One of Australia’s leading community service organisations, Mission Australia, has called for increased government and community action to help manage the emerging social phenomenon of grandparents taking on the role of primary carers of their grandchildren.

Mission Australia spokesperson, Anne Hampshire, said the numbers of grandparent-carers in Australia was highly likely to be underestimated and required a diverse mix of responses to help individuals and families in this situation cope better.

“According to the official statistics, there are 22,500 Australian families where grandparents are the primary carers of the grandkids. These grandparents look after more than 31,000 children,” said Ms Hampshire.

“We believe these figures significantly underestimate the true picture out there, and as a result, Government policies aimed at supporting grandparent-carers are lagging behind, and subsequently, so are the number of services available.

“The majority of grandparents find themselves caring for their grandchildren unexpectedly. Often it’s because of parental substance abuse; parental incarceration, mental health issues, child neglect/abuse, domestic violence or the death of a parent.

“Taking on such a ‘hands on’ role – at a time when most people are retiring and taking it easy – can be a major strain, financially and emotionally.

“As almost two-thirds of grandparent families rely on a government pension, benefit or allowance as their main source of income, many find themselves tapping into their lifetime assets and savings as they attempt to support their grandchildren.

“Grandparent-carers can also get caught up in draining legal battles over child custody and family conflict; others struggle with kids who exhibit the behavioural effects of parental abuse or neglect; while some lose their social circle – it’s hard to maintain friendships with other older people who are enjoying retirement and not caring full-time for their grandchildren.

“Any one of these factors – or in combination – can have a large impact on grandparents’ physical and mental health.

“What we’re witnessing is the emergence of a new social phenomenon, not just in Australia, but internationally – and it’s only going to become more common. Governments and the community need to look at what extra support can be provided to help grandparents ‘doing it tough’ simply because they’ve done the right thing by their grandkids.”

Mission Australia recommends the Commonwealth expand effective services similar to its own Grandparents Project – a program it runs in partnership with the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in Nowra (NSW).

“Mission Australia’s Grandparents Project has been operating since 2004 and assists around 50 grandparents, who care for approximately 40 grandchildren, at a time,” said Ms Hampshire.

“We know it works from the research we’ve undertaken with grandparents who are part of the program. It’s been invaluable in providing them with guidance in raising their grandchildren, helping them deal with stress, addressing legal difficulties and giving them access to a social network of other people in the same situation.

“We think rolling out programs similar to this in other areas around the country would be extremely beneficial, particularly in regards to providing grandparent-carers with the social and legal support they so often need.

“We welcome the fact that Governments are thinking about this problem – at last year’s roundtable of Community and Disability Services Ministers it was agreed a co-ordinated response was needed to support grandparent-carers.

“Mission Australia is also part of a research partnership with the Social Policy Research Centre (UNSW); the Commonwealth Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs; and the NSW, SA and NT Governments to undertake a three year study into the issues facing grandparent-carers and identify the policies that will better support this group.

“But there’s greater room for action and Mission Australia believes governments and the community need to be more aware of this steadily growing trend in our society,” said Ms Hampshire.
Media contact: Paul Andrews (02) 9219 2080 or 0409 665 495

View Mission Australia’s new ‘snapshot’ publication, Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren.

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