Review of decision for benefit

Step 1 - Before you start

First, call us or email us to talk about the decision you don't agree with and why you don't agree with it. We may be able to resolve it over the phone.

Step 2 - Complete a form or letter

If we can't resolve it over the phone or by email, you (or your agent or advocate) can either:

• fill in a Review of Decision application form, or
• write a letter to us with:
  • the date you heard about the decision
  • what the decision was about, and
  • why you disagree with it.

You don't have to use legal language.

Step 3 - Get your form or letter to us

You can upload your form or letter online in Connect. It can take up to 48 hours for us to receive them.

Or you can post it to us at:

StudyLink
PO Box 38610
Lower Hutt 5045

After you apply, we'll carry out an internal review. This is where we take another look at the original information you gave us for the decision. We'll see if we missed anything or made a mistake which means the decision should be different.

We may:

• call you if we have any questions or need more information
• contact other people to get more information if the decision involves them.

Outcome of internal review

We'll contact you within 2 weeks letting you know whether we've decided to change the decision or not.

• If we change it, we'll let you know what this will mean for you.
• If we don't change it, we'll send a report to the Benefits Review Committee. They'll take a fresh look at your case.

The Benefits Review Committee coordinator will receive our report and contact you to set a date for a hearing.

The Benefits Review Committee is made up of:

• 2 Ministry of Social Development staff members who weren't involved in the internal review, and
• a community representative appointed by the Minister for Social Development.

The hearing

You can choose whether the hearing is held either:

• at a Work and Income service centre
• by video call (using Microsoft Teams), or
• by phone conference.

You can bring a support person, advocate or lawyer with you to the hearing if you want. You can also have a lawyer appear for you if you don't want to go yourself.

It's a formal process where a StudyLink representative presents their case, and then you (or your advocate or lawyer) respond. Committee members can ask questions. After the formal part, everyone except the Committee members leaves and the Committee makes its decision.

The outcome

The Benefits Review Committee will send you a report letting you know their decision. They'll send this to you about 10 working days after the hearing.

• If the Committee agrees with you and the decision needs to be changed, we'll put things right.
• If you're not satisfied with the Committee's decision, you can appeal to the Social Security Appeal Authority. The authority is made up of people who work for the Ministry of Justice. The Committee's report will tell you how to lodge an appeal, or you can call 04 462 6660.

Usually, you need to apply for a review of decision within 3 months of a decision being made. We can accept later applications if there's a good and sufficient reason for the delay.

The Benefits Review Committee will meet to consider your reasons for delay and may decide to go ahead with a hearing. If it doesn't think your reason is good enough, the original decision will stand.

Reasons for delay could include:

• you were unwell
• your health condition, disability or stress impacted you
• problems related to language (eg, not reading or understanding English)
• you didn't have access to the information you needed
• you didn't understand the decision and have now got advice from an advocate or lawyer
• you were waiting until a criminal prosecution related to this decision progressed.

You may have other reasons for the delay. It's important you tell us about them so we can consider it at the hearing.

If you don't want to continue with your review of decision application, you can withdraw it at any time.

To do this, you can either:

• call us on 0800 88 99 00 and we'll put you in touch with the unit or person that's working on your application, or
• contact the Benefits Review Committee Co-ordinator as soon as possible. You can find their phone number on the letter we sent you about the hearing.