Approximately 1 million Australians provide unpaid care to a family member with mental illness — partners, parents, adult children, and siblings who support people living with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, severe depression, and other mental illnesses. Carers provide enormous value to the health system and to their loved ones — but at significant cost to their own wellbeing. Carers have elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and social isolation. Young carers who care for a parent with mental illness face particular challenges — interrupted education, social isolation, and the weight of adult responsibility. Grant funding supports carer education, respite, peer support, and young carer programmes that give carers the recognition and support they deserve.
Scale
The carer experience
Mental illness affects the whole family:
- Unpredictability: relapses, hospitalisations, crises
- Grief: grieving the person they knew before the illness
- Stigma: often hidden from family, friends, workplace
- Financial impact: reduced employment due to caring responsibilities
- Social isolation: focus on caring leaves little time for relationships
Carers' own health
Young carers
Young people who care for a parent with mental illness face particular challenges:
- Interrupted education (missing school, difficulty concentrating)
- Social isolation (can't invite friends home, doesn't explain to peers)
- Taking on adult responsibilities (cooking, managing the household)
- Often invisible — parents don't identify as having young carers
Carer Recognition Act 2010
Recognition of carers' rights and contributions.
Centrelink Carer Payment
Financial support for carers who can't work due to caring responsibilities.
Mental Health Australia
Peak body — some carer focus.
ARAFMI
Mental health carer association — some government support.
ARAFMI (Assisting the Relatives and Friends of those with Mental Illness)
Peak organisation for mental health carers:
- Support groups
- Education
- Respite
- Advocacy
Mental Health Carers Australia
National peak body for mental health carers.
SANE Australia
Mental health community including carers.
Wellways
Carer support alongside mental health services.
Headspace (for young carers)
Some young carer mental health support.
Carer education
Peer support
Respite
Psychological support
Young carers
Family and relationship support
Carer rights and advocacy
Carer workforce participation
Cultural support
Carers of people with mental illness are often invisible:
- Stigma means they don't disclose the caring role
- Mental illness is often hidden by the person experiencing it
- Carers don't identify as "carers" — "I'm just supporting my [family member]"
- Services focus on the person with mental illness, not the family
Recognition — identifying, naming, and acknowledging carers — is the first step to supporting them.
Peer support as primary
Carers most value support from other carers who truly understand the experience. Applications centring peer support — support groups, peer mentoring — are aligned with what carers say they need.
Young carers
Young carers are among the most invisible and under-supported group. Applications specifically identifying and supporting young people caring for parents with mental illness — in schools and communities — are addressing a gap.
Respite
Carers cannot sustain caring without breaks. Applications that provide genuine respite — not just advice about respite — enable sustained caring and prevent carer breakdown.
ARAFMI model
ARAFMI is the established Australian model for mental health carer support. Applications building on ARAFMI's model — and supporting ARAFMI's reach — are building on proven foundations.
Tahua's grants management platform supports mental health carer funders and carer support organisations — with carer engagement tracking, wellbeing outcome measurement, respite programme data, and the reporting tools that help mental health carer funders demonstrate their investment in the million Australians caring for loved ones with mental illness.