Cook Islands Welfare Benefits
WE HELP TO BUILD STRONG, RESILIENT FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY IN THE COOK ISLANDS
- Welfare benefit is a support provided by the Government of the Cook Islands, intended to ensure people meet their basic human needs.
- The Welfare Business Unit is responsible for administering these welfare payments and the Government Maternity Leave Fund.
- The Eligibility requirements depends on the welfare benefit you are seeking.
CLIENT OBLIGATIONS
Recipient of the Cook Islands Benefit must immediately inform Ministry of Internal Affairs if:
- intending to travel overseas, whether for holiday or permanently
- personal details change (name, address or bank account)
- granted an overseas benefit or pension
- living arrangement and circumstances changes
You are only required to complete one application for the New Born allowance together with the child benefit. Click on Child Benefit tab in the left column for application and more information.
To apply please download the following documents:
Application for Government Funded Paid Maternity Leave
Fact Sheet for Government Funded Paid Maternity Leave
This is an automatic payment of $50 at the end of the year for every eligible beneficiary receiving the Child Benefit, Destitute, Infirm, Care-Giver and Old Age payments. Any beneficiary who is collecting two benefit will only be entitled to collect one payment. This payment is expected to provide additional assistance to families at a time where expenses are higher than normal.
The Government’s Special Assistance Project Fund (SAF) is a Welfare Product that addresses the very basic and urgent needs of specific vulnerable elderly and disabled beneficiaries, of the Cook Islands Welfare System. The purpose of the fund is to improve the living condition of our beneficiaries, strictly in the form of purchasing building materials for accessible purposes, and providing assistive devices to:
- individual/couple elderlies who are in need of accessible improvements must be living on their own, in which they are suffering from an illness that is causing deterioration to their medical and physical condition, and whereby their only source of income is the Old Age Pension.
- disabled applicants who are need of assistive devices must be profoundly powerless to support herself/himself because part or whole body is affected by some form of the disease that was either inherited or acquired through some unexpected accident/s, causing severe and permanent injury to the individual in which his/her livelihood solely depends on existing family members.
For more information or to apply for SAF, please contact our office phone 29370 or our Pa Enua Welfare Officers.
The Care Order Fund is for families the Child and Family Services (CAFS) with the Ministry of Internal Affairs are working with through the Courts and in need of financial, emotional or residential assistance. This fund is not by application but by a case-by-case basis only and can only be administered through CAFS.
Please contact Child and Family Services on 29370 if you need more information on this support.
IMPORTANT NOTE
The period recipient of the Welfare Benefit are allowed overseas while still receiving the benefit depends on the payment that you receive, for example:
- Old Age Benefit– you can receive your benefit for up to six months absence from the Cook Islands
- Child Benefit– you can receive the benefit for up to 4 weeks absence of the child from the Cook Islands
- Destitute, Infirmed & Care-giver allowance– you can receive the payment for up to one month absence from the Cook Island
CLIENT OBLIGATIONS
Recipient of the Cook Islands Benefit must immediately inform Ministry of Internal Affairs if:
- intending to travel overseas, whether for holiday or permanently
- personal details change (name, address or bank account)
- granted an overseas benefit or pension
- living arrangement and circumstances changes