Carers NSW

Response:

Please see additional comments for Carers NSW response to the Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper. 

Response:

Please see additional comments for Carers NSW response to the Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper. 

Response:

Please see additional comments for Carers NSW response to the Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper. 

Response:

Please see additional comments for Carers NSW response to the Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper. 

Response:

Please see additional comments for Carers NSW response to the Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper. 

Response:

Please see additional comments for Carers NSW response to the Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper. 

Response:

Please see additional comments for Carers NSW response to the Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper. 

Response:

Please see additional comments for Carers NSW response to the Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper. 

Response:

Carers NSW welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (the Department) in response to the Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper. Carers NSW supports the proposed scope and role of Jobs and Skills Australia and welcomes initiatives which aim to address barriers to economic participation and workforce shortages. This brief submission will highlight the need to include family and friend carers as a priority cohort in the work of Jobs and Skills Australia. The submission will also highlight opportunities to utilise carers’ transferrable skills to meet the growing demand across the care and support sector.

Carers NSW is the peak non-government organisation for carers in New South Wales (NSW). A carer is any individual who provides care and support to a family member or friend who has a disability, mental illness, drug and/or alcohol dependency, chronic condition, terminal illness or who is frail. Carers NSW believes that it is crucial that the term carer be used correctly throughout the course of this consultation, and in relation to carer-focused policy and supports to ensure that there is no confusion between parents and carers. While Carers NSW recognises that some parents may have additional caring responsibilities, ongoing conflation of parents and carers within the employment context continues to create challenges in understanding and monitoring the unique and diverse experiences of both groups and the impacts of this experience on their ability to participate in work and care. 

According to the 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) there are approximately 2.65 million carers in Australia.  While the term carer is often used in relation to parents and guardians, or paid care workers, the Commonwealth Carer Recognition Act 2010 defines a carer as an individual who provides personal care, support and assistance to another individual who needs it because that other individual has a disability, medical condition (including a terminal or chronic illness), mental illness or who is frail/aged. Carers come from all walks of life, cultural backgrounds and age groups. For many, caring is a 24 hour-a-day job with emotional, physical and financial impacts that can also affect their participation in employment, education and community activities. To replace the care provided by carers, Deloitte estimated in 2020 that the Australian Government would have to spend approximately $77.9 billion per year. 

Employment is critical in promoting independence and financial stability for carers, and also supports social and community engagement and a sense of meaningful contribution. While many carers are unable to, or choose not to, engage in paid employment, many others do balance their caring responsibilities with paid work. Balancing care and paid work can be a choice, for example, in order to maintain an identity separate from the caring role, but is more often a financial necessity to meet the costs of daily living and the additional costs of caring.

Caring can have significant impacts on a carer’s ability to participate in paid work. Data from the 2018 SDAC indicates that while almost 1 in 8 people of working age in Australia are carers, only 2 in 3 carers are employed.  As a result, carers may be more reliant on government payments as their main source of income. Primary carers, or those providing the most care, are more than twice as likely to receive a government pension or allowance (38.4%) than other carers (17.2%) and non-carers (9.2%). Recent research by the NSW Council of Social Services (NCOSS) also indicates that carers’ employment conditions continue to worsen, with 39% of carers in NSW experiencing less job security, 16% having lost their job, and 40% having experienced reduced hours in the past 12 months.  

Carers who choose to balance care and work can face significant barriers to economic participation, with limited targeted employment initiatives and supports available to them. The demands of caring responsibilities commonly lead carers to reduce their work hours or leave the workforce entirely, resulting in gaps in employment and subsequent lapsing of skills and qualifications.  

These impacts on economic participation have significant effects on carers’ long-term financial security and their health and wellbeing. Recent analysis by Evaluate, outlined in the Caring Costs Us report, showed that primary carers will lose on average $392,500 in lifetime earnings and $175,000 in superannuation at age 67.  Some people who care for extended periods of time will lose substantially more, with the most affected 10% losing at least $940,000 in lifetime income, and $444,500 in retirement savings.  The report also found that lifetime earnings are reduced by $39,600 for every year that someone is a primary carer, indicating that for many carers who have been caring from their mid-thirties or forties, there are significant lifetime impacts that may act as a key contributing factor in long term financial insecurity and inequity into retirement. 

While barriers to employment may be commonly felt among family and friend carers, intersecting identities may create further challenges to engaging in paid work. Research demonstrates  higher rates of caring within diverse cohorts including Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) communities, and people with disability. Carers are also overrepresented in other groups who also experience additional disadvantage including women and those living in rural and regional areas. 
Carers NSW believes that in order to address the unique, complex and compounding barriers to employment experienced by carers, Jobs and Skills Australia must include carers as a priority group in their work, with a focus on improving outcomes for carers in relation to employment, financial security, and ultimately, their health and wellbeing. 

Furthermore, carers are well placed to help address critical skills shortages across Australia, within and beyond the direct care sector. As identified in previous submissions, the Health Care and Social Assistance sector is the largest employing industry in Australia and is predicted to make the largest contribution to employment growth over the next 5 years. The 2018 SDAC indicates that this industry is also the largest employer of carers with 13% of working carers and 23% of working primary carers in Australia employed in Health Care and Social Assistance. 

Through their caring role, carers often develop a range of skills that align well with professions within the Health Care and Social Assistance sector as well as a range of other sectors, such as providing personal care, supporting with activities of daily living and supporting with complex service navigation and advocacy, time management, administrative skills and communication. Supporting carers to have these skills formally recognised and enabling employment pathways will promote optimal economic outcomes for carers and support the growing robustness of the workforce. Young carers in particular are uniquely placed to make successful transitions into the workforce if timely and holistic support is provided. Carers NSW believes that Jobs and Skills Australia should also ensure a focus on opportunities to capitalise on hidden workforces, such as carers, who may provide unique opportunities to contribute to workforce needs. 

Carers NSW again thanks the Department for the opportunity to respond on this matter. Thank you for accepting our submission.