Support

Supported Living Payment for ADHD or autism in New Zealand

How New Zealand's Supported Living Payment considers severe and permanent work restriction, duration, hours, residence, income, and medical information.

Support summary

Supported Living Payment for ADHD or autism in New Zealand

New Zealand's Supported Living Payment is a weekly income-tested payment for certain people with a significant health condition, injury, or disability, and for some full-time carers. ADHD or autism does not create automatic eligibility. For the personal health/disability route, Work and Income applies severe and permanent work-capacity, duration, hours, residence, income, and evidence rules. NeuroType cannot pre-screen eligibility, predict payment, or provide a medical certificate.

What this can help with

Understanding the official route and organising your own factual examples before you seek qualified help.

What this cannot do

Check eligibility, calculate points, predict a decision, or turn a NeuroType result into medical or benefits evidence.

Jurisdiction

New Zealand Supported Living Payment through Work and Income. The personal health/disability and full-time-carer routes differ.

Official routes

Check the current rules and apply through the official service

Use this as preparation, not a decision

  • Check current eligibility and application rules on the linked official service.
  • Record factual examples from your own life rather than copying model answers.
  • Ask a qualified welfare-rights adviser about your circumstances.
  • Do not submit a NeuroType score or report as medical or benefits evidence.

The health or disability route has a high work-capacity threshold

Current Work and Income guidance says a person applying because of their own health condition, injury, or disability must generally be aged 16 or older and be permanently and severely restricted in the ability to work, or be totally blind. The condition must affect work capacity for more than two years, or life expectancy must be less than two years, and the person cannot regularly work 15 hours or more a week in open employment.

Supported Living Payment also has a separate full-time-carer route. Do not apply the carer criteria to a claim based on the applicant's own condition, or treat this payment as the same as Disability Allowance, Jobseeker Support, or disability support services.

ADHD or autism does not decide the payment

Work and Income assesses the individual condition and its effect on work capacity. A diagnosis name, autism support level, school history, workplace adjustment, or difficulty with daily routines does not independently establish that someone is permanently and severely restricted from working at the official threshold.

Medical and functional information may describe attention, communication, sensory, social, adaptive, regulation, attendance, pace, or support needs where relevant. The question is how the condition affects this person's capacity under the official rules, not whether an online trait description sounds familiar.

Residence and income rules also apply

The official page sets citizenship, permanent-residence or residence-class-visa conditions, continuous residence periods, and ordinary-residence requirements. Eligibility and payment can also depend on the applicant's and partner's income. Rates, income limits, residence exceptions, and obligations change over time.

Use Work and Income's official “Check what you might get” tool for orientation and the MyMSD or service-centre route for an application. NeuroType does not reproduce that calculator because a parallel version could become stale or give a false eligibility signal.

Medical information and the work-capacity certificate

As part of the application, Work and Income asks for information confirming the condition and its impact on the ability to work. MyMSD identifies what is needed, including a medical certificate from a health practitioner. Work and Income may later ask for updated medical information and a recently completed Work Capacity Medical Certificate, even where a condition is permanent, unless a listed exception applies.

NeuroType cannot complete or replace a medical certificate. Private examples can support a conversation with the practitioner but are not verified medical information or a Work and Income assessment.

Some work may be possible while receiving the payment

The eligibility language says the person cannot regularly work 15 hours or more a week in open employment, while the official page also explains that a recipient can still work some hours. Income can affect payment, and reporting, work-preparation, assessment, partner, and annual-review obligations may apply.

Do not infer from a few hours of work that a person is automatically ineligible, or infer from unemployment that the severe and permanent restriction is met. Check the current individual position with Work and Income before changing work or income arrangements.

If ADHD or autism assessment is still pending

A referral or waiting-list place does not establish the severe and permanent work restriction. Describe what is confirmed, what is suspected, current treatment or support, and work impact accurately. The health practitioner and Work and Income decide what medical information is appropriate and how it is assessed.

Other support may be relevant where the Supported Living Payment threshold is not met or the condition is expected to be shorter term. Use Work and Income to check the complete set of current payments and supports rather than treating this page as an application recommendation.

Questions readers ask

Can an adult get Supported Living Payment for ADHD?
ADHD does not create automatic eligibility. Work and Income applies the severe and permanent work-capacity, duration, hours, residence, income, and medical-information rules.
Can an autistic adult get Supported Living Payment?
Autism does not create automatic eligibility. The decision depends on the individual's work restriction, duration, evidence, residence, income, and other official conditions.
Can someone work while receiving Supported Living Payment?
The official page says some work is possible, while the health/disability eligibility route includes not regularly working 15 hours or more a week in open employment. Income and obligations also matter.
Can NeuroType provide the medical certificate?
No. NeuroType is not a health practitioner or Work and Income service and cannot certify a condition, work restriction, duration, eligibility, or payment amount.

Related exploration

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Sources and limits

Last updated: 2026-08-27. Editorial status: approved.

Approved means NeuroType editorial approval. It does not mean this page was reviewed by a clinician, lawyer, tax professional, or welfare-rights adviser.

NeuroType pages are written for adult self reflection and education. Sources, when listed, are there so readers can check the background material. Inclusion does not imply endorsement, clinical review, or diagnostic authority.

  1. 1.Supported Living Payment, Work and Income (2026) link
  2. 2.Check what you might get, Ministry of Social Development (2026) link
  3. 3.Renew your medical certificate or information, Work and Income (2026) link