Who Are Carers?
Carers are people who provide unpaid care and support to family members and friends who have a disability, mental illness, chronic condition, terminal illness, an alcohol or other drug issue or who are frail aged.
Carers are an integral part of Australia’s health system and are the foundation of our aged, disability, palliative and community care systems.
What Does A Carer Do?
Caring may include help and support with any of the daily activities of living of the person being cared for. It may include physical and personal care such as dressing, lifting, showering, toileting, feeding or providing transport.
Commonly, carers are responsible for the management of medications, and also provide emotional and social support. Caring may also involve help with organising and attending appointments, banking and dealing with emergencies.
Carer Statistics
There are over 3 million carers across Australia *
Carers make up nearly 12% of Australia’s population *
4.6% of all Australians (1.2 million people) are primary carers, those who provide the most informal support to a family member or friend *
40% of primary carers rely on a government allowance as their main source of income as opposed 16% of non-carers *
Two-thirds of primary carers are female *
The average age of a primary carer is 54 *
11% of carers are under the age of 25 - an increase of 60% since 2018 *
30% of primary carers cared for 40 hours per week or more *
43.8% of primary carers have a disability themselves *
58.3% of carers have low wellbeing compared to 30.4% of all Australians ^
* Data drawn from the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC)
^ Data drawn from the Carer Wellbeing Survey
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