Did you know that there is a Federal Carer Recognition Act?
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In fact, every state and territory has legislation dedicated to acknowledging and increasing public awareness of the contributions that informal carers make to the lives of others.
Most people and many carers have probably never heard of these acts, which is why the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs has launched an inquiry into the recognition of carers.
However, a week before the closing date of Friday, August 11, only 29 submissions had been made.
Poor recognition of carers occurs despite their prevalence.
According to the 2021 census, there are around 2.5 million carers in Australia providing unpaid assistance to people who are frail and elderly, living with disabilities or who have long-term health conditions, with 42,000 living in the ACT.
So if you are not caring for someone right now, you probably will be.
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Little is known about carers' experiences, although research shows that they are frequently isolated, unheard and abandoned.
Caring is overlooked because it tends to be undertaken in private by family and friends who are more often than not women.
Many carers struggle to speak up because they are exhausted and have their own health issues.
According to the Carer Wellbeing Survey Australia's carers are two and a half times more likely than the average adult to have low wellbeing.
The Carer Recognition Act should be the focal point for raising the profile of carers and advancing their welfare and rights. It should help employers realise that there is not only an obligation but also great value in seeking out and offering flexibility to their carer employees. It should give young carers in particular extra resolve to get support knowing that their commitment is important and admired.
The Act should point towards a future in which caring does not need to be recognised because it is integrated into workplaces, schools and other settings as simply something that we do.
In that same future, when we see carers and the people they care for at parks, pools and shops, we are not filled with pity or inspiration but, rather, just have respect.
While not legally binding, the current Carer Recognition Act includes a "Statement of Australia's Carers" that sets out 10 key principles on how they should be considered, particularly when it comes to the delivery of social services.
It promotes diversity, equality and participation. Unfortunately, the Statement is abstract and legalistic, and therefore easily ignored or can even be regarded as uncaring.
An alternative Statement of Australia's Carers
The ACT's Carers Recognition Act 2021 contains a set of "Care relationship principles" which are clearly stated but do little to advance an appreciation of caring.
An acknowledgment of carers should have heart, spirit and wit, because that is what caring is all about.
We know this from a series of in-depth interviews conducted with on ABC Radio Canberra with local carers and the people they care for, from literature on how we should all adopt care ethics, and from our personal experience.
Here, then, is an alternative Statement of Australia's Carers.
- Carers must be treated with dignity and respect, as individuals with their own needs, who attend to the needs of others.
- We can be frustrated, depressed, impatient and loud. Sometimes we go into the bathroom, garage or car to scream and cry.
- Carers keep this place going. The estimated value of our labour is $A78 billion per annum. But what we do for Australia is worth far more than that.
- We sacrifice our careers, income, superannuation, holidays, love lives, and wellbeing to care. With support, these sacrifices can be managed and made more fulfilling.
- Caring is not "just what women do".
- Carers live with vulnerability, diversity and the prospect of death. From these facts of existence, we gain strength and perspective.
- We and the people we care for do not want your pity. We have no shortage of meaning and purpose in our lives.
- Sometimes we do not want to be known as or consider ourselves to be carers.
- Carers and caring are complex. Carers must often come to grips with the different and challenging realities of the people we care for.
- We want to be partners with i) the people we care for and ii) our support organisations. The less time and energy we spend calling, writing to, waiting for and attending appointments with the latter, the more time and energy we have for the former.
While not every carer will relate to this statement, we submit it to the Parliamentary inquiry in the hope that it will will prod others to make their own submissions and tell their own stories.
Such contributions should fuel the government's rights-based and people-centred approach to looking after others.
The inquiry into the Carer Recognition Act is crucial at time when there are emerging crises in the aged care and disability sectors about the level and availability of care.
However, caring should always be prized as an asset and quality of our society. Indeed, it is what makes us a society.
You can make a submission in writing: Committee Secretary, House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, PO Box 6021, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600.
- Dr Kim Huynh and Professor Kylie Message-Jones are from the ANU Humanities Research Centre.
- The Carer Gateway is an Australian government program providing free services and support for carers. More information and resources can be accessed through CarersACT.
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