Thanks to WINZ making it as hard as humanly possible for anyone to access a benefit, I only just found out (at the very end of my PhD) that all domestic PhD students in NZ (incl those on scholarships) qualify for a $100 p/w accom supplement https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙃" title="Auf den Kopf gestelltes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Auf den Kopf gestelltes Gesicht">

Huuuuge PSA to other NZ PhD students!! I literally missed out on $15,000 which would have made it a lot less stressful trying to write a thesis while receiving well below minimum wage

More deets for those who asked: it seems to be administrated through a WINZ/Studylink combo. You can apply for the supplement through WINZ in the same way as any other benefit. Studylink will then get in touch with you to confirm your study deets https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌾" title="Reisgetreide" aria-label="Emoji: Reisgetreide">

I& #39;ve confirmed with with several current PhD students who have done this! They each heard of it by word of mouth. This definitely needs to be shared as widely as possible!! Being on a PhD wage sucks.