National Carer Strategy

About the strategy

On 10 December 2024, the Minister for Social Services, the Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, released the National Carer Strategy 2024-2034. The Strategy delivers a national agenda to support Australia's unpaid carers.

The National Carer Strategy 2024-2034 is a framework for co-designing, developing and delivering a suite of actions to holistically improve the lives of carers.

The Strategy was designed and created with carers. It will guide how we can improve support for carers now, and into the future. It is a positive step towards improving awareness of carers including:

• their roles
• the impacts of supporting others
• availability of carer supports and services.

The Strategy shows where we can support positive change. It will help to ensure carers can better balance their caring role with all aspects of their lives.

It recognises the need for services provided across the Australian, state and territory governments  to be easier to navigate. Services need to be targeted to provide the right support for carers at the right time and right place.

To ensure the vision of the Strategy is realised, the Australian Government will seek to work with state and territory governments who share responsibility for the delivery of services carers rely on.

How the strategy was developed

Consultation and engagement

We developed the Strategy in consultation with carers across Australia. The strategy:

• reflects the diversity of carers
• reflects the challenges carers face
• supports carers' wellbeing
• considers their economic and social participation.

We conducted public consultations on how to best support carers. This was between May and October 2024. We sought to hear from unpaid carers, former carers and the wider support sector.

Evidence informing the National Carer Strategy

Over six months, we heard from more than 1800 carers about their experiences, challenges, and aspirations. We held a robust consultation with over 100 activities, in-person and online. This was across every state and territory, in urban, regional and remote locations. We received more than 750 responses to a discussion paper and questionnaire.

The following reports engaged from Deloitte, Carers Australia, and Disability Advocacy Network Australia, summarise these consultations:

We also engaged the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) to conduct a rapid scoping review of the carer landscape. This included national, state and territory data sources and reports about Australia’s unpaid carers.

Advisory Committee

A National Carer Strategy Advisory Committee (the Advisory Committee) was appointed to support the development and implementation of the Strategy. The Advisory Committee included carers with lived experience from diverse backgrounds. It also included sector representatives from:

• aged care
• disability
• veterans' affairs
• mental health.

Learn more about the National Carer Strategy Advisory Committee.