This week, the Employment Court found in favour of the Service and Food Workers Union, which took a case on behalf of a Kapiti-based respite carer. Respite carers are paid a daily amount of $75.
The court has found they should be paid the minimum wage.
At present, the rate for an adult is $14.25 an hour. From April 1, the Government will increase this to $14.75.
Ministry of Health chief legal adviser Phil Knipe said this week the ministry was considering the decision and would consult its legal advisers before deciding what to do.
Ms Easterbrook said the system was confusing and out-of-date.
Some people had been prosecuted for misusing the scheme because it was difficult to understand, and it was hard to get information.
''It's been problematic for years.''
Family members were allowed to receive the payment, as long as they did not live in the same house.
It was hard to find suitable people available to work for $75 a day, which was not enough to pay for rest-home respite, she said.
''It's got stresses and strains at every angle.''
Ms Easterbrook feared the ruling might mean respite care becoming severely restricted because of the cost.
She believed the whole system needed to be reviewed.
Relief was essential for carers, who typically worked around the clock.
''Carers would just go round the bend without [respite].''
In a statement, the Service and Food Workers Union national secretary John Ryall said the decision affected more than 35,000 relief workers who allowed family carers a short break from looking after disabled or ill relatives.
''Without these workers, the family care system would fall over,''he told the Otago Daily Times the relief care system was the latest of the ''ghettoes of exploitation'' in health confronted by the union.
The union also took the precedent-setting Kristine Bartlett carer pay discrimination case, which was upheld in the Court of Appeal last year.
