Turner Judy: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Turner Judy: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:649;Page:17695] 
JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
: 
 Over the last 6 years United Future has been the proverbial dripping tap in the ear of the Minister for Social Development and Employment on the issue of grandparents raising grandchildren and of kinship caregivers. We were absolutely delighted when it was announced in the Budget that with the aim of achieving better outcomes for these families an additional $24.6 million will be given to 7500 caregivers who are caring for more than 10000 children. This new funding will apply to those who will have been receiving up to 1 April 2009 the unsupported child’s benefit and the orphans benefit. That core benefit will match the foster care allowance and I thank the Government for hearing that call because I know it means a lot to those people. 
However—and I have already said this to the Minister—United Future does not feel that we have quite finished this call for help for these people yet. There are still some areas where foster parents benefit in a way that kinship caregivers will currently still miss out on and that covers the allowances that foster-care parents get—additional amounts that they get to supplement children’s pocket money school uniforms doctors’ visits etc. There is a whole host of other additional payments that foster parents can get for the children they care for that are still unavailable to kinship caregivers such as grandparents raising grandchildren. 
People have asked whether we should pay family members to look after their own. That is the ethical issue around this. The case that United Future has tried to make on this question is to flip it around and ask what it would cost us if we did not support these people to do the job they have nobly stepped up to the plate to do. That is a much more interesting question from an economic point of view. When we talk to grandparents raising grandchildren—to people like Diane Vivian who is one of the unsung heroes of this nation—we discover that these people largely look after seriously traumatised children. These are children who have been at serious risk of harm. Half of the time Child Youth and Family has made the approach to the grandparents and said: “Would you please consider stepping up to the plate at least for a short period of time?”. Some of these grandparents took on children for what was going to be a couple of weeks and 3 years later they still have them and have finally figured out it is a permanent arrangement. 
These people lose a season of their lives. If they are in their late 40s or 50s they quite often lose that season of their lives where they would be putting away some money in a nest egg for their retirement; that season is gone and they are at home looking after children who need additional care as a result of what they have been through. If they are superannuitants then the strain is even more phenomenal. These people make decisions every week about whether to fill their prescription or to pay school fees for their grandchildren. These people often live in fear; they have been threatened by family members who have lost income due to them stepping up to the plate and taking care of those children. These people pay a price socially. They tell us they no longer fit with their peers because they have grandchildren in tow among a group of people who no longer have the care of young children. They do not fit comfortably with the parents of their grandchildren’s friends because they are from a different generation. They can experience a huge amount of isolation. 
These are people for whom half of the time their greatest worry is: “Will I live long enough to fulfil the obligation I have now committed myself to?”. We are talking about literally thousands and thousands of households not 100 or 200 of grandparents raising grandchildren doing a very good job and the best they can and the last thing they need is to be struggling financially. They have enough pressure with the job they have taken on. So although we congratulate the Government on hearing our call and making an adjustment so that grandparents in this situation will now get the same base rate as foster-care parents we call on the Government—and I think it even falls on the National Party which is polling very well—to state very clearly what it is prepared to do into the next financial year for grandparents raising grandchildren. Will they offer the additional allowances that other foster-care parents get? 
One of the other issues that needs to be considered for these people is respite care. They sometimes have very few options for having someone look after the children for a weekend or even a week or two so they can get a much-needed break. It really is something that United Future is concerned about going forward. We are glad for this gain but we call on the Government to look to the additional needs. 
Vote agreed to.