Geoffrey Pownall had thought his time with the Rotary Club was done.

An Australian model has issued a warning to women about a self-proclaimed fashion designer who allegedly groped, harassed and exploited models.

WATCH: Why this Auckland couple purposefully abandoned their four-bedroom house in Auckland and took to the streets...and why they prefer this lifestyle.

A man abused as a ward of the state 25 years ago is incensed about the $12,000 compensation offer made to him, saying it feels 'like a kick in the guts'.

Just over two years ago, Housing Minister Nick Smith announced that "this year" the Government was developing a housing warrant of fitness, writes Brian Rudman.

You'd be surprised just how hard it is to find a family willing to let a Herald writer snoop around their home and ask all sorts of intrusive questions about their substandard living conditions, writes Peter Calder.

Cold, damp housing is a significant issue facing children, with a paediatrician calling for more to be done to change the culture of accepting unfit houses.

Children are more likely to be in material hardship relative to the rest of the population in New Zealand than in any European country.

A bill aiming to give financial parity between the carers of foster children and children raised by their grandparents was passed in Parliament tonight but it wont take effect until 2018.

A mathematical model designed to predict children at risk of abuse will be trialled with data about children reported to Child, Youth and Family.

The Children's Commissioner wants a rethink of universal services so more public spending can go to the neediest families.

As a young boy, Daryl Brougham thought his name was Daryl Foster. He lived in at least 24 foster homes until the age of 18.

Some regions will "fail" economically and perhaps socially unless we help them to adjust, the Salvation Army says.

Police have asked welfare staff to look into the case of a mother who was allegedly drunk when she dropped her child at school.

More than 860 victims who were abused while in state care have been given the option of a fast-track settlement.

The petition comes as the Salvation Army said it fed 9.5 per cent more people last year in its Midland region than it did in the year before.

Lauren Knight recalls the night police visited her house after an anonymous bystander wrongly reported her for slapping her children.

A major shift to more voucher-type funding of social services, including health and education, is proposed in a new official report.

New welfare benefit figures confirm that New Zealand is splitting into two: Auckland and Christchurch, and everywhere else.

A cafe owner in the US who was 'heartbroken' to discover a homeless person was searching her rubbish for food has put up a sign inviting them to come inside for a free meal.

A pregnant mum of two has been left with less than $300 a week to feed and clothe her family after a formula for child support payments came into force.

Pressure to broaden the use of identification numbers attached to preschoolers has concerned the Privacy Commissioner.

The conservative Maxim Institute think-tank has joined the call for official targets to reduce child poverty.

Larger subsidies for first-home buyers and extended paid parental leave are among a raft of Government changes which kick in tomorrow.

Kelly Brown found a new "family" on the streets of Auckland after being removed from his biological family at the age of 7.

A tough new policy cracking down on beneficiaries with unresolved arrest warrants has resulted in the issuing of thousands of alerts.

Leading Maori tribes are lobbying to get first bidding rights for state houses when they start going up for sale this year.

It is difficult to erase the suspicion that the social housing policy is motivated by ideology as much as anything else, writes John Armstrong.

Why are we burdening some of the poorest mothers in the country with lifetime debts while writing off the tax debts of some of our richest citizens?

Latest figures show 309,145 people, or 11 per cent of the working-age population, were receiving a benefit at the end of December.