Page 2385 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 16 September 1992
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Carers Awareness Week recognises the important contribution that carers make to our community. It is widely recognised that giving care in the home provides dignity and security for those requiring the care. However, governments have also recognised that caring for people within the community is less expensive than institutional care. However, Madam Speaker, it has been recognised throughout Australia that the decision to remain at home should not be at the expense of the carer and that support, both emotional and physical, is needed for the carer. For those of us who are not carers it is easy to forget, or perhaps difficult to understand at all, just how much stress, loneliness, overwork and lack of support carers endure.
Madam Speaker, most of these people spend their days at home caring for people who often demand 24-hour-a-day attention. They cannot leave their work and come home and relax for eight hours. Their very special but very demanding work is with them all the time. In Canberra the Carers Group ACT, through the ACT Council on the Ageing, provides support for carers through newsletters, information, counselling, guidance and, of course, Carers Awareness Week. Carers Awareness Week, which was launched officially last Monday by the Federal Minister for Aged, Family and Health Services, Peter Staples, will include a wide range of activities. There will be a series of confident carer workshops providing advice and information for carers on a range of subjects as diverse as the ins and outs of emergency alarm systems, caring for a disabled child at home, caring for a person who is incontinent, and so on. There is also an information seminar and open days at various health centres.
At the launch on Monday I heard from several carers that they are not looking for reward or recognition; that their actions are selfless and when they find themselves in the situation where a family member or friend needs care they respond in the way that they believe is right and natural. I believe that the contribution they make warrants the recognition that the creation of Carers Awareness Week provides. This week also throws a spotlight on the stresses that carers face and will help the rest of the community understand the needs of these people.
Currently the Carers Group operates through the auspices of the ACT Council on the Ageing. However, there are many people who care for others who are not aged. For this reason the Carers Group will be forming the Carers Association, which will be an autonomous umbrella association providing support for all carers. The public meeting to inaugurate this association will be held on 8 October, and I understand that an application is being prepared for funding of the association. The members of the Carers Group should be congratulated on expanding their services to assist all carers and particularly on putting together a comprehensive program for Carers Awareness Week. Without the efforts of these people, many carers would not have the support they really require to care for their loved ones at home.
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