NZ's child abuse rates are higher than anyone ever realised, officials admit, after bureaucrats bungled the numbers for more than two years.

New powers allowing welfare officials to secretly approach beneficiaries' banks or workplaces if they suspected them of committing fraud are being questioned.

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

Former residents of a home for troubled kids have launched a $500,000 lawsuit against the Govt for claims of physical and sexual abuse.

Nearly 100 beneficiaries on the run from police have had their welfare cut in the six weeks since the policy was introduced, says Social Development Minister Paula Bennett.

A major law change which will introduce compulsory security screening of up to 376,000 people working with children has been unanimously backed in Parliament.

Crusading doco-maker Bryan Bruce returns to TV screens this week to claim that New Zealand's middle class is subsidising the rich and the poor through a terrible tax burden.

The amount fines and reparations owed has dropped to the lowest level in almost a decade.

A doctor's certificate is often a ticket to social welfare. From this week it becomes a recipe for work. At least - that's the hope.

Mentally ill people will be moved off state-funded benefits and into work using private employment agencies who will earn hefty fees for the service.

Prisoners in privately run Mt Eden Corrections Facility were able to access the internet through faulty computer kiosks a security review of public sector computer systems has found.

A review of Government information systems' security found weak points in 12 agencies which have now been addressed.

A drug and alcohol educator says P-making chemicals are often stored in food and drink containers, within reach of unsuspecting children.

People who apply for a state house may be directed instead to a charitable housing provider under a bill introduced in the wake of this week's Budget.

The couple alleged to be at the centre of a $375,000 benefit scam can be named for the first time.

From drug-dealing grannies with a penchant for diamond rings to white collar fraudsters, those who profit from crime are in the crosshairs of police.

A couple alleged to have ripped off taxpayers to the tune of $375,000 in Work and Income payments have been allowed to keep their names secret for now.

A couple are alleged to have ripped off taxpayers by hundred of thousands of dollars in welfare payments for dental treatments that never happened.

Two people will appear in court in Auckland tomorrow charged over a benefit fraud involving up to $375,000.

An immigration fraudster stripped of his citizenship and barred from New Zealand owes taxpayers more than $150,000.

An advocacy service helping beneficiaries, believed to be the only one of its kind in Auckland, may have to shut after running for 22 years, following a cut in government funding.

Paula Bennett's reputation for being tough on beneficiaries is in jeopardy as figures reveal record high numbers on state financial support.

The number of sole parents on the domestic purposes benefit dropped by 5000 last year - a drop Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is attributing partly to her new policy requiring sole parents to get jobs when their youngest child turns five.

To be a truly free and democratic society there must be respect for the autonomy of individuals, writes Tim McBride. and limits on the activities of both state and private agencies which may intrude on that autonomy.

A government employee who was sacked after she accessed client records of Facebook 'friends' has won her job back until a full hearing can be held next year.