Category: News

Running under the 2026 theme “Care for a Carer: Making Carers Visible”, the week aims to highlight the invaluable contribution of unpaid carers and encourage Australians to recognise and support the carers in their families, workplaces and communities.

As a carer for my husband, an Army veteran, this theme hits close to home for me. Juggling daily care with a job, raising children and a life of my own often means something has to give. Usually, it’s the life of my own.

I count myself among the fortunate. With my children now grown and supportive employers who let me work from home, I have been able to stay in full-time work, something many carers cannot manage.

Not all are so lucky. Caring for a loved one can be overwhelming, challenging and feel unrewarding. Carer payments barely cover expenses, and depending on the person’s needs, they may also be unable to work.

Every carer’s experience is unique, and I hope this week builds community awareness of carers’ diversity and the roles they play. The good news is that help is available.

Carer Gateway offers information and advice on supports available to carers across Australia, along with online resources to promote carer wellbeing. More information and online support services are available at carergateway.gov.au.

If you work for a Disability service provider, you will come into contact with carers regularly. Take a moment to check in with them and point them towards resources and support, because without them, who will be there for the care recipient when your shift ends?

This year, the focus is on amplifying the voices of people with lived experience of mental health challenges, so they can help shape the policies, services and community attitudes that affect them.

The power of lived experience is hard to overstate. If you haven’t seen it in action, it can be difficult to picture, so I’d like to share some of my own experience.

In 2012, I was lucky enough to work in a multidisciplinary recovery team that included three remarkable mental health peer workers. We made no decisions without their input, and for good reason.

They had been there, were sometimes still there, and knew that recovery is a lifelong journey.

Peer support was only just gaining momentum, and peer workers faced plenty of barriers of their own. Today, peer workers are increasingly part of every area of health care, which is great news for people living with psychosocial and physical challenges.

Their work on both acute and longer-term psychiatric wards was extraordinary, and its impact lasted. I watched them instil hope, build autonomy and support recovery on a whole new level. That mutual support helped to break down the stigma and shame that so often stop people from seeking help and staying engaged in treatment.

They also brought a lived-experience lens to the clinical team, giving staff a fresh perspective on the everyday lives of the people they supported.

Education was a core part of the peer role, but not in the traditional sense. Peer workers often shared their own journeys, creating space to talk about positive coping strategies and to normalise everyday challenges. Hearing from someone who is going through, or has come through, a similar experience can be a powerful way to help people engage with other forms of treatment.

Peer workers show us what is possible when people feel heard and understood.

Every support worker can build on that by understanding mental health challenges and responding with confidence and compassion.

So how big is the problem?

The numbers are pretty confronting:

• About 1 in 11 people using specialist homelessness services has a disability.
• Around a third (34%) of them live with severe or profound core activity limitations.
• More than 60% also experience mental health issues, and around 45% have experienced family or domestic violence.
• Nearly half (48%) were already homeless by the time they first asked for help.

And it’s not just about finding somewhere to live. Some people are being pushed into homes they can’t easily leave, move around in, or even use the bathroom in.

So, what finally pushes people to reach out for help? The top reasons are:

Sadly, many people with disability don’t report family or domestic violence. Instead, they stay with the person harming them because they’re afraid of becoming homeless or being left without support.

When people do ask for help, what they need most is often what they’re least likely to get. Long-term, stable housing is the most requested form of assistance, yet only a small number of people with disability have secured it by the time they leave a service.

People with disability also tend to need more support, for longer. On average, they use 12.4 services and need 81 days of support, more than people without disability.

Connection looks different for everyone, and it works best when it happens in ways that feel safe and comfortable. It might mean reaching out to the world around you, such as waving to a neighbour, chatting with the cashier or a support worker, spending time with the people you love, playing with a pet, or volunteering in your community.

It can also mean connecting with yourself.

Whether you’re connecting with others or reconnecting with yourself, small and simple acts can make a big difference.

Isolation is one of the most significant factors that leads us to feelings of loneliness and despair, and contributes to poor mental health. It occurs even more often in the disability and aged care communities.

I have seen time and time again that a lack of access and inclusivity can marginalise and isolate people to the point that they do not want to leave their homes. Helping people feel understood, included, and safe matters, and we can all contribute by showing compassion, understanding, and awareness of each person’s needs and wants.

Research has shown that feeling connected can ease stress, support emotional balance, and help us cope when things get tough. Across our communities, humans find connection in ways that feel meaningful to them, shaped by who they are, what they value and what’s happening in their lives.

This year’s theme invites us to take small, achievable steps toward connection that feels supportive. That might be with humans, animals, places, routines or moments that help us feel grounded.

After all, every little connection counts.