Jenny Macklin
Woolies commended for food donations
Steve Lillebuen A move by supermarket giant Woolworths to boost its surplus food donations to the needy should prompt other companies to follow its lead, charities say.
Child abuse cases rise
Yuko Narushima More children are being reported abused or neglected, with more placed on protection orders and taken into care, a government report says.
Centrelink to go easy on older gay couples
Adele Horin The Federal Government has promised to take a compassionate approach to some elderly gay couples, and gay couples living in rural areas, who are affected by new social security laws.
Traditional owners reclaim Maralinga
Tim Dornin The final section of the former Maralinga nuclear test site in South Australia's north has been handed back to its traditional owners.
Thousands of parents face benefit suspension
Stephanie Peatling Tens of thousands of parents will have their family tax benefit payments stopped from January unless they lodge outstanding tax returns verifying their income.
Prison gangs start 'clean up' of camps
Prison gangs have started cleaning up the Alice Springs town camps, with Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin saying the work will benefit the communities.
Inspired approach eases pain in 'paradise'
Russell Skelton Olympic role model Cathy Freeman is ringing the changes for the children of Palm Island.
New funds for Alice Springs town camps
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has pledged new funds and services for indigenous people in Alice Springs town camps during a quick visit to the city.
Children's advocate call
Child welfare activists are pressing Canberra to create a national children's commissioner, more than five years after Labor promised to establish the post.
Indigenous poverty 'outrageous:' Amnesty
The poverty experienced by many Aborigines is as morally reprehensible as torture and must be eradicated, Amnesty International says.
Dodson wants income management to end
Susanna Dunkerley Compulsory income management is doing nothing to improve the wellbeing of Aborigines in Northern Territory communities, indigenous leader Mick Dodson says.
Govt fears more children being abused
Susanna Dunkerley and Melissa Jenkins The number of children on protection orders due to abuse and neglect has jumped by more than one third in recent years, a snapshot shows.
Risky families may face welfare controls
Catherine Best Families at risk of degenerating into breeding grounds for child abuse would have their welfare payments quarantined by the Victorian government.
Town camp residents lose court challenge
Kate Hagan The Federal Government will proceed with its $100 million plan to improve conditions in Alice Springs' town camps after a court yesterday rejected a legal challenge by indigenous residents.
Appeal against town camps takeover fails
Larine Statham A Federal Court decision to allow the federal government to take over town camps in Alice Springs has met criticism from town camp residents.
Disadvantaged 'demonised' in welfare money controls
Yuko Narushima Expanding income management across the country will demonise more people on flawed evidence of benefit to disadvantaged communities, welfare groups say.
Aboriginal kids on pot
Lindsay Murdoch Aboriginal children as young as eight are smoking marijuana, with the drug replacing petrol sniffing in some remote Northern Territory communities.
Welfare sector slams govt's income plan
Susanna Dunkerley Society's most vulnerable will suffer further disadvantage if the government pushes ahead with the rollout of compulsory income management, welfare groups warn.
Nation will apologise to abused and forgotten
Misha Schubert and Miki Perkins Advocates for the 500,000 Australians neglected or abused in state care as children will have a say on the content of the national apology to them next month.
Agency slams federal intervention
Aboriginal people are dealing with the same problems they faced before the federal intervention into remote indigenous communities, a justice agency says.
