Collateral damage: Australian carers' services caught between aged care and disability care reforms

In Australia, 2.7 million family and friend carers care for people with disabling conditions (including mental health conditions), who are terminally ill and/or who are elderly and frail. It is no surprise that those carers who provide the most care often experience multiple disadvantages, including constraints on their ability to work and accompanying financial stress, social isolation, and high levels of disability, ill health and stress [...] The question remains, however: in the context of increasing fiscal constraint and the diversion of funds into the NDIS, exactly how much will be left to support the proposed integrated carer support system? Additionally, if this development does not materialise, what future is there for dedicated support for Australia’s carers?