Kiwis who have until now hidden their gender diversity are taking courage from the transformation of Bruce into Caitlyn Jenner.

If National's gender-issue problems were limited to an ageing MP in superhero fancy dress offending women with bawdy jokes, it could count itself lucky. But it can't.

Sleep is an essential part of our development and wellbeing. It is important for learning and memory, emotions and behaviours, as well as our general health.

We must create strategies to address negative ethnic stereotypes which result in too many tamariki put into care, writes Anton Blank.

"These kids just need a chance, it's really hard at 17, they are too old to be in the system but too young to have rights."

The Government's 2015 Budget had at its centerpiece a push towards "compassionate conservatism", writes Michael Timmins. While more compassion is indeed welcome, the end result is mere tokenism.

Fixing child abuse and neglect is all about building relationships with families in need, social workers say.

Fixing child abuse and neglect is all about building relationships with families in need, social workers say.

I'm always surprised that people feel they have a right to walk into any bar or any club in town as if they own the place, writes Kerre McIvor.

A mob of schoolboys turned on a 19-year-old picking his little sister up from school when he tried to stop them attacking a younger student.

Maybe one day, a small, single-window office above a Karangahape Rd cafe will be celebrated as the place where the New Zealand Revolution began.

When nurse Sara Jones' paid parental leave ends eight weeks from now, she and husband Gareth face a serious dilemma.

We demand action. But equally we should be dispassionate and rational in demanding measures that seek to prevent these things occurring, writes Jarrod Gilbert.

Selfie queen Karen Danczuk has revealed she is bisexual after claims a former partner had threatened to expose her.

Auckland's red-hot housing market is changing the face of the modern family.

A generation of Kiwis are increasingly faced with a stark choice.

Before last week, we had a bunch of laws that attempted to mitigate just some of the harmful effects of free and easy alcohol purchasing and consumption.

Angry patrons of a suburban cafe brought their own chairs along for a "sip-in" after its popular street-side seating was removed to meet Auckland Council rules.

More than $450,000 of hardship relief in water bills has been granted in the three years since radical changes to the way Aucklanders pay for water.

Ham on the bone, party hats and crackers were just some of the treats on offer yesterday at a festive gathering for people who sleep rough in Auckland.

It all started when a "self-taught engineer, extreme introvert, science-nerd, anime-lover, college dropout" wrote that she was tired of stereotypes.

US pop star Demi Lovato has urged US retailers not to censor the latest issue of Cosmopolitan, which features the singer flaunting her figure in a revealing dress.

I'd like to see the Conservation Minister visit the sub-Antarctic region, perhaps for her Christmas holidays, writes Paul Charman.

It does not hurt you to raise a hand to acknowledge this small act, to say thank you for making my day just that teensy bit better. In other words: common courtesy.

Forget the hikoi and library training, the answer the council needs is in Utah - and it's quite straightforward, writes Brian Rudman.

A photographer has teamed up with a group of plus-size women in order to reclaim the word "fat" and remove the negative stigmas that are currently connected with it.

In reality, the possibility of courtesy lies within every single social interaction, writes Shelley Bridgeman. But have old-fashioned good manners gone missing?

I saw a pregnant lady on the bus offer her seat to an elderly lady. Meanwhile, college teenagers were going about their conversations.

According to the International Lesbian and Gay Association, 2.79 billion people still live in countries where being gay is a crime.