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Teachers & Service Providers
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Australian Statistics and information on Young Carers How many Young Carers are there?
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Teachers Guide To Help Young Carers
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| Children
and young people who live in a home environment where there
is chronic illness; physical and/or intellectual disability;
mental health issues; sensory impairment; frail aged; drug
and alcohol dependency etc...are more than likely assisting
in the provision of home based care.
Children and young people can become involved
in a Carer role from a very early age (as young as 5 years
of age) providing practical assistance and personal intimate
care to a parent, sibling, or relative within the home environment.
The tasks undertaken by young Carers vary according to the nature and extent of the care recipient's illness or disability. Top |
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The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that there are 181,100 young Carers under the age of 18 across Australia. The numbers of children and young people assuming a Carer role within the home environment is increasing at significant rates yet community and Government awareness remains limited. Top |
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| Young
people have stated, where caring is a shared responsibility,
and where support and assistance is given, the caring role
can be a very rewarding one for both Carer and care receiver.
Research shows that where children and young people are left to care unsupported and unassisted, the caring role has a negative impact on their lives. Top |
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What we know about children who fulfil a caring role without the support and assistance of others, is that the caring role impinges on every area of their lives;
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Young Carers need to be recognised - most children, and their families, will not identify with the term 'young Carer'. Families just get on with the business of caring for a family member because that is what they do. Teachers are often best placed to recognise a child who may be assisting with home based care. Young Carers need somebody they can talk to who will listen and believe their stories and experiences. Young Carers need information about their relative's condition in language and concepts that are age appropriate. Young Carers need Time Out - time and space to themselves for social and personal development, rest and recreation. Young Carers need to be asked what would make a difference for them in terms of support and assistance - their responses need to be listened to carefully. Top |
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The following list indicates key issues that may show that a young person is a Carer and is having difficulties as a result of their caring role.
There could be several explanations for the presence of any of the above, however a combination of these may point to a child fulfilling a Carer role in the home environment. Top |
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These characteristics establish a trusting relationship. Acting this way will enable you to more readily and appropriately support young carers. Top |
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A child may need:
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There are many possible ways of helping a young Carer in your school. You could;
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Guide To Assist Health Professionals And Emergency Services Personnel To Help Young Carers
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If adult Carers are the hidden face of Caring then children and young people are the invisible face of caring. Children and young people rarely have a choice about whether or not they will participate in the provision of home based care. When families are faced with illness, disability, sensory impairment, or caring for the frail aged etc.. they will do whatever it takes to provide their loved ones with the best possible care. This requires the commitment, cooperation and help of all members of the immediate family unit and where possible the assistance of the wider family. There are a number of reasons that children and young people take on a carer role. They do so out of a sense of family obligation, commitment and love for a parent or sibling or relative or because they are delegated to the carer role by the family unit, or they are coerced into a carer role because there is nobody else to provide the care required, for example, children and young people who live in single parent homes. What ever the family configuration, circumstances and situations, families organise themselves the best way they can in order to meet the care needs of the family member. Top |
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| Young
Carers undertake levels of responsibility and tasks that are
equal to the responsibility and levels of caring that adult
Carers undertake, but with little or no formal recognition,
support and services that are available to adult Carers.
Young Carers do personal care tasks such as showering, toileting, dressing and grooming; many are required to assist with manual handling transfers to and from the bed to the toilet/shower to the chair in the lounge room for example; almost all young Carers will carry out household tasks such as house cleaning, laundry tasks, shopping and meal preparation, minding of and care for younger siblings. Others manage the family finances, that is, managing the weekly budget and paying household accounts. Treatment and medication management is a routine daily task for many young Carers. Young Carers are required in many households to accompany and support the person they care for to get to and from medical and routine appointments. Young Carers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds will often be required to act as the interpreter for parents and other family members who are limited in their use of the English language. Young Carers learn to respond to First Aid and Emergency situations as part of their Carer role - in many situations the person being cared for is dependent and reliant on their young Carer to know how to respond in the case of an emergency or health crisis. The most challenging and difficult of all responsibilities is the requirement of young Carers to provide ongoing consistent emotional support to an adult care receiver. Top |
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When consulting with an adult who has a chronic medical condition, a physical disability, a mental health illness, sensory impairment or is frail aged be aware that if a child or young person lives in their home, or is regularly accompanying them, then the child or young person is likely to be significantly involved in the provision of their care needs, or taking responsibility for the care of siblings.
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Young Carers are the invisible face of caring. As such they are overlooked and undervalued for their resourcefulness, knowledge and skills in caring for an adult or sibling. Young Carers are often left in the case of an emergency not knowing what has happened to the person they care for or where that person has been taken or if they will see the person they care for again.
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Australia ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on 17 December 1990. Governments are expected to uphold these rights. Articles particularly relevant to young Carers include a child's right to:
Aldridge and Becker, Researchers in the U.K. have listed what they feel young Carers should be able to expect. This complements the United Nations declaration. It suggests that young carers should be:
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