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I work part time and provide unpaid care for an older family member who needs help every day. Getting reliable support is difficult. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. How do parties compare on home-based care, aged care and respite services?
New Zealand 2026 election: Home-based care, aged care and respite support
For someone balancing part-time employment with daily, unpaid care for an older family member, three election issues are especially important: reliable help at home, access to respite care, and practical support for family carers.
These issues overlap, but they are not the same. A party might promise better-funded aged care without specifically addressing the financial pressure on unpaid carers, for example. Another might support carers financially without setting out how it would improve access to replacement care when you need a break.
I'll compare the parties' documented positions in the context of New Zealand's general election on 7 November 2026, distinguishing between existing government actions, announced election policies and proposals that still need further detail.
1. What matters for your situation?
Here are five policy areas worth comparing when deciding how each party's proposals relate to your circumstances.
| Policy area | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Home-based care | More funded support-worker hours, reliable visits, help with personal care and household tasks, and shorter waits for assessments. |
| Respite care | Access to in-home replacement care, day programmes or short stays in residential facilities, so you can rest, work or attend appointments. |
| Financial support for carers | Payments or allowances, assistance with additional caring expenses, and eligibility rules that account for people who also have paid employment. |
| Aged care funding | Sufficient funding for residential care and community services, appropriate staffing, and support for older people to remain at home when possible. |
| Employment flexibility | Better recognition of unpaid caring responsibilities, practical support to remain in paid work, and access to training and employment protections. |
The distinction between a policy announcement and a funded commitment matters. A promise to improve respite care, for instance, is different from a commitment specifying additional places, funding, eligibility and when the changes would take effect.
2. How the parties compare
The following comparison uses party announcements and published policy material available as of 22 October 2026. It focuses on the policies most relevant to older people receiving care at home and their unpaid family carers.
National Party
Main documented development: a national action plan for unpaid carers.
On 2 September 2026, the National-led Government announced an ongoing action plan under the existing Mahi Aroha Carers' Strategy. It identifies three priority areas:
- Health and wellbeing of unpaid carers.
- Financial security.
- Recognition and appreciation of carers.
The Government says the plan was developed with the Ministry of Social Development, the Carers Alliance and organisations representing carers. It is intended to provide a continuing framework for addressing carers' needs. national.org.nz
National's published election policies are available through its official policy page.
What to examine for your circumstances: The key question is how the action plan will translate into practical help. In particular, look for specific commitments to additional respite capacity, more home-care hours, financial assistance for carers who work part-time, and measurable delivery targets.
The announcement establishes a policy framework, but it does not by itself demonstrate that you will receive more replacement care or financial assistance.
Labour Party
Main relevant area: health-service access and care-worker pay equity.
Labour's 2026 election programme includes healthcare affordability measures, and the party has announced a policy concerning pay equity for carers and support workers. Its published programme also includes proposals to improve access to primary healthcare. labour.org.nz
You can consult Labour's 2026 election policy programme for its current commitments.
For this comparison, it is important to distinguish general healthcare policies from measures specifically intended to help older people receive daily assistance at home.
What to examine for your circumstances:
- Whether Labour commits to increasing the amount of funded home support available to older people.
- Whether it specifies improvements to respite care and the Carer Support Subsidy.
- Whether it proposes direct financial support for unpaid carers who also earn wages.
- What its care-worker pay-equity policy would mean for the workforce delivering home-based care.
Improving pay and conditions for paid care workers and providing relief to unpaid carers are related, but they are separate policy questions.
Green Party
Main relevant areas: public provision of aged care and care-worker pay equity.
The Green Party has committed to restoring pay-equity legislation to its pre-2025 position and funding a settlement for approximately 65,000 care and support workers. Its announcement says the proposed funding would be around $1.1 billion annually, with the final settlement determined through bargaining with workers and unions. greens.org.nz
The Greens' published policy material also advocates publicly funded, accessible healthcare and a greater public role in services including aged care. An independent summary of its 2026 health policies describes a proposed transition towards fully funded, publicly owned health services, including aged care and palliative care. apex.org.nz
The party's senior-focused policy material is available through its official website.
What to examine for your circumstances:
- Whether proposed public investment would increase the availability of home-care visits.
- What specific respite services would be funded and how quickly people could access them.
- Whether there would be more financial assistance for unpaid family carers.
- How the party would improve continuity of care and the availability of support workers.
The announced pay-equity commitment is specific, but its effect on the number of available home-care hours and respite services would depend on implementation and wider workforce capacity.
New Zealand First
Main consideration: its published commitments to older people and the detail of its service-delivery plans.
New Zealand First responded to Grey Power's 2026 questionnaire on older New Zealanders. The questionnaire provides a useful basis for examining the party's stated priorities alongside those of National, Labour, the Greens and The Opportunities Party. greypowermag.co.nz
You can review the comparison in Grey Power's 2026 party-policy overview.
What to examine for your circumstances:
- Whether the party proposes specific increases in funding for aged care at home.
- Whether respite care would receive additional funding or more consistent national provision.
- Whether it would expand support for people caring for older relatives without pay.
- How it would address care-worker shortages and the cost of residential care.
I have not established a sufficiently detailed, specific New Zealand First commitment on each of these four questions from the sources reviewed, so it would be misleading to attribute a particular home-care or respite expansion to the party without further evidence.
The Opportunities Party (TOP)
Main relevant areas: financial security for carers, employment flexibility and respite.
TOP has published a position on supporting families and unpaid carers. It identifies several intended areas of action:
- Improving financial security through its proposed Citizens' Income and Disability Allowance.
- Making sure benefit rules do not penalise unpaid carers for undertaking paid work.
- Increasing flexibility for people balancing employment and caring.
- Improving respite care and support for unpaid carers. opportunity.org.nz
Its published position is available on the Opportunities Party's website.
What to examine for your circumstances: TOP's stated focus on the intersection between paid employment and unpaid care is particularly relevant to the question of how people can continue working while caring for a relative.
However, you would need to check the proposed payment amounts, eligibility criteria, funding arrangements and implementation timetable. The published statement establishes the party's intended direction, but it does not establish that every part of the proposal has been fully specified or funded.
ACT New Zealand
Main consideration: what specific commitments it has made on aged care and unpaid carers.
ACT was invited to participate in Grey Power's 2026 questionnaire but did not complete it, saying it did not have the capacity to do so. This means that questionnaire cannot be used to compare ACT's answers directly with those of the responding parties. greypowermag.co.nz
ACT's published election policies can be consulted through its official policy website.
For a fair comparison, check the party's own policy documents for commitments on home-based support, respite availability, the funding of aged care and financial support for unpaid carers. I have not verified a sufficiently detailed, specific ACT commitment on each of these matters in the material reviewed.
Te Pāti Māori
Main consideration: obtaining a clear, current statement of its aged-care and carer-support commitments.
Te Pāti Māori did not respond to Grey Power's questionnaire, so the questionnaire does not provide a comparable set of answers for the party. greypowermag.co.nz
Its official website is the starting point for checking any published election commitments: Te Pāti Māori.
The specific questions to check are whether it proposes additional home-based care, culturally appropriate respite services, more support for whānau carers and changes to the financial assistance available to people providing unpaid care. I have not verified detailed commitments on each point from the sources reviewed.
A side-by-side summary
This table summarises the emphasis evident in the published material, rather than rating the parties or assuming that an announcement guarantees a service improvement.
| Party | Documented policy emphasis | Key question to investigate |
|---|---|---|
| National | Ongoing action plan for unpaid carers, including financial security and wellbeing. | Will the plan deliver more respite and practical help at home? |
| Labour | Healthcare affordability and a pay-equity policy for carers and support workers. | What specific improvements to home-care access and respite are funded? |
| Greens | Publicly funded healthcare, a care-worker pay-equity settlement and support for older people to age at home. | How much additional home support and respite would be available? |
| New Zealand First | Aged-care reform and better coordination between primary, community and aged care. | What changes to home-care hours, respite and carer assistance are committed to? |
| TOP | Financial security for unpaid carers, flexibility to combine paid work with caring, improved respite and stronger community care. | What are the proposed payment levels, eligibility rules and delivery dates? |
| ACT | Its published policy material needs to be checked for specific commitments on these services. | What additional support for unpaid carers and respite would it provide? |
| Te Pāti Māori | Its specific position needs to be established from its published policy material. | What commitments would it make to whānau carers and culturally appropriate home-based care? |
The distinctions in this table are based on party announcements and Grey Power's September 2026 comparison. The absence of a verified commitment in this review does not establish that a party has no policy on that subject. greypowermag.co.nz, national.org.nz, greens.org.nz, opportunity.org.nz
3. An important development: proposed reform of aged care
Beyond the parties' individual election policies, there is a significant development that voters should know about.
In August 2026, an independent Aged Care Ministerial Advisory Group published A Place to Grow Old: Securing the Future of Aged Care. The report proposes substantial changes to the way New Zealand provides and funds aged care.
Its recommendations include:
- More flexible home-based care: Strengthening support for older people with complex needs who want to remain at home.
- More consistent respite: Developing a package of in-home respite, residential respite and day programmes based on assessed needs.
- More flexible carer assistance: Refocusing the Carer Support Subsidy so it can help cover equipment and other items needed for respite, including informal replacement care.
- Training for unpaid carers: Increasing government investment in education and training.
- Better help navigating services: Introducing navigator roles and clearer information about care pathways.
These are recommendations, not changes that have automatically taken effect. The Ministry of Health's September 2026 explanation explicitly says the Government must consider the report before progressing reforms. health.govt.nz, health.govt.nz
You can read the report here:
Official report: A Place to Grow Old: Securing the Future of Aged Care
Why this matters if you provide daily care
The proposed reforms address several practical problems that can make unpaid caring difficult.
For example, you might be able to arrange a respite service in principle but struggle to find a provider with availability. Alternatively, you might qualify for a subsidy but find its conditions do not fit the type of assistance you need.
The report's recommendations address both service availability and the flexibility of financial assistance. When comparing parties, it is worth asking which recommendations they would adopt, which they would change, how they would pay for them and when they would implement them.
There is also a funding question: the report proposes changes to how the costs of care are shared between government and individuals. That makes it important to examine not only whether a party promises more services, but also whether its plan could increase the amount that older people or their families must pay. health.govt.nz, greypowermag.co.nz
4. The questions I would use to compare election promises
Because you are combining paid work with daily caring responsibilities, I would examine the parties' detailed policies against these six questions.
A. Will you get more reliable help at home?
Look for specific commitments to:
- Increase the number of funded home-care hours.
- Reduce waiting times for assessments and services.
- Improve continuity when a regular support worker is unavailable.
- Provide assistance with personal care and everyday activities as needs increase.
An increase in funding is useful to investigate, but the details matter: additional funding does not necessarily mean additional hours for every person receiving care.
B. Can you take a genuine break?
Look for commitments covering:
- Replacement care delivered in the older person's home.
- Day programmes and short residential stays.
- Easier access to respite when an existing carer becomes exhausted or unwell.
- More flexible use of the Carer Support Subsidy.
It is particularly important to distinguish between a promise to review respite services and a funded commitment to make more respite available.
C. Can you continue working part-time?
Examine whether parties propose:
- Direct financial support for unpaid carers.
- Eligibility rules that accommodate paid employment.
- Assistance with expenses associated with caring.
- Better coordination between care services and employment responsibilities.
TOP explicitly addresses the relationship between unpaid caring, financial security and paid employment in its published position. National's action plan also identifies financial security as a priority, although the practical measures need to be examined separately. opportunity.org.nz, national.org.nz
D. What happens if your family member needs more intensive care?
Consider whether a party has a clear plan for:
- Increasing home-based support as needs change.
- Accessing rehabilitation and short-term care.
- Obtaining residential respite.
- Transitioning to residential care if living at home is no longer manageable.
A policy that supports older people to remain at home should also explain how they will receive appropriate care when their needs exceed what can safely be provided there.
E. Will there be enough care workers?
Consider the party's proposals on pay, training, recruitment and retention.
Labour and the Greens have announced care-worker pay-equity policies. TOP also commits to restoring earlier pay-equity rules, while Grey Power reports that all five parties responding to its questionnaire supported pay equity for aged-care workers. The parties differ in their proposed approaches, so the details and funding matter. labour.org.nz, greens.org.nz, opportunity.org.nz, greypowermag.co.nz
F. Are the promises funded and measurable?
For every commitment, check:
- How much will it cost?
- Where will the funding come from?
- Who qualifies?
- When will it begin?
- How will the Government measure whether access to care has improved?
These questions help distinguish an aspiration from a policy that can be implemented and assessed.
5. Where to find the parties' original policies
For further comparison, start with the parties' official sources:
- National: 2026 election policies
- Labour: 2026 election policies
- Green Party: Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
- New Zealand First: New Zealand First
- The Opportunities Party: The Opportunities Party
- ACT New Zealand: ACT New Zealand
- Te Pāti Māori: Te Pāti Māori
Grey Power's 2026 overview of party positions on older New Zealanders is also useful for comparing responses to the same questions.
My suggested next step
Rather than trying to compare every health policy, I would focus on three concrete outcomes: reliable home-care hours, respite that you can actually access, and financial support that does not make working part-time impractical.
One distinction is especially important: support for older people and support for unpaid carers are not interchangeable. Your family member may need more care, while you may need more time away from caring or more financial flexibility. A policy needs to account for both needs.
To help you make a more precise comparison, could you clarify one thing?
Which of these is the biggest problem for you at the moment?
- Getting enough help at home — support workers, personal care or household assistance.
- Getting respite — finding someone who can take over so you can rest or work.
- Financial pressure — balancing part-time wages, caring expenses and any support payments.
- All three — you need a broader comparison covering home care, respite and financial assistance.
Your answer will help identify which specific party commitments and eligibility changes are most relevant to investigate, without assuming which party you should vote for.
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