❓ The Minister outlines initiatives to support young carers in WA, including a youth worker position at Support Carers WA and carer retreats funded by the Department for Community Development, following recommendations from a young carer's forum.
AnsweredQoN 437Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Will the minister please provide the House with any information on initiatives the Government is pursuing to address the needs of young people who provide significant care to family members with disabilities, chronic or mental illness or who are frail or aged? Ms S.M. McHALE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Swan Hills for her question. This morning I had the pleasure of delivering the second reading speech on the Carers Recognition Bill. That is a milestone for carers in Western Australia because it is the first such legislation in Australia. There are more than 200 000 carers in Western Australia. About 37 000 young people under the age of 25 years - indeed some much younger - care for someone with a disability or mental illness. Young carers often shoulder particular responsibilities and a significant amount of care. Therefore, it is very important that we provide people who are so young with targeted support. They face difficulties such as not being able to go to school and they must deal with people with very significant mental illness and physical disabilities. Last October I attended a young carer’s forum organised by a group of young carers. Out of that, I heard first-hand some of the very difficult problems and challenges that young people face in their caring roles. They suggested the sorts of things they thought would be helpful to them. I am pleased to announce that that forum has resulted in a series of recommendations that we are implementing. Two specific initiatives that have now got off the ground are, firstly, Support Carers WA will employ a youth worker as part of its newly established young carers’ advocacy network, known as YCAN, to further develop work on the needs of young carers. Through the Disability Services Commission the Government will fund Carers WA to work specifically with young people. In addition, through the Department for Community Development, it will fund a range of carer retreats that specifically target the needs of young carers. Carers WA will ensure that activities and supports are available to provide genuine and meaningful support and relief to young carers. The Government believes very firmly that the work we are doing with carers is leading the nation. The Carer’s Recognition Bill is the first of its kind in Australia. Providing dedicated supports focused on specific target groups is the way the Government believes it can achieve social change and create a more integrated and inclusive community, and that is what carers tell us. It is therefore critical that we support young carers in particularly meaningful ways that are relevant to them. Those two initiatives will go a long way to helping them.
Ms S.M. McHALE replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for her question. This morning I had the pleasure of delivering the second reading speech on the Carers Recognition Bill. That is a milestone for carers in Western Australia because it is the first such legislation in Australia. There are more than 200 000 carers in Western Australia. About 37 000 young people under the age of 25 years - indeed some much younger - care for someone with a disability or mental illness. Young carers often shoulder particular responsibilities and a significant amount of care. Therefore, it is very important that we provide people who are so young with targeted support. They face difficulties such as not being able to go to school and they must deal with people with very significant mental illness and physical disabilities. Last October I attended a young carer’s forum organised by a group of young carers. Out of that, I heard first-hand some of the very difficult problems and challenges that young people face in their caring roles. They suggested the sorts of things they thought would be helpful to them. I am pleased to announce that that forum has resulted in a series of recommendations that we are implementing. Two specific initiatives that have now got off the ground are, firstly, Support Carers WA will employ a youth worker as part of its newly established young carers’ advocacy network, known as YCAN, to further develop work on the needs of young carers. Through the Disability Services Commission the Government will fund Carers WA to work specifically with young people. In addition, through the Department for Community Development, it will fund a range of carer retreats that specifically target the needs of young carers. Carers WA will ensure that activities and supports are available to provide genuine and meaningful support and relief to young carers. The Government believes very firmly that the work we are doing with carers is leading the nation. The Carer’s Recognition Bill is the first of its kind in Australia. Providing dedicated supports focused on specific target groups is the way the Government believes it can achieve social change and create a more integrated and inclusive community, and that is what carers tell us. It is therefore critical that we support young carers in particularly meaningful ways that are relevant to them. Those two initiatives will go a long way to helping them.
I thank the member for Swan Hills for her question. This morning I had the pleasure of delivering the second reading speech on the Carers Recognition Bill. That is a milestone for carers in Western Australia because it is the first such legislation in Australia. There are more than 200 000 carers in Western Australia. About 37 000 young people under the age of 25 years - indeed some much younger - care for someone with a disability or mental illness. Young carers often shoulder particular responsibilities and a significant amount of care. Therefore, it is very important that we provide people who are so young with targeted support. They face difficulties such as not being able to go to school and they must deal with people with very significant mental illness and physical disabilities. Last October I attended a young carer’s forum organised by a group of young carers. Out of that, I heard first-hand some of the very difficult problems and challenges that young people face in their caring roles. They suggested the sorts of things they thought would be helpful to them. I am pleased to announce that that forum has resulted in a series of recommendations that we are implementing. Two specific initiatives that have now got off the ground are, firstly, Support Carers WA will employ a youth worker as part of its newly established young carers’ advocacy network, known as YCAN, to further develop work on the needs of young carers. Through the Disability Services Commission the Government will fund Carers WA to work specifically with young people. In addition, through the Department for Community Development, it will fund a range of carer retreats that specifically target the needs of young carers. Carers WA will ensure that activities and supports are available to provide genuine and meaningful support and relief to young carers. The Government believes very firmly that the work we are doing with carers is leading the nation. The Carer’s Recognition Bill is the first of its kind in Australia. Providing dedicated supports focused on specific target groups is the way the Government believes it can achieve social change and create a more integrated and inclusive community, and that is what carers tell us. It is therefore critical that we support young carers in particularly meaningful ways that are relevant to them. Those two initiatives will go a long way to helping them.
Last October I attended a young carer’s forum organised by a group of young carers. Out of that, I heard first-hand some of the very difficult problems and challenges that young people face in their caring roles. They suggested the sorts of things they thought would be helpful to them. I am pleased to announce that that forum has resulted in a series of recommendations that we are implementing. Two specific initiatives that have now got off the ground are, firstly, Support Carers WA will employ a youth worker as part of its newly established young carers’ advocacy network, known as YCAN, to further develop work on the needs of young carers. Through the Disability Services Commission the Government will fund Carers WA to work specifically with young people. In addition, through the Department for Community Development, it will fund a range of carer retreats that specifically target the needs of young carers. Carers WA will ensure that activities and supports are available to provide genuine and meaningful support and relief to young carers. The Government believes very firmly that the work we are doing with carers is leading the nation. The Carer’s Recognition Bill is the first of its kind in Australia. Providing dedicated supports focused on specific target groups is the way the Government believes it can achieve social change and create a more integrated and inclusive community, and that is what carers tell us. It is therefore critical that we support young carers in particularly meaningful ways that are relevant to them. Those two initiatives will go a long way to helping them.
The Government believes very firmly that the work we are doing with carers is leading the nation. The Carer’s Recognition Bill is the first of its kind in Australia. Providing dedicated supports focused on specific target groups is the way the Government believes it can achieve social change and create a more integrated and inclusive community, and that is what carers tell us. It is therefore critical that we support young carers in particularly meaningful ways that are relevant to them. Those two initiatives will go a long way to helping them.
Ms S.M. McHALE replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for her question. This morning I had the pleasure of delivering the second reading speech on the Carers Recognition Bill. That is a milestone for carers in Western Australia because it is the first such legislation in Australia. There are more than 200 000 carers in Western Australia. About 37 000 young people under the age of 25 years - indeed some much younger - care for someone with a disability or mental illness. Young carers often shoulder particular responsibilities and a significant amount of care. Therefore, it is very important that we provide people who are so young with targeted support. They face difficulties such as not being able to go to school and they must deal with people with very significant mental illness and physical disabilities. Last October I attended a young carer’s forum organised by a group of young carers. Out of that, I heard first-hand some of the very difficult problems and challenges that young people face in their caring roles. They suggested the sorts of things they thought would be helpful to them. I am pleased to announce that that forum has resulted in a series of recommendations that we are implementing. Two specific initiatives that have now got off the ground are, firstly, Support Carers WA will employ a youth worker as part of its newly established young carers’ advocacy network, known as YCAN, to further develop work on the needs of young carers. Through the Disability Services Commission the Government will fund Carers WA to work specifically with young people. In addition, through the Department for Community Development, it will fund a range of carer retreats that specifically target the needs of young carers. Carers WA will ensure that activities and supports are available to provide genuine and meaningful support and relief to young carers. The Government believes very firmly that the work we are doing with carers is leading the nation. The Carer’s Recognition Bill is the first of its kind in Australia. Providing dedicated supports focused on specific target groups is the way the Government believes it can achieve social change and create a more integrated and inclusive community, and that is what carers tell us. It is therefore critical that we support young carers in particularly meaningful ways that are relevant to them. Those two initiatives will go a long way to helping them.
I thank the member for Swan Hills for her question. This morning I had the pleasure of delivering the second reading speech on the Carers Recognition Bill. That is a milestone for carers in Western Australia because it is the first such legislation in Australia. There are more than 200 000 carers in Western Australia. About 37 000 young people under the age of 25 years - indeed some much younger - care for someone with a disability or mental illness. Young carers often shoulder particular responsibilities and a significant amount of care. Therefore, it is very important that we provide people who are so young with targeted support. They face difficulties such as not being able to go to school and they must deal with people with very significant mental illness and physical disabilities. Last October I attended a young carer’s forum organised by a group of young carers. Out of that, I heard first-hand some of the very difficult problems and challenges that young people face in their caring roles. They suggested the sorts of things they thought would be helpful to them. I am pleased to announce that that forum has resulted in a series of recommendations that we are implementing. Two specific initiatives that have now got off the ground are, firstly, Support Carers WA will employ a youth worker as part of its newly established young carers’ advocacy network, known as YCAN, to further develop work on the needs of young carers. Through the Disability Services Commission the Government will fund Carers WA to work specifically with young people. In addition, through the Department for Community Development, it will fund a range of carer retreats that specifically target the needs of young carers. Carers WA will ensure that activities and supports are available to provide genuine and meaningful support and relief to young carers. The Government believes very firmly that the work we are doing with carers is leading the nation. The Carer’s Recognition Bill is the first of its kind in Australia. Providing dedicated supports focused on specific target groups is the way the Government believes it can achieve social change and create a more integrated and inclusive community, and that is what carers tell us. It is therefore critical that we support young carers in particularly meaningful ways that are relevant to them. Those two initiatives will go a long way to helping them.
Last October I attended a young carer’s forum organised by a group of young carers. Out of that, I heard first-hand some of the very difficult problems and challenges that young people face in their caring roles. They suggested the sorts of things they thought would be helpful to them. I am pleased to announce that that forum has resulted in a series of recommendations that we are implementing. Two specific initiatives that have now got off the ground are, firstly, Support Carers WA will employ a youth worker as part of its newly established young carers’ advocacy network, known as YCAN, to further develop work on the needs of young carers. Through the Disability Services Commission the Government will fund Carers WA to work specifically with young people. In addition, through the Department for Community Development, it will fund a range of carer retreats that specifically target the needs of young carers. Carers WA will ensure that activities and supports are available to provide genuine and meaningful support and relief to young carers. The Government believes very firmly that the work we are doing with carers is leading the nation. The Carer’s Recognition Bill is the first of its kind in Australia. Providing dedicated supports focused on specific target groups is the way the Government believes it can achieve social change and create a more integrated and inclusive community, and that is what carers tell us. It is therefore critical that we support young carers in particularly meaningful ways that are relevant to them. Those two initiatives will go a long way to helping them.
The Government believes very firmly that the work we are doing with carers is leading the nation. The Carer’s Recognition Bill is the first of its kind in Australia. Providing dedicated supports focused on specific target groups is the way the Government believes it can achieve social change and create a more integrated and inclusive community, and that is what carers tell us. It is therefore critical that we support young carers in particularly meaningful ways that are relevant to them. Those two initiatives will go a long way to helping them.
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