About 300 people holding candles of hope wrapped their arms around one another and grieved for Peg Noble and Leigh Cleveland at a vigil near Ashburton's Winz office.

Prime Minister John Key has written an open letter to the people of Ashburton after the tragic deaths of two Work and Income staff in the town earlier this week

A security review of Work and Income offices is being carried out following the double shooting at an Ashburton office on Monday.

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.

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 suspect at the centre of yesterday's triple shooting was a sick, homeless man who had returned to Ashburton to die.

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.

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

Advocates are upset an Australian company is the big winner in Winz experiment that will pay contractors up to $12k to help beneficiaries into paid work.

Of 8,001 beneficiaries sent for jobs requiring drug testing, only 22 tested positive or refused to take tests, a result that has been greeted as a victory by the Social Development Minister.

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.