Carers Australia: Supporting Carers is a Federal Responsibility
- Australian Health & Aged Care
- May 1
- 5 min read
Australia’s 3 million unpaid carers provide essential, life-changing support to family or friends with a disability, chronic illness, mental health conditions, substance dependency, or those who are frail and aged. Carers enable people to remain at home and connected to their communities.
They provide care in lieu of paid professionals, reducing demand on government-funded health, disability, and aged care systems.
Without carers, these systems would be hugely impacted. The replacement cost of unpaid care in Australia was estimated at $77.9 billion in 2020, a staggering contribution that remains largely unrecognised, and doesn’t consider the vast social, emotional and financial cost of being a carer. For example:
Financial distress
Carers experience severe economic disadvantage, losing an average of $392,500 in lifetime earnings and $170,000 in superannuation due to reduced workforce participation.
Cost-of-living pressures
Many carers are locked out of financial independence, unable to increase work hours or
access flexible employment. Rising costs for essentials, transport, and medical needs
compound their struggles.
Poorer health and wellbeing
Carers are twice as likely to experience low wellbeing compared to other Australians, with many facing social isolation, mental health issues, and long-term health impacts.
Young carers face entrenched disadvantage
Young carers experience lower educational outcomes and a higher likelihood of
long-term welfare dependency, limiting their future opportunities.
Carers should not be expected to shoulder the financial and emotional burdens of their essential work alone. Supporting them is a federal responsibility — a matter of economic sustainability, workforce participation, and social justice.
Carers can’t quit. Let's give them a better deal.
A call for immediate action
Carers Australia is calling on the Government to commit to real solutions that will improve carers’ financial security, employment opportunities, and access to support.
With an investment of $586.75 million in 2025, we can:
• Increase financial support through a permanent 15 percent boost to the Carer Allowance and a one-off 50 percent increase to the Carer Supplement to address rising living costs.
• Take Superannuation for carers seriously, with modelling of superannuation contributions for carers receiving the Carer Payment, ensuring long-term financial security and reducing future reliance on the Age Pension.
• Expand the Young Carer Bursary to help young carers with their education and life expenses, increasing the number of bursaries from 1,592 to 3,500 and raising the payment to $4,500 per recipient.
• Make workplaces more carer-friendly by expanding the Carer-Inclusive Workplace Initiative, allowing more carers to remain in employment while meeting their caring responsibilities.
• Recognise carers in the health system early in their journey by training health professionals to identify and refer carers to essential supports at the point they become carers.
Investing in carers is investing in Australia’s future
The National Carer Strategy already highlights the need for a whole-of-government approach to better support unpaid carers. Now is the time for action.
Carers are the backbone of our community and the hidden workforce that sustains our health and social systems. We must choose to support them. A fairer Australia starts with
recognising, valuing, and supporting those who care.
Carers Australia has outlined five urgent initiatives for 2025 to ensure that unpaid carers
receive the financial security, recognition, and support they need. These initiatives, backed by $586.75 million in targeted investment, align with the National Carer Strategy and will improve the lives of Australia’s 3 million carers while reinforcing the sustainability of the nation’s health, disability, and aged care systems.
1. Cost-of-living support for unpaid carers: Carers face severe financial distress, made worse by rising living costs. Many cannot increase their work hours or participate in paid
employment at all, due to their caring responsibilities, leaving them financially
vulnerable. The Carer Allowance, a modest payment of $153.50 per fortnight, fails
to cover the additional care costs, such as medical appointments, transport, and essential household expenses.
Carers Australia calls for:
• A permanent 15 percent increase in the Carer Allowance, phased in over two years (10 percent in 2025-26, an additional 5 percent in 2026-27).
• A one-off 50 percent increase in the Carer Supplement, boosting the annual $600
payment by $300 in July 2025 to provide urgent financial relief. Estimated cost: $572 million per year.
2. Superannuation modelling for unpaid carers: Carers experience lifelong financial disadvantage, with the average primary carer losing $392,500 in lifetime earnings and $170,000 in superannuation savings due to reduced workforce participation. More than a quarter of carers have been on the Carer Payment for over 10 years, leaving them at risk of retiring into poverty.
Carers Australia calls for:
• The Government to take superannuation on the carer payment seriously.
• Let’s do the maths and economic modelling on adding superannuation contributions for unpaid carers receiving the Carer Payment.
• An assessment of alternative economic supports, such as tax incentives or direct payments into carers’ superannuation.
3. Expanding the young carer bursary: Over 391,000 young Australians juggle caring responsibilities alongside school, university, or vocational training. Many struggle academically, are more likely to drop out, and face long-term financial insecurity.
The Young Carer Bursary Program (YCBP) helps ease the financial burden but is severely oversubscribed, with nearly three times as many applications as available bursaries in 2024.
Carers Australia calls for:
• An increase in the bursary amount from $3,768 to $4,500 per recipient to reflect rising costs.
• Roughly doubling the number of bursaries from 1,592 to 3,500 to meet demand and ensure more young carers can access education without financial hardship. Estimated cost: $9.72 million per year.
4. Carer-inclusive workplaces: Carers want to work but face systemic barriers. More than half of employed carers are working fewer hours than they need, and many hide their caring responsibilities due to stigma and lack of flexibility in workplaces.
The Carer-Inclusive Workplace Initiative (CIWI) helps businesses create carer-friendly policies and workplaces but requires further investment to expand reach and participation.
Carers Australia calls for:
• Expanded CIWI funding to double participation among Australian employers.
• Targeted industry engagement in health, education, hospitality, and public services, which employ large numbers of carers but face critical workforce shortages.
• Development of training and best-practice resources to encourage more flexible work
arrangements for carers. Estimated cost: $2 million over 3 years.
5. Carer recognition right from the start: Many carers do not identify as carers and miss out on essential support. Often, they gain awareness and seek help only when they reach breaking point.
The health system plays a critical role in identifying carers early and connecting them to support services, yet many health professionals lack the training and awareness to do so.
Carers Australia calls for:
• Implement a national awareness campaign to train health professionals to identify who cares for the ill person earlier and refer them to essential supports.
• Integration of carer recognition into medical and health professional practices, ensuring that carers are acknowledged as partners in care.
• Collaboration with medical colleges and health care peak bodies to ensure identification and recognition of carers’ roles. Estimated cost: $3 million over 2 years.
Carers Australia is the national peak body representing Australia’s unpaid carers, advocating on their behalf to influence policies and services at a national level. Our vision is an Australia that values and supports the contribution that carers make both to the people they care for and to the community as a whole.
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