MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday April 10th 2013
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren provide Minister with valuable advice
Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has today announced the setting up of a Ministerial Reference Group charged
with providing options for extra financial assistance for grandparents raising grandchildren on a full time basis. This
extra assistance was foreshadowed in the White Paper on Vulnerable Children released in 2012.
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Trust NZ (GRG) has been asked to be a member of the Reference Group to be chaired by
Katherine Rich. Speaking from Wellington where the Trust is holding its annual training conference, Trust Chair Diane
Vivian said “we are thrilled to be invited to be part of the Minister’s Reference Group and welcome the opportunity to
represent the interests of our 5,320 members on this important matter.”
Minister Bennett says that GRG has “already provided excellent information to inform the process through a member
survey”.
The Minister has asked the Reference Group to report back to her in August this year. Diane Vivian says “we are pleased
with the time-frame as there is a real need for the extra assistance for our member families.”
The Ministerial Reference Group will also include representatives from NZ First, the National Party, Foster care and
iwi.
ENDS