Mark Baker (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House:

(1)

notes that 15-21 October is Carers’ Week;

(2)

notes that the theme of this year’s Carers’ Week is “Anyone, Anytime”, the objective of which is identifying carers and empowering them to access support services;

(3)

recognises that there are approximately 2.6 million carers in Australia who provide unpaid help and assistance to a relative or friend, who could not otherwise manage because of disability, mental illness, chronic condition or frailty;

(4)

notes that almost everyone will provide care at some time during their life;

(5)

notes that around 1.2 billion hours of informal care are currently provided by family carers (as recently found by Access Economics in its report Economic Value of Informal Care);

(6)

acknowledges the enormous contribution made by carers to Australian society, often at great personal cost; and

(7)

calls on all levels of government, businesses and schools to consider adopting carer-friendly work practices and learning environments.

This motion acknowledges a group of extraordinary Australians—a group of over 2.6 million people who come from all backgrounds, from all walks of life and all ages. It is a group that makes an enormous contribution to Australian society, often at significant personal cost, and one that you and I may one day belong to—any one of us, anytime. I am speaking, of course, of that wonderful group of people who provide unpaid help and assistance to a relative or friend who, because of disability, mental illness, a chronic condition or frailty, otherwise could not manage. This is the group we know collectively as ‘carers’.

Carers include parents caring for children with severe intellectual, psychiatric or behavioural difficulties, people of middle age caring for elderly parents and the 390,000 young Australians providing care to a relative who is frail, has a disability or chronic illness. As noted by Access Economics in its report Economic value of informal care, over 1.2 billion hours of informal care is being provided by family members. The Howard government is fully aware of not only the incredible work that carers do for the people they care for but also the vital social and economic contribution they make to our society. In return, the Howard government’s commitment to carers has been demonstrated by the many improvements and changes to carers legislation and policy over recent years.

The Australian government provides carers with direct payments of over $2 billion each year. Carer payments provide income support to people who, because of the demands of their caring role, are unable to support themselves through substantial workforce participation. In recognition of those 1.2 billion hours of family care provided, the Howard government has introduced changes to the carer allowance which make it easier for some to claim. New conditions have been added to the lists of recognised disabilities and some of the disability or medical condition eligibility descriptors have been modified. For example, diabetes mellitus type 1 will be added to the lists of recognised disabilities from the first of this month.

The Howard government’s 2006-07 budget provided, for the third consecutive year, a one-off bonus payment to eligible carers, costing some $358 million. For the first time, carers who receive the carer allowance and the wife pension or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs partner service pension have also received $1,000 in recognition of the care provided. In addition, eligibility for carer allowance has been extended to carers who provide substantial levels of care to a person with a disability or severe medical condition but who are not living in the same home.

Of course, caring is not just about dollars and cents. The government has introduced a range of other initiatives designed to make the lives of carers just that little bit easier both now and in the future. Sadly, some carers can become isolated and socially disconnected because of their role as a carer. The 2006-07 budget allocated $9 million over four years to fund new peer support groups specifically aimed at parents of young children with disabilities.

It is so important that we acknowledge these wonderful people in society who play such an important and pivotal role. This House acknowledges that the theme of this year’s Carers Week is ‘Anyone, Anytime’, the objective of which is identifying carers and empowering them to access support services. The list goes on. We must acknowledge the enormous contribution that carers make to Australian society, often at great personal cost, and the social and economic value of the carers to our community. We call on all levels of government, businesses and schools to consider adopting carer-friendly work practices and learning environments to continue to promote these wonderful people within our society.

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