The Ministry of Social Development is consulting on a proposal to cut 22 security guard jobs across 22 regional Work and Income offices, reducing coverage from three guards to two per site, according to official documents confirmed by the ministry. The consultation runs until August 12, with no final decisions made, while internal data released under the Official Information Act shows staff recorded 14,420 security incidents over a five-year period.
Affected Offices and Regional Impacts
According to the Public Service Association, the 22 locations facing security reductions include Dargaville, Flaxmere, Huntly, Johnsonville, Kāpiti, Kamo, Kawakawa, Kawerau, Kerikeri, Morrinsville, Motueka, Mount Maunganui, Ōpōtiki, Paeroa, Richmond, Ruatoria, Te Awamutu, Te Puke, Tokoroa, Tūrangi, Waihi, and Wairoa. Nearly all of these sites are provincial towns where the local Work and Income office serves as a primary face-to-face contact point for benefits, hardship grants, and employment obligations.
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This initiative follows a previous round of reductions in March, when the ministry cut 20 security guard positions at separate sites. Ministry of Social Development deputy chief executive Melissa Gill stated that the agency spent $80 million on safety enhancements, including physical layout redesigns and staff training, following a WorkSafe court judgment. Gill noted that between 2023 and 2025, staff reported an 11.6 percent increase in security events, while severe security events dropped by more than half.
Security Incident Data and Union Response
Data released to RNZ reveals that moderate incidents—those without injury—fluctuated from 708 in 2021 to 1,373 in 2025, peaking at 1,387 in 2024. Incidents involving a weapon increased from 30 in 2021 to 47 in 2025, while severe incidents peaked at 12 in 2022 before falling to four in 2025. Additionally, offices went into lockdown 1,736 times over the five-year span, including 544 lockdowns in 2024 and 441 in the subsequent year.
Public Service Association national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons urged the ministry to scrap the plan, stating that staff frequently face spitting, thrown objects, desk-jumping, and bomb or gun threats. E tū team leader Cathie Powell questioned the timing of the reductions amid rising unemployment stress and cost-of-living pressures. An anonymous security guard and E tū union member at an affected site told RNZ that three guards are essential during lockdowns, noting that one guard evacuates clients out the back while the other two manage the individual causing the threat.
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