Radio king Alan Jones steps into the editor’s seat and sends love to those who lend a helping hand every day.
Carers are remarkable people. Every day they engage in a labour of love - bathing, feeding and nursing their loved ones. There are no days off on weekends, there’s no pay, no superannuation, no recognition and not the remotest chance of a sick day or holidays.
Nearly two million of our carers are of working age, between 15 and 64. There are no breaks for them because most carers don’t have a paid job.
Furthermore, 170,000 of these carers are under the age of 18, while nearly half a million carers are over the age of 65, worrying about what will happen to their children when they are too old and frail to nurse them.
Carers provide well over one billion hours of unpaid care a year. Or put another way, if we the taxpayers had to pick up the tab, it would cost us well over $30 billion.
I congratulate Woman’s Day for raising the profile and the plight of carers. What a nice call to arms for the nation, Caring For Carers.
The stories I hear about carers are shameful. They are people who get no respite, with problems such as children who have outgrown their wheelchairs and the government can’t replace them.
Well, these carers now have a political voice, and the voice will not be silenced until we have in place a National Disability Insurance Scheme, which for average Aussies means an $8 to $10 Medicare-type levy per week.
This is a small price to pay for peace of mind that if something happened
to someone in our own families, respite and wheelchairs could be readily accessed, and no mother would have to make the heartbreaking decision to abandon her child.
Life is a lottery. No-one knows what lies around the corner. Who knows which
child will be born with a disability? Which of us will be struck down by a sheet of
metal in the wind?
What disturbs me most about governments and public administration is that there seems to be an endless amount of money for causes whose need is rarely apparent. Yet, when it comes to money for the mentally ill or the disabled and, most importantly, the carers of such people, governments promise but rarely deliver.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme was accepted as one of the “big ideas”
of the 2020 Summit. Our current systems are indefensible, so let’s make it happen.
I am very proud to support the Caring For Carers campaign and hope you will too. Big hugs to our carers, Alan Jones.
To read the inspirational carers stories click here
See more of the Woman's Day carers special in this week's edition of Woman's Day on sale Monday August 16, 2010.
