The Human rights commission notes that discrimination on the basis of family status is prohibited under the NZ Human Rights Act. The commission has been involved in a number of legal cases related to payments to individuals who provide care to disabled adult family members and has voiced concern over the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Act (No2) 2013 which prohibits payments being made to family members providing care except in some narrow circumstances and prevents any future claims being taken to the Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights Review Tribunal, or the courts alleging that the new policy is discriminatory (Human Rights Commission, 2020).

References:

Human Rights Commission. (2020). Caring for disabled adult family members. NZ Human Rights website. Available from: https://www.hrc.co.nz/enquiries-and-complaints/faqs/caring-disabled-adult-family-members/.