MEDIA RELEASE – For immediate release
Individualised Funding failure leaves disabled employer carrying payroll debt
Philip Patston, Managing Director of Diversity New Zealand Ltd, says he has been left personally liable for wages after his final Individualised Funding allocation was incorrectly applied, with no agency taking responsibility.
“The funding was wrong. The consequences are real. And the silence from those responsible is deafening.”
Patston says the shortfall leaves him filling payroll gaps himself, despite acting in good faith and following required processes.
“Disabled people are sold a narrative of choice and control. What we actually get is risk transfer. When the system fails, the cost lands on us.”
He says the Individual Funding system lacks basic safeguards, including error correction, escalation pathways, and financial protection for disabled employers.
“No other government-funded employment model would tolerate workers going unpaid because an agency miscalculated a budget.”
Patston is calling for immediate remediation, clear accountability, and urgent reform.
“This system relies on disabled people absorbing harm quietly. I won’t do that.”
**ENDS**
