Changes to flexible funding from April 1
From April 1 2026, the purchasing rules for flexible funding have been removed and there is more support for people to plan and manage their funding.
We explain what flexible funding is and what the changes mean.
March 30th, 2026
The basics of flexible funding
Flexible funding refers to the way Disability Support Services (DSS)/Ministry of Social Development provides eligible disabled people and their families/whānau with a personalised budget they can use to meet disability‑related needs.
There are four types of flexible funding (sometimes called streams):
1. Individualised Funding (IF)– funding that allows a disabled person (or their agent) to manage and pay for their own support services.
2. Enhanced Individualised Funding (EIF) - EIF is a more flexible form of IF that allows people to use their budget more creatively to achieve life goals, not just buy defined services.
2. Hosted Enabling Good Lives personal budgets – a person’s disability support funding from DSS, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Education is brought together into a personal budget “hosted” by an Enabling Good Lives site (more about hosts soon).
3. Carer Support – funding that allows people who care for a disabled person full-time to take a break from their caring role.
A host is an organisation that holds, administers, and helps manage flexible funding users’ budgets. These Hosts are approved by DSS.
Flexible funding can be used for supports, services, equipment, and activities – as long as the spending matches the purposes in the person’s plan and their disability needs, and fits within their budget.
Purchasing rules removed
One of the big changes from 1 April is that the purchasing rules that were introduced on 18 March 2024 have now been removed. This gives people more choice on how they spend their flexible funding.
People’s allocated budgets for flexible funding stay the same as they were before 1 April.
People still need to use their flexible funding in line with the plans they have set with their Needs Assessment Service Coordination (NASC) provider or Enabling Good Lives site.
Flexible funding users will need approval from their Host before they spend their funding on certain things, including:
overseas travel
equipment
complementary therapies
repeat purchases of similar items before the expected life of the item has expired
one-off purchases over the approval limit. For most people, the approval limit is $1,500. For a few people, who have frequent support from their Host, the approval limit is $500.
Flexible funding cannot be used for alcohol, tobacco, gambling, drugs or illegal activities.
Support to manage budgets
Another change from April 1 is that flexible funding users will get more support from their Hosts to manage their budgets.
Support from Hosts can include guidance with planning, keeping records, budgeting, employing workers (if relevant), and ensuring spending fits people’s plans.
The level of support people get will be based on their situation, needs, and experience managing their funding. For some it will be light touch, while others will need frequent support.
There will be four tiers of support:
Tier 1 – Low support
Tier 2 - Some support
Tier 3 – Regular support
Tier 4 – Frequent support
Hosts will be in touch from April onwards to let people know which tier they are in. Regardless of which tier you’re in, you can still ask your Host for support when you need it.
Read more about the tiers of support
Why these changes are happening
DSS is making these changes based on feedback gathered from the disability community during consultation in 2025. DSS says the changes will give more choice, control, and certainty for people who use flexible funding.