NSW back-flips on foster care payment cuts (ABC 17/02/2012)
The New South Wales Government has reversed its decision to cut payments for foster carers looking after older teenagers.
Click here to view report here
TODAYTONIGHT Carers Funding Cut Story, Channel 7 Network (17/02/2012)
Grandparents raising grandchildren have recently faced a massive cut to their income, making them even more vulnerabe.
Click here to view story
Media Release. Liberals attacking foster and grandparent carers in NSW (2/02/2012)
The New South Wales Liberals have slashed $213 a fortnight from the already streached budgets of foster carers of teenagers aged 16 and over.
The Minister for Families, Jenny Macklin, and the Minister for Community Services, Julie Collins, today called on the NSW Government to reinstate these payments to foster caers of older teengers.
Click here for more information
Are you caring for your grandchildren full time?. Do you have questions about your rights, or the legal process?
The Kinship Care Regional Project and the Western Sydney Grandcarers are hosting a Legal Aid information session on Care & Protection Law
and Family Law on Friday 2nd March 2012.
Click here for more information
Circus Oz Grandparents Day, Jan 15th
2012,
Tumbalong Park Darling Harbour Sydney
(Special Offer for Grandparents ends Dec 23rd 2011)
January 15th 2012, is Grandparents Day at Circus Oz. The Circus Oz show is a rock-n-roll, animal free circus that grandparents and grandchildren can enjoy together. Grandparents can purchase Adult A-Reserve tickets at kids prices (only $41 per ticket) and free popcorn for everyone. Promotion Code: SENIOR
Call Ticketmaster on 136 1400.
Click here to read for Grandparents Day Circus Oz Flyer and more info
Click here to book online via Ticketmaster
Click here to view Ticketmaster Sydney locations
Grandparents Day Magazine
GDM was created
to provide the most up-to-date information particular to Australian
Grandparents and their place in today’s society and to enhance their individual
lifestyles in a stylish, glossy, online magazine. Grandparents are everywhere!
They come in all shapes, sizes, colours and cultures.
Click here for the latest Grandparents Day Magazine
MAKING PARENTS PAY CHILD SUPPORT A NEW STRESS FOR GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN:
COTA NSW Media Release
, Wednesday 30 November 2011
Measures announced on 24 November 2011 by the NSW Community Services Minister
Pru
Goward
will require grandparents raising grandchildren to apply to the Federal
Government’s Child Support Agency (CSA) for a child support assessment.
Grandparents could then receive a portion of the relinquishing parent’s
income or benefit. This measure is intended to relieve the financial
stress faced by these grandparents especially those on fixed incomes
however this new measure may have unintended consequences.
Parents to pay child support to relatives
(Josephine Tovey, SMH online
, 24/11/2011)
The parents of children who live with their grandparents or other family members will be compelled to pay child support in the same way as divorced parents under a new state government initiative.
Click Here to read more
Birth Parents Needs to Contribute to Their Children's Life Parents to pay child support to relatives
(Media Release, The Hon. Pru Goward MP Minister for Family and Community Services Minister for Women
, 24/11/2011)
"Birth parents should continue to take responsbility and contribute to their child's wellbeing in the same way as any other parent, whether they have relinquished the care of thier child or had their child removed from their care as a result of child protection concerns," Ms Goward said.
Click Here to read more
Online resource to help out-of-home carers (Oct 2011)
This new online resource will improve
carer's awareness of the supports and services available by bringing
togther information on Commonwealth and state and territory government
payments, supports and services and non-government services on one
webpage.
To access the online resource web page click here
NSW Grandparents Day 30th October, 2011 - Flyer and links:
On
Sunday 30
October 2011,
the NSW Government will officially recognise contributions of grandparents role to society. Celebrate your own way or join the various events organised.
Please click here for the flyer
or visit the NSW Department of Family and Community Services www.adhc.nsw.gov.au
NSW Grandparents Day 30th October, 2011 - Media Release:
COTA NSW is pleased that NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has
announced that NSW’s first Grandparents Day will be celebrated on
Sunday 30
October 2011.
As you know, COTA NSW has been advocating on behalf of
grandparents for many years. We are delighted to see grandparents’ contribution
to our community being recognised. Grandparents who raise grandchildren make a huge
difference to the lives of these children. These grandparents deserve the
community’s acknowledgement and its support.
Please click here for media release.
Connecting Carers NSW: Grandparent Luncheon (Penrith RSL) Monday 31st October, 2011.
Enjoy hand massages, lucky door prizes, raffles, free gifts and more. For further info please click here
National Kinship Care Forum Friday 18th November, 2011
.
A one day forum on kinship care "relationships across the Generations'. auspiced by the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) and supported by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales.
For further info please click here
Raising Grandchildrens Channel - View stories and news online:
The Raising Grandchildrens channel has a
selection of stories, clips and news reports on issues relating to
grandparent and relative carers.
Click here to view the Raising Grandchildren Channel news and stories online
(flash player required)
NSW Child Protection and Wellbeing Interagency Conference
.
This
event will be held in Sydney on
29-30
November 2011 at the
Crystal
Palace (Luna Park, Milsons Point). Don’t
miss out, put the date in your diary today. Registrations will open on 10
October.
For further info please click here
Grandparent of the year award - Grandparents Day Magazine
(www.grandparentsdaymagazine.com
, 04/07/2011)
The
Grandparent of the Year Award
has been created to
raise the profile of Grandparents in Australia by recognizing the
extraordinary contribution by a Grandparent to the family and the
community
.
Click here for more info.
Raising Kids at 70 - Channel 7 Network
(Today Tonight Program
, 20/06/2011)
A quick snapshot about grandparents raising grandchildren.
Click here to view the story on line
Grand Love - Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Book
(Judy Turner
, 20/06/2011)
In
Grand Love Judy Turner describes her own
experiences raising her 14 year old granddaughter from age 5. She
examines the enormous changes that grandparents face, the frustrating
legal and bureaucratic barriers they meet, the lack of assistance they
receive and the damage that some of the grandchildren suffer in the most
important early years of their lives.
Click here for more info on Judy Turner
A Guide to Grandparenting
(Your Life Choices
Newsletter
, 14/06/2011)
Maggie Beer may be a grandmother to five gorgeous grandchildren but
that doesn't mean she's getting ready to put her feet up and retire.
Click Here to read more
The Ties that Bind: Grandparents and Their Grandchildren
(ScienceDaily
, 13/05/2011)
The bond between grandparents and their grandchildren seems to be a
magical one, and now, a new article published in the April issue of
Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the
Association for Psychological Science, sets out to discover why
grandparents and their grandchildren share such strong connections
across generations.
Click Here to read the full story.
Playtime Helps Bind Generation
(ScienceDaily
, 14/02/2011)
A new study has confirmed an old adage: A family that plays together
stays together. Researchers from Concordia University and Wilfrid
Laurier University examined the ways grandparents can maintain close
ties with their adult grandchildren. True to the old maxim, recreation
emerged as the glue sealing intergenerational bonds.
Click Here to read the full story.
Listening to grandparents report
16/03/2011
In 2008 COTA (NSW) in partnership with the NSW Ministerial Advisory
Committee on Ageing (MACA) held a forum for Grandparents, this report is
the reflection of that Forum and as such is an important document
highlighting the issues facing our grandparent carers in NSW. In 2010,
COTA (NSW) launched the Listening to Grandparents Report with the
Minister for Ageing, the Hon Peter Primrose.
Click Here to read the full report.
A new era for grandparents raising their grandchildren, ACWA
eNews November 2010
After
a decade of advocating for grandparents, the Council of the Ageing NSW
(COTA) has identified 2010 as the year of grandparents being heard.
Two key outcomes of COTA NSW’s work are the launch of the
Listening to Grandparents report and the subsequent announcement of a Project Officer position within COTA NSW; and the launch of the
Informal Relative Caregivers Statutory Declaration.
These initiatives bring some relief to grandparent carers and we hope
will enable a more coordinated approach to recognising the role they
play in raising their grandchildren.
Grandparenting
: present and future
, Families Australia Family Issues Series No. 2 Report 2007.
Families
Australia’s Expert Forum at The Australian National University and
other consultations and research found that many grandparents,
especially those with primary caring responsibilities for grandchildren,
would benefit from additional financial, social and emotional support,
and from better targeted information about how to get help. There are
also inconsistencies in the way custodial grandparents are supported
both within and across State/Territory jurisdictions depending on the
manner in which children come into grandparent care.
COTA National Seniors Research,
July 2003
In
February 2003 the Federal Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, the
Hon Larry Anthony asked COTA National Seniors1 to talk to grandparents
who are raising their grandchildren about:
-
their existing support mechanisms
-
what additional support they may require
-
the financial and legal issues they may be facing and
-
any concerns they may have about the wellbeing of their grandchildren.
The
project was funded from the Commonwealth Government’s Child Abuse
Prevention Program which aims to prevent child abuse by funding various
activities that promote positive parenting and help families cope with
the different demands of raising children. The focus for this project
was on:
-
Grandparents raising grandchildren full-time (and did not include grandparents who provide childcare)
-
Grandparents
who are primary carers for extended periods, for example, grandparents
of grandchildren considered to be at risk when their parents have a
mental illness.
Click here to read full research