A man who denies indecently assaulting a girl during a school holiday programme can be named today.

COMMENT: Stuart Nash is right. That gangs continue to thrive in this country is - as he says - "totally unacceptable", writes Rachel Smalley.

Police were called after school holiday programme staff noticed a man talking to a child in the playground.

How likely young New Zealanders are to be "on track" at age 21 has been mapped using a powerful government database.

Almost 100 young people will get free restricted licences in Taumarunui, getting them off the street and into employment. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

A 71-year-old man on the waiting list for a state house said he was told to "live in his car and then call back" to speed up the process of getting a home.

Quake-affected businesses in Wellington and Hurunui have been given a boost with the announcement that support subsidies will be extended.

WATCH: Families are facing a bleak Christmas in cramped motel rooms that are costing taxpayers thousands of dollars each week.

The new State Services Commissioner was once one of the highest paid public servants but is now promising a "conservative approach" to pay rises for chief executives.

The Ministry of Social Development is awaiting sentencing on breach of health and safety legislation after the 2014 Ashburton Work and Income office killings.

Prime Minister John Key is resisting growing pressure to further investigate historical child abuse in state care.

COMMENT: Note to Minister of Social Development Anne Tolley: Try stopping being a politician for a minute, and just listen.

A prominent judge has come out swinging after Social Development Minister Anne Tolley ruled out apologising for the abuse of children

Almost 80 children have died in the care of the New Zealand state in the past 15 years - an average of five a year.

Businesses in quake-hit areas will be paid to keep on staff for at least eight weeks, the Govt says.

Emergency housing funding marks the Government's acceptance that it must ensure every New Zealander has adequate shelter.

Are the National Government and Murray McCully guilty of corruption? The official verdict is now in, but not everyone agrees.

Are you angry about the widening gap between rich and poor? Or are you sceptical about the stats?

Young people in state care will soon have a right to stay in or return to care until they turn 21.

Government denies that new rules requiring community agencies to share basic client data with the Government for funding amount to "surveillance".

Women's refuges, church agencies and other community groups will soon have to hand over their client details to the Government in

Budgeting agencies are "in shock" after a radical shakeup which has ended state funding for a third of all previously funded budget

COMMENT: Recent cases indicate violence between and against children is widely accepted.

A youth was shot directly outside her gate, but Housing New Zealand would not find her and her three young children a new home.

Teens were unlawfully detained for weeks on end in the seclusion wing of a youth justice facility run by Child Youth and Family, according to its own senior staff.

Minister Anne Tolley says the UN Rights of the Child committee in Geneva asked her 250 questions but only one on child poverty.

With gangs deeply ingrained in Hawke's Bay, a new government initiative to steer youth away from them could provide lasting benefit

Vulnerable children will be placed in foster care more quickly, and their foster parents will get more flexible pay, under law changes outlined today.

COMMENT: The rewrite of the Social Security Act is a good time to abolish the sanctions altogether.

Housing NZ has bought a motel to help meet the area's housing shortage - but the existing residents will have to move out to make room for the homeless.