The Government has established a reimbursement process for unvaccinated in-home family carers who undertook family carer work that was not paid as a result of the former COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

This follows a High Court finding in March 2023 that the Government had made a process error by extending the COVID-19 vaccination mandate to include in-home family carers. The Government accepted this error and is working to address it so that eligible carers can now be reimbursed for continuing to provide care even though they were not paid.

Who is eligible for a refund?

You are eligible for a refund if: 

  • You were an in-home family carer funded by Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand to provide paid support prior to the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 coming into force on 6 November 2021, and 
  • You continued to provide that care but were not paid because of the effect of the Vaccinations Order 

 

What is the process for getting a refund? 

Te Whatu Ora has contacted service providers and Individualised Funding Hosts to provide information about how reimbursement claims will be processed for those affected. 

If you were paid through a service provider or Individualised Funding Host to perform in-home family care prior to the Vaccinations Order taking effect and continued to provide the care but stopped being paid due to being unvaccinated, please contact them directly to inquire about reimbursement. 

If you have any queries about the reimbursement process, please contact us at reimburse.carers@health.govt.nz.