Attendants costs

A Special Needs Grant for health travel costs may be extended up to a maximum of $400 for the cost of 1 attendant if:

• the person needing treatment is a child
• whanau support is required or
• the medical practitioner or nurse practitioner recommends an attendant.

People with a Community Services Card can get a 50% discount on public transport fares through Community Connect.

If an attendant is a parent or guardian applying on behalf of a child in their care and the attendant is a Community Services Card holder, the attendant's health travel costs should be no more than the cost of the discounted fare if they are using public transport, unless they cannot get the discount for good reason.

Note in other situations, you cannot require an attendant to confirm if they are eligible for or use the 50% discount through Community Connect.

Example: Good reason

The attendant has a disability and there are accessibility issues with applying for the Community Connect discount through a public transport provider's website, and this is the only way to apply.