National Carers Week

The Hon. L.P. HOOD (Adelaide—Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (15:23): I, too, want to take the opportunity to congratulate Robert Bria on his 20 years as mayor. It is an amazing milestone. Thank you for your service.

I want to mark that 12 to 18 October is this year's National Carers Week. National Carers Week is not just an opportunity to recognise and show appreciation to Australia's three million carers, it is a chance to listen, learn and raise awareness about the experiences of carers and the challenges they can face. This year's theme is 'You are, know, or will be one', highlighting the widespread nature of caring. It will affect virtually every person at some point in their lives.

In South Australia, we have 245,000 unpaid carers and up to 31,400 of them are under the age of 25. The odds show that if you look around at the people in your life, it will not take you long to find a carer. They could be parents, grandparents, partners, siblings, children, friends or neighbours.

Importantly, no caring journey is alike. Some people become a carer slowly, bit by bit. Others become a carer suddenly and unexpectedly. Many people do not even realise they are carers. Regardless, the exceptional role that they play in the lives of the people they care for is the same. Balancing caring responsibilities with everything else life can throw at you can be incredibly challenging, whether that is work, study, or your own physical and mental health.

That is why I want to take the time today to say thank you to our carers, the ones we see and the ones we do not. Thank you for the tireless work you do out of selfless love and care. I want you to know that you are not alone. Caring is a responsibility not just of one person but of a community. We see you, we hear you, and we want to keep advocating for you. If you know a carer, please take the time to check in with them. Offer them a break or assistance and appreciate what they do. It is important that our carers are cared for too.

I, too, would like to acknowledge the special guests in the gallery today. We have in the room people from Carers SA and other caring organisations, including Siblings Australia, Centacare, Carers and Disability Link, Carer Council, Child and Family Focus SA, Connecting Foster and Kinship Carers, Grandcarers SA, EllieB's and many other organisations and individual carers. We thank them again for the valuable work they do to support their loved ones in South Australia and also the organisations for how they support carers in our state. Many of the organisations here today provide invaluable services for carers around our state and make sure that our carers have access to their own support when they need it.

On behalf of the Parliamentary Friends of Carers group, which was co-founded by me and the Hon. Heidi Girolamo MLC in the other place, we welcome you and thank you for all the work that you do. The Parliamentary Friends of Carers was effectively born from the Hon. Heidi Girolamo and me seeing both our mums care for our dads. We wanted to provide a space in which we could be allies for our carer community.

I also want to give a particularly special shout-out to all our young carers and Young Carers SA, many of whom balance school alongside their responsibilities and also their friends. They really truly are unsung heroes. Last week, it was wonderful for the Hon. Heidi Girolamo and me to hold a special parliament tour for some young carers in this place. They have small shoulders but very big hearts. Thank you again to all our carers across South Australia. Happy National Carers Week and remember: 'You are, know, or will be one.'