Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the tens of thousands of Australians who give primary care to their grandchildren without the acknowledgment or support that accompanies formal custody arrangements. It is acknowledged that grandparents have in the recent past made up almost 80 per cent of all relative carers. The majority of these families whose households within which children are cared for by the grandparents have been formally acknowledged by Australian governments through the involvement of the statutory care and protection system, whether that be the Family Court or the youth court. Sometimes the role of these grandparents is recognised by the states and federal governments but this is not always the case.

In mid-2003 there were more than 22,000 Australian children who were living with their grandparents outside of the statutory care and protection system. We are looking at families that are very similar to those with formal custody arrangements in terms of their needs, be they the needs of the children or the grandparents who are providing them with care. But due to circumstances they lack the official recognition received by the families whose arrangements have been noted by a court. Consequently, in caring for their grandchildren these carers encounter problems for which they receive no credit—costs to which they are entitled, no assistance, and barriers over which they receive no help.

Grandparents lack the access to financial assistance in the form of the health care card, family tax benefit, pensions, youth payments and carer payments and allowances. Childcare benefits and the like are similarly problematic. Those services and income support could help them in their parenting role. How will grandparents who have not been in receipt of the mature age allowance, which is no longer available to new applicants, be able to satisfy job-seeking responsibilities while caring for a child without support? It is quite a worry, quite frankly, to think that people in their late 50s, early 60s or older who may have come towards the end of their working life are facing the requirement of the government to continue to walk the streets looking for any job, irrespective of their chances, probably after many years of having parenting responsibilities and the necessities of the family home—cooking and encouraging sporting activities and academic advancement—potentially for multiple children.

Australian community and disability services ministers met in Brisbane for a conference in July this year to discuss a range of issues pertaining to families, people with disabilities and the provision of children’s services and child protection. The South Australian Minister for Families and Communities, Jay Weatherill, recommended that, in pursuit of rectifying the lack of support made available to grandparents caring for their grandchildren, all jurisdictions review the legislation, policy and eligibility criteria that currently prevent grandparents who informally care for their grandchildren from accessing services and income support. It was a terrific outcome—a unanimous decision in support of the grandparents being recognised for their caregiver role. I would like to congratulate the minister, Jay Weatherill, on concentrating the nation’s attention on this area of concern and on satisfactorily, it seems, overcoming any resistance or apathy from all Australian governments and working to overcome the limitations that have been penalising many thousands of grandparents and grandchildren for many years.