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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-10-19 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

National Carers Week

Ms PRATT (Frome) (15:02): We have millions of reasons to care; in fact, we have 2.65 million reasons because that is the national number of unpaid carers in our country today. Many unsung heroes are in the chamber with us, and I welcome them with sincere gratitude and respect for their contribution to their communities. From 15 to 21 October is when our nation recognises National Carers Week and brings awareness to a section of our society which can sometimes be and feel very invisible.

Today, we are able to show our sign of support with a wave and a smile due to the bipartisan work of the Hon. Heidi Girolamo MLC of the other place, of course, as well as the member for Adelaide across the chamber. They are co-convenors of the Friends of Carers group here at Parliament House and we welcome them. As parliamentarians, we are fortunate to have opportunities to bring attention to members of community who may need an extra level of advocacy to promote their existence and needs.

I call them unsung heroes because by their own values they are dedicated to the service of others. They make great personal sacrifices. They incur expenses driving around spending money on fuel, and of course their time is valuable. They take time off work. They juggle other commitments, which might include their own work or volunteering, raising children or playing sport. They are sometimes classified as the 'sandwich generation' because they are juggling raising children at the same time that they are caring for older parents.

Being a carer cannot really be defined because the nature of it really is tailored to the unique qualities of the person requiring care and support, which means they are a diverse bunch. Some of the reasons that people require care can be due to a physical disability, neurological diseases like dementia, stroke sufferers, people who are ageing at home and need domiciliary care, those who live in nursing homes and blossom with visitors, or those suffering with substance dependency.

I would like to give a special mention to people who are supporting family and friends through the experience of mental distress. It can be a very lonely and exhausting time, walking alongside someone you love who is weighed down by the debilitating symptoms of anxiety or depression.

Another group I would especially like to mention are young carers—children and young people 25 years and under who help to support a family member or friend living with a disability, mental illness, drug or alcohol dependency, chronic conditions or terminal illness or those who are frail. They are already facing challenges navigating this big world, with the pressures of cyberbullying, body image, academic expectations, and environmental and social responsibility, yet these young people show such maturity beyond their years to provide care for a younger sibling or a parent or other significant adult.

Carers Australia is the national peak body for carers and provides invaluable information on their website. For those who are listening, I would encourage them to go online and look it up. Today, I want to recognise the CEOs, chairs, executive members, board members and, most of all, carers who have come into the chamber today from the following associations: Carers SA, Carers and Disability Link (and I note the newly relocated team in my town of Clare), Carer and Community Support, Grandcarers SA, and Skylight Mental Health.

More than one in 10 Australians are carers. They are unpaid, they are kind and they represent 10 per cent of the country. There are, in fact, 2.65 million of them and they are amazing.

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