A woman who was supposed to be at the Ashburton Work and Income office for a 9am appointment is counting her lucky stars she was late.

A public memorial service will be held in Ashburton in the next few days to pay tribute to Winz shooting victims Leigh Cleveland and Peggy Noble.

A private investigator will lose his practising certificate after being convicted of accessing the Work and Income database by impersonation.

Rotorua's Work and Income has been closed after a violent threat was made to staff over the phone.

Chilling new details have emerged about the terrifying moments when three women were shot at Ashburton's Work and Income office.

Half the people who walk into Work and Income offices get turned down for something and usually get upset, a former frontline worker says.

As the small town of Ashburton comes to grips with yesterday's horror shooting, locals are turning their attention to planning memorials to honour the slain.

Accused limps into court as police refuse to say if the weapon used in the shootings had been recovered, while another office is locked down after a threat.

Farmer Dan White knew a gunman was on the loose when he went to move a mob of sheep. He saw a man in a paddock 20m away.

The Social Development Ministry has apologised to a widow who was paid the wrong pension and then placed on "stand-down" after her husband died.

Most ACC clients who complain about their treatment by the accident insurer believe their grievances have been handled poorly by the corporation, a new Auditor General's report has found.

The Government is to extend its control of spending by young beneficiaries to all teen parents and many 18 and 19-year-olds.

A government crackdown on welfare fraud shows that $45 million has been saved by stopping thousands of illegitimate benefit payments in the past year.

100 low-income families were asked what they needed to get out of poverty. Here are their answers.

A South Dunedin man is calling for more support for people trying to start their own businesses.

Beneficiary advocates say Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is unfairly trying to paint beneficiaries as extravagant after she disclosed how many had benefits suspended for unapproved trips abroad.

Winz office staff are breaking into applause or sounding hooters when beneficiaries find work. The celebrations have been labelled patronising and embarrassing but Winz claims clients enjoy them.

Simon Collins takes a look at the 'state of our nation' report, a stock-take of New Zealand's social trends.

The Prime Minister's reaction to the latest survey of child poverty was predictable but misguided. It is not just about jobs.

More than 5300 benefits costing $56 million a year have been cut off due to an information sharing arrangement between government departments.

Work and Income New Zealand has apologised to a woman with a debilitating medical condition for placing her on a benefit requiring her to find work.

Rent increases have made all low-income groups in Auckland except superannuitants worse off in real terms than they were five years ago, according to the Salvation Army.

A solo mother has had her benefit halved, just eight weeks after having a new baby, because she failed to attend an appointment with Work and Income.

Fast-food giant McDonald's has been paid $272,000 by the Government to help unemployed people get back to work.

New measures to crack down on beneficiaries who have previously cheated the system will begin tomorrow.

Winz has admitted to bungling a job advertisement by asking applicants to submit a photograph of themselves along with their CV.

Older long-term unemployed people look set to lose out in a radical reshuffle of foundation education which will give higher priority to young people.

A woman who wanted to flee Christchurch after becoming embroiled with a gang and set fire in her own flat has been jailed for more than four years.

Work and Income has ordered a refugee mother with a 5-month-old baby to attend a seminar

Nearly a third of employees who find work, partly thanks to a Government subsidy for their employers, are not kept on once the money runs out.