Unpaid carers — New Zealanders who provide care at home for family members, friends, or whānau with illness, disability, or age-related needs — are the invisible backbone of New Zealand's care system. Approximately 475,000 New Zealanders are unpaid carers, contributing billions of dollars of care that would otherwise fall to the formal health and disability system. Despite this contribution, carers are often exhausted, isolated, financially disadvantaged, and poorly supported. Grant funding supports carer support services, respite care, carer wellbeing programs, and the advocacy that ensures carers are recognised and resourced.
Who carers are
The carer burden
Carer statistics in NZ
Why carer support matters
Carers NZ / Carer Support Allowance
Government-funded carer support allowance for eligible family carers.
Ministry of Health
Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC)
Some carer support for people with accident-related disability.
Whaikaha — Ministry of Disabled People
Disability support including carer support.
Carers New Zealand
Peak body for carers; provides support programs.
Community trusts
Local carer support through regional funders.
Aged care charities
Some support for carers of older people.
Disease-specific charities
Respite care
Carer wellbeing programs
Practical support
Carer education and training
Financial support
Whānau carers
Young carers
Rural carers
Māori and Pacific caring has a distinct cultural character:
- Whānau care is not just expected, it is an expression of love, whakapapa, and responsibility
- The person being cared for does not typically go to a care facility — they are cared for within whānau
- Multiple family members may share caring responsibilities
- The cultural cost of not caring is significant — shame, identity, belonging
- But the physical and financial burden on whānau carers is real and often under-supported
Applications for carer support that recognise and honour the cultural context of Māori and Pacific caring — rather than trying to substitute it with formal services — are more appropriate and more effective.
Respite priority
Respite is consistently the most requested form of carer support and the most under-funded. Applications specifically providing respite — genuine breaks for carers — address the clearest gap.
Reaching hidden carers
Many carers don't identify as carers and don't access support. Applications with proactive outreach — through GPs, hospitals, Māori health providers, churches — reach carers who otherwise wouldn't be found.
Whānau centred
Applications for Māori and Pacific carers must centre whānau values — not just translate Western carer support into Māori language, but redesign support around collective care models.
Young carers
Young carers are among the most invisible and under-supported. Applications specifically for young carers address a group rarely prioritised.
Tahua's grants management platform supports carer funders in New Zealand — with carer registration tracking, respite provision data, wellbeing outcome measurement, and the reporting tools that help carer funders demonstrate their investment in the health and sustainability of New Zealand's unpaid caring workforce.