About one in six Australians cannot afford to rent a home, with young families - especially single parents with children - among the worst affected, new reports show.

A legal high lobbyist says synthetic cannabis is a low-risk psychoactive substance that had not caused any death and was statistically safer than alcohol.

Guilt-ridden working parents who worry they don't spend enough quality time with their kids should relax, according to experts.

Budgeting services are facing cuts and New Zealand's only hostel for asylum seekers may have to close because of the ending of a government scheme.

As a conference this weekend looks at how racism affects Auckland, Susan Edmunds examines the progress we have made and the work left to do.

The pay divide between men and women has widened by another 80c an hour since the turn of the millennium.

A state house with 19 people living in it has been identified as one of the homes receiving more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded benefits each year.

New Zealand communities are battling to rid themselves of synthetic cannabis - with the Government's promised solution months away.

Migrant groups aren't convinced New Zealand is a racist country, despite a new poll indicating overwhelmingly that it is.

Colin Craig is New Zealand's answer to Ali G, writes Toby Manhire. "Colin Craig" is a fictional character, a circus clown, a satirical device.

Courts can make mistakes. The High Court at Auckland has surely made an egregious one in a case we have reported today.

It has all the hallmarks of an acrimonious divorce battle.

Celebrants already have marriage bookings for gay couples who were confident it would become legal.

The sponsor of a bill to make gay marriage legal thanked her "darling" partner before a historic vote on the last step towards marriage equality.

Parliament has passed a law legalising gay marriage, 77 votes to 44, amid loud shows of jubilation from the floor and gallery.

The sponsor of a bill to make gay marriage legal has thanked her "darling" partner, ahead of an historic vote on the last step towards marriage equality.

Dame Susan Devoy admits it will "take time to understand a Maori viewpoint" - and promises her actions as Race Relations Commissioner will speak louder than her words.

The Government says there are 29,000 fewer Kiwis receiving benefits since the last quarter - including hundreds who had theirs cut after being caught claiming them unfairly.

A subsidy that has helped to insulate about one in every six low-income homes looks likely to be cut back in next month's Budget to a more targeted scheme.

The Government has been urged to introduce facial-recognition technology for poker machines to restrict problem gamblers as part of an overhaul of gambling laws.

New Zealand's infant mortality rate has fallen to 4.2 in the latest Statistics NZ figures for 2012.

New welfare reforms will address the "major" issue of beneficiaries being unable to pass drug tests to get a job, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.

With four children, solo father Jamie le Bas has the odds stacked against him.

Paula Bennett ate her pets - and she's taken a similar hardline stance on her changes to the welfare system under which only the most disadvantaged will be left alone.