Australia's 2.65 million unpaid carers are one of the most essential and most overlooked groups in the social service ecosystem. Carers provide care for family members and friends with disability, chronic illness, mental health conditions, or frailty — doing work that would otherwise cost the health and disability system billions of dollars. The cost to carers is high: financial, physical, emotional, and social. Grant funding supports the respite, information, wellbeing, and peer connection that keeps carers going.
Scale
Who carers are
Carer health and wellbeing
Carers experience significantly worse health and wellbeing outcomes than non-carers:
- Higher rates of depression and anxiety
- Physical health impacts (back pain, cardiovascular, neglected own health)
- Social isolation and loneliness
- Financial disadvantage (reduced employment, out-of-pocket costs)
- Carer burnout and psychological exhaustion
Young carers
Young carers (under 25 providing care) face particular impacts:
- Educational disruption (missing school, difficulty studying)
- Social isolation (less time for friendships and activities)
- Limited career development
- Taking on adult responsibilities prematurely
Carer Gateway
Australian Government's national carer support system:
- Carer Gateway online portal (information, resources)
- Services funded through Carer Gateway: counselling, coaching, respite coordination, peer support
- Carer counselling (up to 3 sessions, free)
- Emergency respite
Carer Payment and Allowance
Income support for primary carers — means-tested.
NDIS
Carer respite funded through NDIS for carers of NDIS participants.
Aged Care
State governments
State-based carer support programmes and services.
Carers Australia
National peak body:
- Policy advocacy
- Information and resources
- Young Carers network
Carers NSW / VIC / QLD / WA / SA / TAS
State-based carer organisations:
- Information, support, and advocacy
- Respite coordination
- Young carer programmes
Alzheimer's Australia (Dementia Australia)
Dementia-specific carer support.
Multiple Sclerosis organisations
Carer support for MS carers.
Parkinson's state organisations
Carer support programmes.
Mental health organisations
SANE, ARAFMI — carers of people with mental health conditions.
EACH Foundation and disability organisations
Carer support through disability services.
Respite
Respite allows carers to take a break:
- In-home respite (someone comes to be with the care recipient)
- Centre-based respite (day programmes for care recipients)
- Overnight and residential respite
- Emergency respite (crisis situations)
- Planned respite
Peer support
Carers benefit from connecting with others in similar situations:
- Support groups (in person and online)
- Peer coaching and mentoring
- Online carer communities
- Phone-based peer support
Information and navigation
Counselling and mental health
Young carer support
Dementia carer support
Dementia care is one of the most demanding caring roles:
- Dementia carer education programmes
- Support groups for dementia carers
- Managing behaviour changes
- End-of-stage support and grief
Mental health carer support
Caring for someone with mental illness is uniquely stressful:
- ARAFMI (carers of people with mental illness)
- Family peer support workers (those with lived experience as carers)
- GROW and similar community mental health support
Carer health
Financial support
End of caring
When caring ends (through death, residential placement, or other transition):
- Grief and bereavement support
- Identity support (carers often lose their sense of purpose and identity)
- Social reconnection
Carers from CALD backgrounds often:
- Do not identify as "carers" (care is seen as a family duty, not a role)
- Do not access mainstream services (cultural stigma, language barriers)
- May face discrimination in the health system
- Provide care within culturally defined frameworks
Culturally adapted carer support — in community languages, delivered through trusted community organisations — is essential and underserved.
The unpaid care argument
$77 billion in unpaid care — funded at a fraction of its value by government — is a compelling equity argument. Carers subsidise the health and disability system enormously. Applications that articulate this are compelling.
Young carer visibility
Young carers are largely invisible — many don't self-identify, schools don't recognise them, services don't reach them. Applications that identify and support young carers are well-positioned.
Dementia carer priority
Dementia carer burden is enormous — and with an ageing population, dementia carer numbers are growing rapidly. Applications targeting dementia carers address a growing and urgent need.
Respite access equity
Respite is consistently the top need of carers — but access is inequitable. Rural carers, CALD carers, and carers of people with complex needs often face greater difficulty accessing respite. Equity-focused respite applications are compelling.
Tahua's grants management platform supports carer support funders and carer organisations — with programme participant tracking, carer wellbeing outcome measurement, respite utilisation data, and the reporting tools that help carer funders demonstrate their investment in the wellbeing of Australia's 2.65 million unpaid carers.