Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Grandparents are the future
Grandparents - we can learn from their mistakes and flourish in their kindness. Grandparents have much to offer within their own family and beyond.
COTA NSW have recognised the growing role grandparents play in the upbringing of children, often providing full-time childcare, or in some cases, being the main carer when a parent can’t cope.
When families break down, many grandparents are separated from their grandchildren and are often at a loss as to how to rectify the situation. COTA can provide information and support to those trying to seek resolution.
Four main areas in which COTA offer support are
• Grandfriends - volunteers in primary schools - Intergenerational connections
• Grandparents Raising Children - supporting Grandparents who are carers
• Information and support for Grandparents separated from their grandchildren
• Information and education for grandparents in need
Although based in NSW, their information is available to all by calling them on 02 9286 3860 or emailing on . You can also access information via their website, www.cotansw.com.au
Grandparenting program
COTA (NSW) is holding a grandparenting forum in April, offering information and support for grandparents who are providing childcare or who perhaps have been denied access to their grandchildren following a family breakdown.
COTA (NSW) runs a grandparenting program providing information, resources and support through its information package and website, where you can find out reliable information about available services and benefits.
The grandparenting forum will be held 7–8 April 2008 at The Wesley Centre, Pitt Street, Sydney. The forum will look at policy, research and service provision issues in the area of grandparenting. For more information on COTA’s grandparenting program, click here.
To access the grandparenting information package, contact COTA (NSW) on (02) 9286 3860, email or download copies and find similar information by clicking here.
Family support
Relationships Australia offers support and resources for families, acknowledging their changing nature and highlighting some of the stresses and strains on grandparents who may be taking on primary responsibility for the upbringing of their grandchildren.
Grandparents can also find themselves strained financially should they have to bear the costs of supporting children when their own incomes may be limited or fixed. This stress, plus the social costs of being left with such responsibility that their own lives and interests get put on hold as well as their need to access government services and, sometimes, legal aid, can all add up to a very different life than the one they’d imagined for themselves.
Relationships Australia estimate that around 12,000 children between 0 and 14- years-old are living with their grandparents but not their parents, but these figures don’t include situations where children are living apart from parents due to Family Court Orders, or the informal caregiving arrangements many families now have. For more information on Relationships Australia’s services and publications, click here
Background
Grandparents sometimes take on the primary care and responsibility of their grandchildren on a full-time basis. In fact, some 22,000 Australian families have grandparents assuming the parenting role. Many who take on this role will need information on services and support available, including information on respite, financial assistance, medical care and legal matters.
For an introductory overview of the issues facing grandparents with the primary caring role of their grandchildren, see the COTA document Myth Busters.
In 2003, there was a series of forums and a survey facilitated by COTA National Seniors Partnership. The focus of the project was grandparents raising grandchildren full-time or as primary carers for extended periods. The report is available in several formats at this Family and Community Services page.
Grandparents raising grandchildren can access relevant Centrelink information here. Are you a parent or guardian?
Financial Assistance
The following information is an overview of federal government assistance for grandparents caring for their grandchildren. It has been reproduced, with permission, from Winter 2005, Issue 62 of News for Seniors.
Increasing numbers of grandparents today are taking on the care of their grandchildren when parents, for one reason or another, are unable to care for their children. If you are a grandparent in this situation, you may be eligible for assistance with the additional costs associated with caring for your grandchild.
To get assistance, grandparents do not necessarily need to have court ordered responsibility for their grandchild/ren, but they will need to have the day-to-day care and responsibility for them. They may also need to meet other eligibility requirements such as income and residency tests to qualify for assistance.
What family assistance is available?
The following payments are available through the Family Assistance Office to help grandparents with their caring responsibility:
- Family Tax Benefit Part A helps with the cost of raising children and is paid per child.
- Family Tax Benefit Part B is extra assistance for single parent families and families with one main income. It is paid per family.
- Child Care Benefit helps with the costs of approved or registered childcare.
- Grandparent Child Care Benefit covers the fill cost of approved childcare for up to 50 hours per child per week for grandparent carers who receive an income support payment from Centrelink or the Department of Veterans' Affairs.
- Maternity Payment is a non-income tested payment to help with the costs of a new baby. It is paid if you have care of a newborn child within 13 weeks of the birth and are likely to continue to have care for no less than 13 weeks.
- Maternity Immunisation Allowance is a non-income tested payment to encourage immunisation of children. It is for children between 18 and 24 months of age who have been fully immunised.
For more information about the assistance available to help you care for your grandchild, call the Family Assistance Office on 13 6150 or visit the Family Assistance website.
Other assistance available
As well as the family assistance above, you may be entitled to extra benefits such as:
- Health Care Card which enables you to get concessional health care and prescription medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for the child/ren in your care.
- Parenting Payment is an income support payment for a person with the primary care of a child aged under 16.
- Double Orphan Pension is available to a person with primary care of a child meeting the criteria of an orphan.
For more information about these forms of assistance call the Family Assistance Office on 13 6150 .
- Carer Allowance is payable for a child who has a physical, intellectual or psychiatric disability and requires extra care. The disability must be permanent or likely to continue for an extended period.
- Carer Payment (child) may also be payable in additional to Carer Allowance if you are caring for a profoundly disabled child.
For more information on these forms of assistance call Disability, Sickness and Carers on 13 2717 .
For more information about this form of assistance call Youth & Student Services on 13 2490 .
You can also visit the Centrelink website at http://www.centrelink.gov.au.
Means tests apply to most Centrelink payments, so that any financial support for the grandchildren such as Child Support payments impact on the grandparents' own Centrelink entitlements. If the grandparents are self-funded retirees or still in the workforce, their income is taken into consideration in the means test for Family Tax Benefits for the grandchildren, and therefore couples especially may not be eligible for any payment.
Generally the benefits for the child are means-tested so if the grandparent carer has life-savings it can lead to being excluded from Centrelink payments, legal aid, a Health Care Card and other concessions.
Legal Matters
Children are frequently in permament care through informal arrangements with relatives rather than through legal processes. Wirhout a legal relationship a natural parent can at any time resume custody of the child. Also, those caring for the child may lack the authority to make decisions for the child in such matters as education and medical needs.
Courts Orders about children can be made by the Family Court. If done with consent of the parties ('consent order') it can be a simple and inexpensive process. If the matter is contested in court it can be quite expensive.
The website of the Family Court of Australia (Family Court) provides comprehensive information on the laws involved, the courts concerned and the procedures and the issues. There are also many brochures, do-it-yourself kits, information on fees and costs of proceedings, forms, court locations, judgments, and a good deal more. Counselling and mediation are also provided by the Court.
Some matters may be determined in the The Federal Magistrates Court of Australia (Federal Magistrates Court). The objective of the Federal Magistrates Court is to provide a simpler and more accessible alternative to litigation in the superior courts and to relieve the workload of those courts.
If you can reach agreement with the parents you do not have to do anything else. However, to avoid the problems which can arise from informal arrangements you can have a binding arrangement by asking the Family Court or the Federal Magistrates Court to make parenting orders by consent and you don't have to go to court to do this. This is currently the usual way of making the arrangement binding. Alternatively you can prepare a parenting plan and when registered with the Family Court or Federal Magistrates Court it becomes legally binding.
If agreement cannot be reached with the parents then application can be made to the Family Court for a parenting order or concent order. This is a court order stating who has particular responsibilities for the child. The main types of parenting orders are:
- Residence – says with whom the child will live.
- Contact – says with whom the child will have contact.
- Specific issues – an order about any other aspect of parental responsibility such as education, religious upbringing, health care and discipline.
Residence, contact and
specific issues orders replace the orders that under the previous law were made for
guardianship, custody and
access.
For more on parenting orders see this page of Family Law Online. Also check Family Court of Australia website for parenting orders and parenting plans.
Go there
Legal Assistance
If you don't know how to get legal advice or find a family lawyer, the Law Society in your State or Territory can help. If you think you may be eligible for legal aid contact your nearest Legal Aid office for advice. If you are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander you can also contact your local Aboriginal and Islander Legal Service.
State and Territory Law Society websites:
Law Society of the Australian Capital Territory
Law Society of New South Wales
Law Society of the Northern Territory
Queensland Law Society
Law Society of South Australia
Law Society of Tasmania
Law Institute of Victoria
Law Society of Western Australia
All States and Territories have legal aid offices which may be able to help you resolve your case and possibly represent you in court. If you are granted legal aid you may be asked for a financial contribution based on your income.
State and Territory legal aid services and Aboriginal legal services.
The National Association of Community Legal Centres (NACLC) is the association of State and Territory community legal centre organisations in Australia. There is a list of all Community Legal Centres on their website.
Grandparent Support Organisations
The State and Territory seniors information services can help you get in touch with appropriate government departments and other organisations.
Australian Capital Territory
- ACT Grandparents Support Group
Ph (02) 6287 4255 - Marymead Grandparents Support Project
Ph (02) 6162 5800 - Non Custodial Parents Association
Ph (02) 6292 1121 - ACT Seniors Information Service
Ph (02) 6282 3777
New South Wales
- Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Ph (02)9284 3860 or 1800 449 102 - Grandparenting
Ph (02) 9286 3860 - Grandparents and Grandchildren Society Australia Incorporated (G.A.G.S.)
Ph (02)6652 5545 - Grandparents Support Group
Ph (02) 4341 7640
- GRANS
Ph (0418) 622 120 Western Sydney Grandcarers
Ph (02) 4721 4410
- Bowral
Ph (02) 4883 4375 - Moss Vale
Ph (02) 4869 4680 (AH) - Tallong
Ph (02) 4841 0350 - Wollongong
Ph (02) 4229 1079 - Woodenbong
Ph (02) 6635 1373
Northern Territory
- Child Support Action Group
Ph (08) 945 0106
- NT Seniors
Ph (08) 8941 1004
Queensland
Grandparents and Grandchildren Society
- Cairns
Ph (07) 4054 4129 - Crows Nest
Ph (07) 4698 1772 - Gympie
Ph (07) 5482 9012
- Hervey Bay and Maryborough
Ph (07) 5483 1212 - Toowoomba
Ph (07) 4698 1772 - Townsville
Ph (07) 4774 0742 - Wooloowin
Ph 0401 969343 - Beaudesert
Ph (07) 3359 1020
Off Our Rockers:
- Brisbane
Ph (07) 3359 1020 - Gold Coast and Lismore
Ph (02) 6635 1373
South Australia
Tasmania
- COTA Tasmania
Ph(03) 6228 1897 - Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Ph (03) 6223 2937 - Off Our Rockers
Ph (03) 6272 6239
Victoria
Western Australia
Notes:
Grandparenting (NSW) is a service of Council On The Ageing (NSW) to provide grandparent support.
Grandparents and Grandchildren Society Australia Incorporated (G.A.G.S.) aims to help alleviate the feelings of loneliness, isolation and isolation from one's peer group. This is achieved through promoting regular social interaction via meetings, functions and general get-togethers where people can share information. A database of phone contacts and a regular newsletter are available. GAGS offers telephone support and access to Group Leaders in times of crisis. GAGS are also able to link or refer you to appropriate people or resources who are best suited to provide the right help, advice or assistance.
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Group was established in 1999 by a group of grandparents with the support of the Anglicare Family Support Team and the Onkaparinga Council. These grandparent carers became aware of a range of difficulties unique to grandparents when they took on the full-time care of their grandchildren. The main objective of the group is to provide a friendly, informal and confidential venue where grandparents can support each other in this role.
Marymead Grandparents Support Project is a partnership between Marymead Child and Family Centre, Canberra Mothercraft Society and Relationships Australia. The program has been developed to help grandparents who are raising or who play a significant role in raising their grandchildren, for whatever reason. Some grandparents are caring for their grandchildren informally; others have an order from the Family Court and others are "kinship carers", caring for their grandchildren by arrangement with the local child protection authorities.
The Mirabel Foundation assists children who have been orphaned or abandoned due to parental illicit drug use. Presently operating in Victoria, Mirabel is planning to expand into NSW. It has published a book When the children arrive... - A Resource Book for Kinship Carers which is available online at this FACS page.
Seniors Information Services and the Seniors Inquiry Line are operated by the State divisions of COTA and can provide information about support groups and support services for grandparents raising their grandchildren.
Western Sydney Grandcarers meet twice a month in Penrith, NSW. The group was established in September 2002 and provides a venue for support and information sharing between grandparents raising their grandchildren in a safe, confidential and non judgmental environment. Childcare for pre school children is provided, allowing grandparents to sit and have a cuppa and a chat with others in their situation.
Child Protection Authorities/Government Assistance
Child protection authorities: those State Government departments or statutory authorities charged under State legislation with the care and protection of children. All the State/Territory departments also offer parenting advice. Australian Government
Centrelink Social Workers can provide counselling to grandparents raising grandchildren. Phone Centrelink Appointments 13 1021 or go to a Centrelink Customer Service Centre.
Family Assistance Office (FAO) phone 13 6150 for the location of your nearest Office or visit their website.
Australian Capital Territory
Department of Education, Youth & Family Services
New South Wales
Department of Community Services (DoCS)
Northern Territory
Department of Health and Community Services (DHCS)
Queensland
Department of Families
South Australia
Department for Families and Communities
Tasmania
Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS)
Victoria
Department of Human Services (DHS): Community Care Division
Western Australia
Department for Community Development
