With 2026 well underway, many of Ōtepoti’s tauira are feeling the pressure from gold-plated petrol prices and the hellscape of Aotearoa’s supermarket duopoly. With seemingly the cost of everything on the rise, student hardship is taking a toll, and she’s not slowing for no-one.
OUSA Student Support Manager Dwaine Tait acknowledged the significance of such a
“marked increase” in the number of students experiencing financial hardship. “Students that have, in the past, relied on part-time employment to subsidise their income, are finding it difficult to secure employment or have experienced reduced working hours,” he explained to Critic Te Arohi. “When combined with the steady increase in the cost of living, this is placing significant pressure on their financial stability and ultimately their ability to study.”
Dwaine acknowledged additional challenges that some students are facing, such as “delays in StudyLink payment” and issues with collecting their bond refunds, which “further intensify an already stressful situation for many vulnerable students.” Stuff reported in early January that Tenancy Services said the delays are due to peak demand, holiday periods, and new bond technology.
Basically, you're not imagining it this time: everything really is more expensive, and everyone really is piss poor. One particularly aggrieved student, Sabrina*, told Critic of their ongoing student allowance horror story. “After waiting in line for an hour, and then another two hours, [StudyLink] said I’d done it all right and it would still take 3 weeks. Now it’s been a month, and I still haven’t heard anything”.
On the topic of StudyLink, Dwaine did feel that Student Support was generally seeing a “3 week delay after an application has been completed”. While often played off by students as an annoying side-story in the beginning of Sem 1, such financial struggles are certainly having their impact on the student body. Sabrina* described spending a whole day stressing about her application. “Then I realise ‘Fuck, I could’ve been studying’. The stress has borderline been affecting my health”.
Paula Ratahi O’Neill, General Manager of Centralised Services at the Ministry of Social Development told Critic in a statement that “Processing of all applications is ahead of last year, with more completed, despite receiving more applications than last year”. Around 10,500 more students have applied for student support, and StudyLink has finalised 15,900 more Student Allowance and Student Loan applications than this time last year. According to Paula, as of the 21st March, 82% of all applications have been completed and finalised. New applications are still coming in too, with 1,065 Student Allowance and 1,715 Student Loan applications in the last week.
“As is the case every year, applying early before 16 December has paid off. Students who applied by 16 December should now overwhelmingly have had their applications wrapped up, and will have heard back from us. A total of 90.5% of these applications have now been finalised. Overall completion peaks at around 90% each year because some students may submit an application but not complete it.” Each year, StudyLink encourages students to apply before 16 December with a nationwide campaign. “This gives them the best chance of having their application finalised by the time they start their study,” Paula explained.
Rest assured, StudyLink staff are working overtime to get remaining applications over the line, and they sound just as under the pump as students. Paula explained that staff have been working overtime since October last year, including weeknights and on Saturdays to meet the increased demand from students sending through applications. This has been coupled with extended contact centre hours and deploying extra staff to help out.
Dwaine explained to Critic that in the recent months OUSA Student Support had experienced significant increases in the volume of students accessing support services. This included applying for the OUSA Hardship Fund, seeking assistance in person from Student Support staff, utilising food bank services, and requesting budgeting advice. The Hardship Fund is accessible via application through a meeting with a Student Support advocate, and was established as a means of financial support for full-time students in case of urgent unforeseen expenses.
But don’t forget, these resources are put in place for a reason: to be used. Organisations such as the Student Support Centre are here to help. Dwaine and his team continue to “provide a range of supports, including access to a food bank, budgeting guidance, frozen meals supplied by a local non-profit organisation, and financial assistance through the hardship fund in more critical cases, as well as advocacy support for issues such as bond refunds.”
If you are in StudyLink limbo, Paula told Critic that they would encourage any students who are struggling to contact them. They can tailor their support through “assessing their circumstances to determine the best way to help them”. If times are tough, helping hands are always available for tauira.
*Names Changed
