The Parliamentary Committee charged with reviewing Australia’s federal Carer Recognition Act 2010 to improve recognition for unpaid carers has tabled its report, and we are pleased to see so many of the recommendations taken up by the Committee.
Our submission made the following recommendations:
- Better recognition of the multidimensional aspects of cancer care, and impact on carers
- Adopting an inclusive and expansive definition of ‘carer’ that is consistent with other legislation
- Better data collection about carers needs
- Recognising unpaid care as a human rights issue
- Developing a new National Strategy for Carers; and
- Community awareness and education about the role of unpaid carers
We were supported in this approach by Cancer Council Australia and Oncology Social Work Australia and New Zealand, and we were also invited to appear before the Parliamentary Committee in one of the many hearings it held around the country.
The report acknowledges the immense contribution of unpaid and informal carers to Australian life, as well as the huge burden this places on carers. The Committee notes in the report that the Carer Recognition Act ‘has failed to provide the meaningful recognition and support that carers want and rightfully deserve’. The twenty-two recommendations in the report seek to rectify this, by:
- more accurately describing care and caring relationships and applying these definitions consistently nationwide;
- collecting more and better data about carers;
- imposing stronger obligations on public service agencies in respect of carers needs
- developing better support services for cares, including Carer Gateway, the new National Carer Strategy
- seeking legal advice to determine how best to establish rights for carers; and
- developing an ongoing community education campaign about the role of carers and carers’ needs
Almost all of our recommendations were addressed in the report, including modernising and contextualising a ‘care relationship’ to be more inclusive of the diversity of caring roles and to make it easier for carers to self-identify; better data collection about carers’ health and wellbeing, and steps to formally recognise the rights of carers.
Many aspects of our submission were highlighted in the report, principally our focus on a human rights based approach to recognising unpaid care. We were also encouraged by the focus on gender equality, which was also emphasised in our submission, as the Committee recommended that gender equality be addressed by actions that:
- overcome harmful gender norms that devalue caring roles and disadvantage women
- encourage more men to become carers and improve access to the types of supports men need
- address the financial disadvantages carers experience over their lifetime.
A Government response to the Committee’s 22 recommendations is expected in six months. The report is available here.