There is an urgent need for better recognition of grandparents who take primary responsibility for their
grandchildren, including greater financial support, better access to legal services and options for respite
said seniors advocate, COTA Australia.
In its submission to the Senate Inquiry into grandparents who take primary responsibility for raising their grandchildren, COTA asked members and older people to identify the biggest issues they faced. The
financial strain of raising grandchildren, cost of legal action and feeling socially isolated and unsupported topped the list.
“The Social Policy Research Centre estimates up to 63,520 grandparents have sole caring responsibility for their grandchildren in Australia,“ COTA CE Ian Yates said today.
“This is a huge gap being filled by older Australians because their parents are unable or unwilling to care
for them due to issues ranging from substance abuse to criminal conviction to serious mental illness.
“These grandparents want some kind of formal recognition of the vital role they play in society and in the
lives of their grandchildren.
“Many grandparents have already retired before taking on the caring role and struggle on fixed incomes
which then have to stretch to meet the needs of children too. Sadly, often grandchildren arrive with little
in the way of possessions, needing bedding, clothing, school uniforms and other school supplies.
“Legal costs can be significant if grandparents choose to assume full legal responsibility for their
grandchildren. Parents of the children often get legal aid but it’s not usually available to the grandparents because their assets are too high and costs quickly mount up.
“Support services and bureaucracies are difficult to navigate and access, with grandparents routinely
missing out on the benefits and assistance they’re entitled to receive because of a complicated system.
“They feel isolated and frustrated and right now there are only six grandparent liaison officers in
Centrelink trying to provide advice and information to every grandparent carer in the country.”
To address these issues COTA’s submission makes the following eight recommendations:
1. The Commonwealth, State and Territory governments recognise, through COAG and the
relevant Ministerial Councils, that grandparents raising grandchildren are a group requiring
specific assistance and that there needs to be a national approach to addressing their needs.
2. The Commonwealth Government review the Carer Recognition Act with a view to including
grandparent carers.
3. The Commonwealth Government provide funding for a national campaign to raise awareness of the
role of grandparents as primary carers of grandchildren and to help remove the stigma that is often
attached to them taking on this role.
4. The Commonwealth Government increase the number of grandparents advisers placed in Centrelink
to provide full national coverage and improve access to information and referral. The increase in
advisers should include a move to provide face to face meetings for more intensive support when
grandparents need it.
5. The Commonwealth ask the Australian Law Reform Commission to review the Family Law Act 1975 to
focus on the rights of the child, not of the parents.
6. The Commonwealth Government work with State and Territory Governments to review Legal Aid
criteria to look at ways to assist grandparents seeking custody of their grandchildren.
7. The Commonwealth work with States and Territories to improve access to appropriate mental health
and other support services for the treatment of traumatised children.
8. The Commonwealth work with the States and Territories to provide adequate crisis and respite
services tailored to the needs of grandparent carers.
“Grandparents who provide primary care provide a crucial safety net to tens of thousands of Australian
children who might otherwise end up being bounced from foster carer to foster carer,” Mr Yates said.
“I urge the Senate Inquiry to take a serious look at how they can be better supported in this critical role.”
Media contact: Ian Yates 0418 835 439, Jane Garcia 0434 489 533