May 08 - Grandparenting Forum NSW 2008 - a Huge Success!

The Grandparenting Forum NSW 2008 held in April was a huge success. Thank you to all those who contributed time and energy.

Over 200 participants attended with a mix of grandparents and service providers sharing information and working together thus ensuring the objectives of the event were reached. Indigenous grandparent representatives came from both regional and city areas and all states other than the Northern Territory were able to contribute to the base of knowledge.

While speakers delivered information from which to generate discussion, it was the grandparents who shared their stories that made the greatest impact. An understanding was reached of the issues faced by those grandparents raising their grandchildren, those denied access to their grandchildren and those providing informal child care.

The comment was made by one grandparent –

“What a privilege to be in a huge auditorium with so many grandparents and to feel at one with all of them. I identified closely with the experiences of grandparents raising their grandchildren and now have a greater understanding of the other situations and have had my eyes opened to the need to share our different experiences to aid our understanding of each other... What came out of the conference for me was a huge uplifting of spirit … and a powerful experience of solidarity.”

Outcomes of the Forum

1. A resounding agreement was reached that an Association/Affiliation of Grandparenting Support Groups and Services of some kind should be established and support was given to the proposal put forward by one granddaughter for a National Grandparent’s Day.

2. Recommendations from Workshops have provided information that will be compiled into a policy document for distribution later this year.

3. Requests have been made for further information sessions and networks of grandparents and service providers have been strengthened and broadened.

Papers delivered at the Forum will be available on this website by the end of May 2008.

Prof. Bettina Cass Research Presentation from the Forum

The Social Policy Research Centre at the University of NSW is undertaking a new research project into grandparents raising their grandchildren. This project has been funded by the Australian Research Council and will take place over a three year time period.