Page 507 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 February 2010
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Carers ACT asks the government:
… to identify Carers as a priority group in their own right. It needs to deliver targeted health promotion and early intervention strategies to reduce the demand on health and community services from preventable conditions at a time when unsustainable demand is a critical issue due to the ageing of the ACT population.
I call on the ACT government to work with Carers ACT and other advocacy groups and organisations to address the concerns that are outlined in this submission and other concerns that have been raised in a public arena and to assist these valuable members of our community.
As a former youth advocate, I have worked hard to draw attention to the role of young carers. As we have discussed in this Assembly on a number of occasions, young carers can often be invisible to support services and to government departments. These young people may not know about support services available to carers. Indeed, they might not even consider themselves to be carers, as is also the case for many adult carers as well.
Youth Coalition of the ACT research into young carers found that the experience of caring may have positive impacts that included feelings of pride and worth, higher levels of fitness, greater resilience, stronger family relationships, better outcomes and education, and a positive outlook on life. However, young carers may also experience negative impacts of caring including fatigue, injury, greater levels of stress, anxiety and feelings of hopelessness, family conflict as well as breakdown and financial insecurity. It also can limit their social and recreational opportunities and can have poor outcomes on their education.
It is important to highlight the work being done by these children and young people in both the positive and negative impacts it has on their wellbeing. I call on the government to recognise the needs of this vulnerable group in our community and to continue to work with them and with groups such as Carers ACT who do have services for young carers, CyclopsACT and the Youth Coalition. They work conscientiously to assist our young carers by providing programs or advocating on their behalf.
As I have mentioned, the term “carers” covers a number of groups and individuals in our society. Kinship carers and foster carers also care for vulnerable members of our community. Kinship carers and foster carers take in children and young people in need of care who are unable, for whatever reason, to remain with their parents. These carers are a crucial part of the child protection system. Like all carers, without their hard work, the government would be required to pay for professional caring facilities at a considerable cost.
Placement in kinship care can benefit children by allowing the child to maintain family, community and cultural ties and there is likelihood that the child will have increased contact with their immediate and extended families. It is hoped from kinship placements that children and young people are more likely to feel secure, loved and have a sense of belonging. The inevitable trauma associated with removal can be
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