Away from Home Allowance

What Is This Allowance?

The Away from Home Allowance is a weekly payment from Work and Income, designed specifically for the small caregiver demographic who already receive the Unsupported Child's Benefit or Orphan's Benefit and whose dependent child has to live away from home for educational or training purposes. It exists because the standard caregiver supports assume the child is living in your household; once the child is placed elsewhere for school or training, a separate cost stack appears that those supports were never sized for.

Common scenarios: a child accepted into a specialised secondary school that runs as a regional boarding programme, a tertiary student required by their course to live in another city, or a long-term placement for an educational or medical-related programme that is not available locally. In each case, the caregiver is still legally responsible for the child but has to fund a second living arrangement on top of the home base.

This allowance is structurally different from two adjacent caregiver supports. The Establishment Grant is a one-off payment when you first take on care of the child; it does not continue. The Holiday and Birthday Allowance is event-triggered (Christmas, birthdays). Away from Home is the only one of the three that pays weekly during an ongoing placement, and it ends when the placement ends.

Scope of the allowance covers the boarding contribution at the destination, transport home for school holidays or weekends, and additional living expenses caused by the away placement (extra phone, supplies, home-trip food). The documented-placement requirement is essential: your case manager will ask for a school enrolment letter, training-programme details, or an accommodation arrangement at the destination before processing the weekly payment.

How Much Can You Get?

The Benefit Check engine flags the Away from Home Allowance as eligibility_only — meaning the rule confirms whether the gate opens, but does not return a fixed weekly figure. Work and Income's case manager assesses the weekly amount based on the documented placement details.

• Typical weekly scope: $50 to $200 per week, depending on distance from home, boarding cost at the destination, and the size of additional living expenses created by the away arrangement.
• Lump-sum components: some cases include lump-sum top-ups for trip-home transport — for example, a return airfare home for the school holidays, paid as a one-off on top of the weekly amount.
• Recoverable status: varies by component. Many of the weekly elements are non-recoverable (treated as ongoing assistance); one-off transport top-ups are sometimes recoverable, depending on the caregiver's overall circumstances.
• Interaction with UCB/OB: Away from Home stacks on top of the underlying caregiver benefit. It does not reduce UCB or Orphan's Benefit, and is not abated by partner income in the way main benefits are.

Eligibility Conditions

1. is_caregiver = true — you are receiving the Unsupported Child's Benefit or Orphan's Benefit for the child in question. Biological parents fall outside this rule.
2. childCount > 0 — there is at least one dependent child in your care. The allowance is per-child where multiple are away.
3. Documented away-from-home placement — a school enrolment letter, training-programme acceptance, or accommodation arrangement at the destination is required before the case manager will set up the weekly payment.
4. Educational or training-related reason — the away placement must be for school, tertiary study, or training. Non-educational separations (relative caring elsewhere, medical respite that is not part of a programme) do not engage this rule.
5. NZ residency — caregiver and child ordinarily resident in New Zealand, consistent with the underlying UCB or Orphan's Benefit eligibility.

How To Apply

Channel. Apply through Work and Income, working with your existing caregiver case manager (the same case manager who handles your UCB or Orphan's Benefit). MyMSD is used to lodge supporting documents; the conversation about the weekly amount happens with the case manager directly.

Evidence to bring. School enrolment letter or training-programme acceptance documentation, accommodation arrangement at the destination (boarding contract, hostel booking, or homestay agreement), your current UCB or Orphan's Benefit letter, transport cost details (return airfare or bus fares for trips home), identity (RealMe, NZ passport or driver licence), and bank account details for the payment.

Timeline. Initial setup typically takes one to two weeks once the documents are in. Weekly payments commence on the placement start date — backdating to the start date is normal where evidence is provided promptly. A first lump-sum trip-home component, if included, is usually paid in the first or second weekly cycle.

Re-assessment. Notify Work and Income if the placement ends, the destination changes, the boarding arrangement changes, or any other change in circumstances occurs. Failure to update creates overpayment debt that the caregiver later has to repay.

Open the official application page →

Rule-Based Scenarios

Scenario 1 — Wilhelmina, grandmother on UCB, grandson at regional boarding school. Wilhelmina receives the Unsupported Child's Benefit for her 13-year-old grandson, who has been accepted into a specialised regional secondary school that runs as a boarding programme. The school is four hours' drive from home. The boarding contribution is $90 per week; trips home for school holidays cost roughly $80 each. Work and Income approves a $120/wk allowance covering the boarding contribution plus a smoothed transport allowance for monthly home visits. Documented enrolment letter and boarding contract were provided at application; payment commences from term-start date.

Scenario 2 — Xitlali, aunt on Orphan's Benefit, niece at tertiary in Wellington. Xitlali cares for her 18-year-old niece on the Orphan's Benefit. The niece has been accepted into a one-year polytechnic certificate in Wellington that requires residence in the city; Xitlali lives in Hamilton. Boarding hostel is $180 per week; the niece returns home for university breaks twice in the year. Work and Income approves $80/wk through the Away from Home Allowance plus a holiday-transport top-up paid twice in the year. The allowance commenced from the course start date once the polytechnic acceptance letter and hostel agreement were lodged.

Scenario 3 — Zaria, biological parent, child at university in another city. Zaria's 19-year-old daughter has moved to Dunedin for university; Zaria lives in Auckland. Zaria applies for the Away from Home Allowance to help with her daughter's accommodation costs. The application is declined: the Away from Home Allowance is caregiver-only (UCB or Orphan's Benefit), and Zaria is the biological parent. The case manager redirects her to her daughter's own student supports — Student Allowance and Accommodation Benefit — which are sized for biological-parent households with tertiary-age children.

Common Mistakes

• Biological parents applying. The Away from Home Allowance is restricted to caregivers receiving UCB or Orphan's Benefit. Biological parents whose child is at boarding school or tertiary study elsewhere should be looking at Student Allowance and Accommodation Benefit (paid to the student) rather than this allowance.
• Non-educational reasons. The allowance covers educational or training placements only. A child living elsewhere with a relative for non-educational reasons, or a respite arrangement that is not part of a programme, does not engage the rule — even if the caregiver still receives UCB or Orphan's Benefit.
• Confusing it with the Holiday and Birthday Allowance. Holiday and Birthday is celebration-day support paid for events (Christmas, birthdays); Away from Home is ongoing weekly support during the placement. Both can run for the same caregiver, but they answer different questions.
• No documented placement. Without a school enrolment letter, training-programme acceptance, or accommodation arrangement at the destination, the application is hard for the case manager to process. Verbal description of the placement is not enough — paper trail is required up front.
• Forgetting to notify on placement changes. If the placement ends mid-term, the destination changes, or the boarding arrangement changes, the caregiver must update Work and Income. Failure to update creates an overpayment debt that is later recovered against the underlying UCB or Orphan's Benefit.
• Asking for full school fees. School fees themselves are typically the school's domain, or covered by other education-funding channels. The Away from Home Allowance is sized for living expenses arising from the away arrangement (boarding, transport, additional household costs) — not tuition.

Related Benefits

• Establishment Grant — one-off payment when first taking on care of a child; covers initial setup costs (bedding, clothing, furniture). Different scope from Away from Home: one-off rather than weekly.
• Home Help — ongoing household help for caregivers in difficult circumstances; assists with day-to-day household tasks rather than away-from-home placements.
• Holiday and Birthday Allowance — celebration-event support (Christmas, birthdays) paid to the same UCB or Orphan's Benefit caregiver demographic; event-triggered rather than ongoing.
• School and Year Start-Up Payment — annual payment to help with start-of-school-year items (uniforms, stationery, fees); paired with Away from Home for caregivers whose child needs both home-base school items and away-placement support.
• Childcare Subsidy — ongoing subsidy on childcare costs for younger children; relevant when the caregiver also has pre-school-age children at home while one is away for school.
• Relocate for Work Support — support for the caregiver themselves relocating for paid work; different scope (caregiver moves rather than child moves).