Social Security Act 2018, s 17, 63, Sched 4
The Emergency Benefit is usually paid when you don’t qualify for one of the main benefits for some largely technical reason – for example, if you’re 65 or older and you haven’t been living in New Zealand long enough to qualify for NZ Superannuation. You need to be suffering hardship because you can’t support yourself and your dependants (if you have any).