I am a fairly fit 79 years young I have been the only carer for my wife ( 73) for near on 12 years Before that , she managed pretty well without much help , despite her diffabilities My lady is the centre of my universe and I feel blessed that I am still able to be there for her It is never a chore nor an inconvenience to me to care for her If the situation were reversed – she would do the same for me I do however get very frustrated with the system under which we fall No NDIS for us My Carer pension is not much greater than the Aged Pension but I am her 24 hour carer Imagine how much that would cost the Govt if they had to fully reimburse me for all of that time My wife can leave the country for months and still receive her full Aged pension However , she cannot travel without me to help her I cannon stay out of the country with her for more than 6 weeks before I lose my whole pension So to travel long distance to family in two countries is impossible