Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Askew for her question, particularly given that this week is actually National Carers Week, where Australians recognise that around 2.7 million Australians care for somebody else who needs a little extra help. I think it is timely for us to celebrate the contribution that these people make to the social fabric of our country. I also acknowledge today Ara Cresswell, the CEO, and Dr Peter Langkamp, the president of Carers Australia and thank them for the extraordinary effort and time that they put into the amazing support they gave us during the recent reform process. This new reform process now sees $700 million worth of support going to Australia's unpaid carers through the new Integrated Carer Support Service model. It is designed by carers for carers, and the co-design process was led by Carers Australia.

This new model actually puts in place a very strong emphasis on early intervention. We want to ensure that carers get the help that they need before they reach crisis point. We want to make sure that by 2021-22 there will be five times the number of services available to our unpaid carers than are available today. Most importantly, we want to support our young carers. We want to make sure that they are not at risk of long-term welfare dependency. One of the programs we've put in place is the Young Carers Bursary Program, which provides assistance of up to $3,000 for young carers. We've already put more than 980 young people through this particular course, and we intend to increase the numbers of those doing that. But how do we do it? We can do it, because we have a strong economy. We have a strong economy that allows us to fund the services that are so important to some of these essential groups that support our community. On this side, we're delivering on our promises. We're supporting Australians.