$85.6 million of extra help arrived in March

The new support plan includes an extra $85.6 million to support unpaid careers helping generate new tailored services that are designed to help carers before they reach crisis point. The new support will help areas such as: financial support, counselling, information, advice, and crisis support.

The new plan aims to help carers manage their daily challenges, reduce stress and plan for the future.

This much anticipated support will come into action as of October this year. The new national support plan will also see the introduction of a $250,000 family income threshold, which will affect the Career Allowance, this will only impact 1% of the population; the remaining majority, or 99% of recipients, will not have their allowance impacted.

What does this mean for carers?

The new support plan will work on early intervention and prevention, allowing unpaid carers to minimise physical or emotional stress and burnout periods, by having the support and financial assistance to take a break. Taking a break might range from using a counselling service or actually getting someone else in to take over their care responsibilities for a duration of time.

How will it be rolled out?

The new support plan will be rolled out in two phases:

1. October 2018: Carers will be able to access supports and services, such as peer support, counselling, coaching, and educational supports, through the Government website Carer Gateway.
2. September 2019: The Government will establish Regional Delivery Partners so carers can locally access finical support, counselling, coaching, and crisis support.