The term ‘carer’ is often used to describe roles and activities of those supported by Carers WA.

Carers WA assists people who provide unpaid care and supports to family members or friends who are living with a disability, mental health challenge, chronic illness, and alcohol or drug dependency, or who are frail aged.

We are sometimes mistakenly contacted by people who think we provide services relating to these groups of people:

• Support Workers or Care Workers: Paid a salary or hourly rate to look after people with care needs.
• Foster carers: People or families who are paid to look after children and young people in their own home.
• Parents: Can describe anybody who lives with and looks after a child under 18 with no special care needs.
• Kinship carers: Relatives or close friends who look after children and young people who are unable to live with their families. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, a kinship carer may be another Indigenous person who is a member of their community.

Did you know?

• There are more than 2.65 million (approx. 1 in 9) carers in Australia
• Approximately 320,000 of those carers are in WA
• 79% of carers do not see themselves as carers
• There are 40,000 young carers under the age of 25 in Western Australia, approximately two young carers in every classroom
• Over one-third of primary carers have disability, twice the rate of non-carers
• Carers provided approximately 2.2 billion hours of unpaid care in Australia (2018)
• The replacement value of unpaid care in Australia would be $77.9 billion per year (2020)