Get involved this National Carers Week
There are so many ways to take part in National Carers Week. Check out some of the ideas below!
We will add more information as we get closer to the date.
Show you care by hosting or attending an event
We’re asking everyone to get involved in National Carers Week by attending or hosting a National Carers Week event. This can be a morning tea, afternoon tea, a walk or some other activity. This is a great opportunity to raise awareness within your local community.
It’s important to get your message out there and get as many people involved as possible. As well as registering your event on this website, we will provide promotional materials closer to the date.
Why not enlist local community businesses, schools, respite centres and media to promote your event? Ask them to put a poster on their wall or hand out flyers on your behalf.
You can also use social media platforms to help with promotion. Create an event on Facebook and invite all your friends and community organisations with a few simple clicks.
Lastly, remember to register your event so we can promote it and help raise awareness beyond your local community.
We would love for you to send us photos from your event, share your stories with us and let us know how successful the event was.
Make a buzz on social media
You can motivate your friends and family to engage in online discussions, post pictures and share updates and information about National Carers Week.
- Like and share the Carers Australia pages on Facebook and Instagram.
- Tag a friend and encourage them to join the Millions of Reasons to Care during National Carers Week.
A picture paints a thousand words: post photos of your National Carers Week Events and share your Millions of Reasons to Care.
We will also provide graphics you can download and include in your post. Raise your voice and help build a carer-friendly Australia by using #NationalCarersWeek, #MillionsOfReasonsToCare and #NCW23.
Follow Carers Australia for all of our updates on National Carers Week.
Ideas for getting involved
Check out some ideas on how you can get involved with National Carers Week and show your support for Australia’s 2.65 million carers.
As an individual
When people show their support, it can make a great collective difference. By raising awareness as an individual, you can help to increase recognition of carers. This National Carers Week:
- Spread the word about National Carers Week on social media.
- Host or attend an event.
- Celebrate a carer in your community or workplace using the tile provided.
- Ask your local MP to publicly support National Carers Week.
As a politician
Elected representatives have a fantastic reach among local communities and the wider population. The decisions politicians make can go a long way to helping carers in their electorate. As a politician, this National Carers Week you can:
- Host or attend an event.
- Show your support with regular posts on social media.
- Use your electorate meetings to advertise the available services and supports for carers.
- Raise carers’ concerns at all levels of debate and government.
- Share any caring experiences you may have had.
As a GP practice
GPs and nurses have a large amount of exposure to carers and those they care for. This makes a GP practice a great place to raise awareness of carers and promote National Carers Week. This National Carers Week, GPs can:
- Encourage people to recognise themselves as carers by displaying information in your surgery about carers and the supports and services available.
- Include carer information on your brochure display board.
- Note on patient records whether they are caring for someone or have someone caring for them, so you can check how they are managing and if they need support or services to help them.
As a hospital
Many patients in hospitals will at some point be cared for by a relative or friend. By supporting carers as part of the overall care team, the patient themselves becomes better supported. This National Carers Week, and throughout the rest of the year, hospitals can:
- Set-up information portals to connect carers and families to available supports and services.
- Ensure that staff are aware of carers and their issues, and are treated as part of the care team.
- Ensure that family members are provided with the correct information and advice on how to care safely.
- Introduce carer-friendly policies, such as allowing some carers to spend time with the person for they care for outside of visiting hours, or providing them with discounted parking.
- Involve carers in decisions about their loved ones’ care, including discharge planning if the patient agrees.
- Connect carers to their local carers organisation for further support services.
As a pharmacy
Pharmacies and community health services often have a greater interaction with carers compared to other service providers. This National Carers Week, pharmacies can:
- Encourage people to recognise themselves as carers by displaying information on carers and the supports available to them.
- Advertise the availability of local carer supports, services, and other information on your website.
- Advise and assist carers on the administration of medication and potential side effects.
- Offer a medication review, with permission from the patient.
As a community group
It is very likely that you will have carers within your community group, particularly if your group has a lot of older people or women. Many people with caring responsibilities don’t think of themselves as carers and often miss out on services and supports as a result. This National Carers Week, community groups can:
- Invite a carer or someone who works with carers to speak about caring at your next meeting.
- Email links on carer information and supports to your group members.
- Check to see if any members of your group are carers. They may have difficulty attending meetings due to transport arrangements or scheduling, so see how you can help them: offer a lift there or back, or look at changing the meeting schedules.
As a local business
If you run a local business, there is plenty you can do to support carers. This National Carers Week, businesses can:
- Make adjustments to ensure your business is accessible to people with disability. This will help improve carers’ lives.
- Spread the word on social media and recognise any carers in your workplace this National Carers Week.
- Advertise your carer-friendly benefits, such as home delivery, flexible appointment times, or free or discounted entry or parking if the carer is with the person they care for.
- Become more carer aware and support those in your workplace.
As a school
With around 235,000 young carers around Australia, colleges, schools and universities can identify young people and adults with caring responsibilities. Many classrooms will have a young carer, and their teachers and support staff have an important role to play in these young carers’ lives. This National Carers Week, schools can:
- Take steps to find out what you can do to identify students who have a caring responsibility and support them to get the help they need to ensure their studies are not affected.
- Ensure staff are aware of the age-appropriate supports available to students who have caring responsibilities.
- Provide flexibility with assignments and timetables.
- Offer remote access (such as attending a class via video call) or distance learning where possible.
- Check out the Young Carers Network for more resources to help young carers.
As an employer
Many carers combine paid work with their caring responsibilities. Offering flexible workplace provisions which allow employees to combine paid work with the caring role is essential for businesses to foster a productive, efficient and effective workforce. This National Carers Week, employers can:
- Take steps to find out what you can do to identify employees who have a caring responsibility and support them combine work and care.
- Provide flexible workplace provisions, including work from home arrangements.
- Email links on carer information and supports to your employees.
- Host a National Carers Week event at the workplace.
- Celebrate and recognise carers in the workplace.