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Entities that are registered charities are eligible to receive money from the government’s seven billion dollar wage subsidy scheme.
Stuff reports that churches in New Zealand have received “more than $1.5 million”.
Among other Catholic entities that have received money, the Catholic Diocese of Auckland received $618,338 for 94 staff.
The Catholic Diocese of Hamilton was paid $165,880 for its 24 staff.
Catholic Diocese of Auckland general manager James van Schie said the wage subsidy helped provide “certainty for staff during this uncertain time”.
All workers were being paid 100 per cent of their wages as the church was topping up the subsidy, Van Schie said.
The Anglican Diocese of Auckland received $718,123 for 109 staff.
The Anglican Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki was paid $355,058 for 65 staff.
Its senior executive manager Simon Cayley said the subsidy was applied on behalf of 50 parishes that operated their own opportunity shops.
Cayley said without the tax-payer-funded subsidy scheme; the economy would be burdened by more people going on the benefit.
“We don’t have huge reserves, we have trust funds, but we can’t suddenly break them and spend them as we like because they are subject to the wishes of beneficiaries around them,” Cayley said.
“We talked it through extensively before making the application. One of the reasons we referenced it was that if all these people were suddenly out of work and claiming the benefit, that would have a big cost on the economy.
The scheme is enabling us to sustain the economy beyond COVID-19.”
The Wage Subsidy Scheme supports employers adversely affected by COVID-19 so that they can continue to pay their employees, and supports workers to ensure they continue to receive an income, and stay connected to their employer, even if they are unable to work.
The Wage Subsidy Scheme is available to all businesses (including the self-employed, contractors and sole traders), registered charities, incorporated societies and post-settlement governance entities, that are adversely affected by COVID-19.
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