This National Carers Week, Carers Australia wants people to know what it means to be a carer. Under Australian law, a carer is someone who provides unpaid support to another person who needs it because of a disability, medical condition, mental illness, drug addiction, or old-age-related frailty. Carers support family members, friends or persons in the community. The term does not include disability support workers, aged care workers or other paid carers.
Did you know that around 1 in 10 people in Australia are carers? There were around 2.65 million carers when Australian carers were last counted in 2018, and it’s estimated that more people have become carers during the pandemic. The true number of carers is even higher due to a lack of awareness of and identification of carers.
The term “carer” is often used inconsistently in the community and by disability service providers. That can lead to difficulties in identifying carers and making sure they can access services targeted to them.
“We want the Australian community to be able to recognise those individuals who are carers. That’s the first step to making sure carers get the supports they need,” said Carers Australia CEO Alison Brook. “It would be great to see people asking themselves, ‘who are the carers in my life?’ You might realise that someone close to you is a carer. Perhaps you’re a carer yourself.”
The theme for this year’s National Carers Week is a million reasons to care. Carers are a very diverse group of people, belonging to all walks of life. Every carer’s situation is unique: there are a million reasons that someone might become a carer. A carer might be a family member, friend, or partner of someone who needs extra support for health or wellbeing-related reasons.
Some people are born into care responsibilities, such as children with ill or disabled siblings or parents. Others might choose to become carers, such as someone who decides to take care of an ageing parent or a friend dealing with mental illness or addiction. Many people are thrust suddenly into caring situations when a spouse or family member becomes ill or injured, or when they have a disabled child.
Anyone can become a carer and it can happen at any time. Being able to recognise carers will better equip the Australian community to understand carers’ responsibilities and meet their needs.
About us:
About Carers Australia and the National Carer Network
Carers Australia is the national peak body representing Australia’s carers, advocating to influence policies and services at a national level. The National Carer Network, which consists of Carers NSW, Carers ACT, Carers Victoria, Carers Tasmania, Carers SA, Carers WA, Carers NT, and Carers Queensland, deliver a range of essential carer services across states and territories.
About carers
Carers Australia uses the term ‘carer(s)’ as defined by the Commonwealth Carer Recognition Act 2010. The term should not be used loosely and without context to describe a paid care worker, volunteer, foster carer, or a family member or friend who is not a carer.
An informal, unpaid carer is a family member or friend caring for someone who has a disability, chronic or life-limiting illness, is frail aged, has a mental illness, alcohol or other drug related condition. Informal carers are distinct from paid support workers who are colloquially also called carers but are under a contract of employment with remuneration and other benefits of employment. Conversely, family and friend carers perform their caring duties without remuneration.
