail.)

People who have become blind or vision impaired as a result of a personal injury covered by ACC are also able to access a range of specific services if they meet certain criteria with medical certification. Training and coaching services primarily seek to support claimants back to independence and include services in daily living, orientation and mobility, literacy and communication. A transcription service (accessible format production), an 'equipment for independence' service and counselling service are also provided (see Appendices for detail).

4.3 Provision and Economic Cost of Benefits Provided

The number of blind and vision impaired people receiving government benefits is presented below where this data is available. The total and mean (per person) annual costs of providing these benefits are estimated.

4.3.1 Invalids Benefit

Since 1998 there has been a steady increase in the number of people receiving the Invalids Benefit whose primary incapacity is identified as blindness or vision impairment (refer to Table 1).

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Table 1: Total number of recipients, Invalids Benefit (Blindness or Vision Impairment)

Approximately 60% of recipients of the Invalids Benefit (Blindness or Vision Impairment) are male, a trend evident in the data from 1998 through to 2002.

The majority of recipients are aged between 20 and 64 years. In 2002, recipients aged 40 to 64 years made up 51% of all recipients. Since 1998, recipients 60-64 years of age have increased the most in number. Recipient numbers in the 55-59 year age cohort have also steadily increased.

Receipt of the Invalids Benefit (Blindness or Vision Impairment) have remained consistently low for those aged 16 and 17 years and 65 years and older. Those over 65 years make up 1% of all recipients in any year since 1998. Rates for recipients aged 18-19 years have also remained low since 1998.

A regional comparison of Invalids Benefit uptake shows Manukau as having significantly and consistently higher rates of blind or vision impaired persons in receipt of this benefit. The Waitemata (Auckland), Canterbury and Wellington regions show the next highest rates of uptake. Nelson, Northland, East Coast and Taranaki show the lowest levels of blind or vision impaired persons receiving the Invalids Benefit. As with the whole of New Zealand, most regions show an increase in persons receiving the Invalids Benefit for the reason of blindness or vision impairment, but the regions of Manukau, Canterbury and Wellington show some decline in recent years.

Based on a weekly snapshot at 27 June 2003 of those receiving Invalids Benefit for reason of blindness or vision impairment at 27 June 2003, 2,392 people received a total of $553,000. This implies an annual cost of $28.8m. However 1,075 of these people identified some incapacity other than blindness or vision impairment as their primary incapacity. Invalids Benefit recipients may specify up to four incapacities but with one being identified as the primary reason for receipt of the benefit. The following table displays the number of people as at 27 June 2003 by incapacity and the total amount received:

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Table 2: Invalids Benefit recipients for reason of blindness or vision impairment by incapacity, total numbers, and amount received and mean amount received

As shown in Table 2 the persons citing blindness or vision impairment as their primary incapacity make up 55% of the total number who cite blindness or vision impairment as one of their causes of incapacity. These 1,317 persons receive total annual Invalids Benefit payments of $15.9 million or $12,073 per recipient.

4.3.2 The Blind Subsidy

As at February 2004, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) reports only one person receiving the Blind subsidy at a rate of $6.14 per week. MSD notes that "the situation regarding employment for blind people has changed over the past 40 years. Technology now means that it is easier for many blind people to participate in mainstream employment. The need for a provision like the blind subsidy has declined and take up of the subsidy has been at minimal levels for the past few years" (Ministry of Social Development, Personal Communication, 26^th February 2004).

4.3.3 Sickness Benefit

Since 1998, the number of recipients of the Sickness Benefit with blindness or vision impairment as the primary incapacity has remained fairly stable (refer to Table 3).

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Table 3: Total number of recipients, Sickness Benefit

As with the Invalids Benefit, receipt of the Sickness Benefit (blindness or vision impairment) is skewed towards males. Over the last 5 years, males comprise on average 71% of all recipients of this benefit.

On average, 88% of recipients of the benefit are aged between 20 and 64 years. Over the last five years, recipients in the 50 to 60 year age cohort have showed the highest rates of receipt when compared to any other age group. Reflecting this, persons aged between 40 and 64 years made up 63% of all recipients in 2003. In comparison, those over 65 years make up on average 3 percent of recipients, while in the last five years, only two persons 17 years or younger have received the benefit.

As with the Invalids Benefit, highest levels of receipt occur in Manukau, then Waitemata (Auckland), Waikato and Wellington. Lower levels occur in Taranaki, Southern, Nelson and Central regions.

As at 27 June 2003 there were 329 people receiving the Sickness Benefit for reason of blindness or vision impairment; the total annual amount received is calculated to be $3.2m. Of these, the number citing blindness or vision impairment as the primary incapacity was 202; these received a total annual amount of just under $2.0m. The table below shows a breakdown of this number and funds by incapacity:

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Table 4: Sickness Benefit recipients for reason of blindness or vision impairment by incapacity, total numbers, and amount received and mean amount received

As shown in the table above, those citing blindness or vision impairment as their primary incapacity make up 61% of the total number who cite blindness or vision impairment as one of their causes of incapacity. These 202 persons receive total annual Sickness Benefit payments of $2.0 million or $9,901 per recipient.

4.3.4 Sickness Benefit (Hardship)

Relatively few blind and vision impaired persons have received the Sickness Benefit (Hardship) since 1998 and the total number of recipients has been in decline since this time (refer to Table 5)

Table 5: Total number of recipients, Sickness Benefit (Hardship)

While males (2002 = 62%) again comprise a large portion of recipients, prior to 2000, receipt of the benefit was fairly equally distributed across the sexes.

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In 2002, 94% of recipients were aged between 20 and 64 years. In 1998, those aged 65 years or older made up 21% of recipients; however, numbers in this group have steadily declined to 6% in 2002. In the last five years, only two people under the age of 24 years have received this benefit for reason of blindness or vision impairment.

Over the last five years, Manukau is the only region to show fairly stable numbers of recipients. In 2002, recipients from the region comprised 79% of all those receiving this benefit. Since 2000, all other regions have respectively contributed less than 5% of persons receiving the benefit.

Total annual costs for Sickness Benefit (Hardship) are included in the Sickness Benefit calculations (see Table 4).

4.3.5 Disability Allowance

As at 27 June 2003 of those receiving the Invalids Benefit or Sickness Benefit for reason of blindness or vision impairment, 64% received a Disability Allowance. The annual amount received is calculated to be $2.0m. The table below provides a more detailed breakdown of Disability Allowance receipt:

Table 6: Disability Allowance recipients for reason of blindness or vision impairment by incapacity, total numbers, and amount received and mean amount received

As shown in the table above, those citing blindness or vision impairment as their primary incapacity make up 52% of the total number who cite blindness or vision impairment as one of their causes of incapacity. These 900 persons receive total annual Disability Allowance payments of $1.1 million or $1,222 per recipient.

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4.3.6 ACC Weekly Compensation

Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) covers individuals for personal injury treatment resulting from an accident. Table 7 shows the number of claimants and value of claims for the 2002/2003 financial year by assistance provided to people for injuries to the eye. Information on recipients who are permanently affected by blindness or vision impairment as a result of their accident cannot be extracted from those persons whose eye injury is only temporary or did not have implications for their sight. As such, the value of this information in understanding cost experienced as a result of blindness or vision impairment occurring through accident is limited.

There were 2,500 new cases and 2,200 existing cases receiving financial assistance relating to eye injuries. It should be noted that the number of cases is not equivalent to the number of people in receipt of compensation. It is likely that one individual would be in receipt of more than one compensation type, and would therefore be represented more than once as shown in Table 7. ACC provided $10.4m financial assistance to claimants for eye related injuries.

In the past five years the value of financial assistance has grown by 171% ($6.6m) from $3.8m in 1998/1999, and the number of cases has increased by 93% (2,200).

Table 7: Total number of cases and financial value, ACC Claims - Eye Injuries (2002/03)

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4.3.7 Other Benefits

Other benefits that blind or vision impaired persons may receive include most prominently the Unemployment Benefit and NZ Superannuation. It would also be possible for blind and vision impaired persons to be receiving the Accommodation Supplement, particularly those on low incomes. However, because MSD does not record information on disability and because disability, sickness and injury do not constitute eligibility criteria for these benefits, the number of blind and vision impaired persons receiving these benefits is unknown.

In light of the assumption that New Zealanders are most likely to be affected by blindness or vision impairment in their old age (this confirmed by both literature and the distribution of the RNZFB membership being weighted in favour of those over 65 years), it is likely that a significant number of blind and vision impaired persons over 65 years will be in receipt of NZ Superannuation and are not able to be accounted for in the research. Through personal communication with MSD and through analysis of age cohorts in receipt of Invalids Benefit and Sickness Benefit, it is considered likely that blind and vision impaired persons over 65 years of age would be transferred to NZ Superannuation. Since this entitlement is not affected by blindness or vision impairment, consideration of this benefit is excluded from this report.

4.3.8 Benefit Summary

The total cost of benefits and compensation paid to persons for the primary reason of blindness or vision impairment is $19.0 million for the year 2002-2003. This cost does not include individuals who for reason of blindness or vision impairment may be out of work and therefore receiving the Unemployment Benefit nor does it include those receiving NZ Superannuation or costs of receipt of the Accommodation Supplement. It also excludes the various forms of ACC compensation ($10.4m) as there is no way of determining what proportion of this total relates to persons permanently affected by blindness or vision impairment as a result of their accident. As shown in Table 8 below, the cost of providing the Invalids Benefit for reason of blindness or vision impairment accounts for 84% of the total benefit/compensation cost as known to persons whose primary incapacity is blindness or vision impairment.

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Table 8: Benefit/Compensation cost summary, as known, to blind or vision impaired persons where blindness or vision impairment is the primary incapacity - Number in receipt and annual cost 2002-2003

Even though the figures in Table 8 refer only to those who identify blindness or vision impairment as their primary incapacity, caution should be used in the interpretation of this data, particularly as the total net figures do not necessarily constitute a direct cost of blindness. For example, in the case of the Invalids Benefit the societal cost of blindness may more accurately be defined as the difference in amount received on an Invalids Benefit when compared to the Unemployment Benefit. Those in receipt of the Invalids Benefit receive an extra provision to account for the extra costs faced because of disability. This extra provision could be seen as a direct societal cost of blindness. A further social cost is apparent if we assume that blind and vision impaired people would be unemployed at a much lower rate if they were sighted. Under this scenario, if we are to assume an unemployment rate similar to sighted equivalents (3.6% as at June 2005), the greater proportion of blind/vision impaired people unemployed and receiving the Invalids Benefit because of their disability could be seen to constitute a direct societal cost of blindness.

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