Millions of reasons to care this National Carers Week

National Carers Week is a time to recognise, celebrate and raise awareness about the +3 million Australians who provide care and support to a family member or friend.

As a member of this selfless, empathetic and often overtaxed cohort, Carers Australia thanks you, especially during this special week in October. Carers are people who provide unpaid care and support to family members and friends who have a disability, mental health condition, chronic condition, terminal illness, an alcohol or other drug issue or who are frail aged. And over a third of carers in this country are providing that unpaid support to an older person.

Being the caregiver for an older Australian comes with its own unique set of challenges. You are more likely to deal with mobility issues, advance care plans, incontinence, challenging behaviours and dementia.

In our latest national survey we asked you to identify key issues affecting the person you care for, and when it came to the over 65s the vast majority of you identified to caring for someone with physical disability or age-related frailty, followed by dementia and then chronic but non-terminal illness.

A significant proportion identified they were caring for someone with a mental illness.

Care needs present very different challenges (especially when it comes to older people) and the services which need to be navigated and accessed. Add to those the complexity, long wait times and (often) spotty service delivery, the burden on carers is immense.

Carers Australia sees you. National Carers Week is an opportunity to raise community awareness among all Australians about the diversity of carers and their caring roles.

As the national peak body representing you, Carers Australia is focused on influencing national government policy and service funding to support carers and those they care for. In the aged care space, we engage with the National Government and their public service agencies on such matters as the development of quality indicators to shape and judge the performance of different kinds of aged care service providers, which are carer inclusive, in the sense that carers must be regarded as partners in care and the health system.

We are also advocates in increasing funding to aged care with a particular focus on the provision and encouragement of respite opportunities, which are so badly needed by many carers. This National Carers Week we encourage you to prioritise self-care, connect with our network in your state or territory, and take part in an event happening near you!

Along with event information, links to our social media and a treasure trove of useful articles, the National Carers Week homepage includes links to each state and territory’s Carers Network. Your local organisation will be more than happy to connect you with programs for which you may be eligible. Thank you again for all you do and have a fantastic National Carers Week this October.

For more information, visit the National Carers Week website.