QA Forum

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

We were discussing Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
With Deanne O'Keefe and Anne Clarke

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’(June ‘03) estimate that there are 22, 500 grandparent families with children aged 0-17 years. The estimated total number of children in these families is around 31, 100. If the number included Indigenous families where many children are being cared for by a member of kin such as an aunt or a sibling: it would be through the roof.

Go to questions and answers

Some grandparents, who save and work towards a well earned retirement, find themselves parenting a second time round. The situation may be caused due to their adult child’s drug and alcohol misuse, death or imprisonment as well as mental or physical disability, child neglect, abuse or abandonment. Then, as in other Western countries, many Australian grandparents are faced with the unexpected decision to either put their grandchildren in foster care, or to take on the long term responsibility of their care. The challenge to provide for these children is immense: for the grandparent there is usually less money and less stamina, and for the children- behavioural and emotional problems may develop from the absence or loss of their parent.

Thanks to the love, support, wisdom and pure courage of these grandparents, the grandchildren have the chance to live the life they deserve.

Our forum is to raise awareness of this challenging issue for many Australians today, both young and old, and to inform people of the available support. Please read through the following questions and answers posted by the seniors.gov.au community, even if you are not a grandparent. Perhaps there is something you would like to ask one of our Experts, or perhaps there is something you would like to do to help. There are a range of useful resources for grandparents and grandchildren in Australia, or you can read a short background about each of the people who will be answering questions: Deanne O'Keefe (Grandparents and Grandchildren Society) or Anne Clarke (Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services).

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, who ever you are, you need one" (Jane Howard, author).

The following questions were answered: