Legislative Council, 24 March 2023

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Like others, I also welcome this bill. It is a bit sad that we are the last jurisdiction to do a formal recognition of carers. Being a carer is not a new thing. People have been caring for others for time immemorial, but it is welcome and it is important.

As other members have said, recognition is an important step and perhaps even more is the support that should come with that. I will touch on some of the matters that have already been raised by other members because they are all important factors. We all know and it has been alluded to by others, that any one of us could find ourselves as a part time or full time carer at any point in time. It happens at any age or stage of your life, young people, older people, people right through the spectrum.

As the member for Launceston just referred to, grandparents who were asked would they do it again? The answer is a resounding yes. That would be universal. That is what I have heard from the grandparents I have met with who have said that. Whilst it is challenging and difficult, they would not have it any other way.

Ms Armitage - They would like some help.

Ms FORREST - Yes, I am not saying they do not want help. I am coming to that. I have met them out doorknocking. They have made appointments in the office to see me. We have met representative groups and bodies that all say the same thing. We are particularly talking about grandparents raising grandchildren here and other kinship care. They are so important to society because the people who are involved in kinship care, in whatever form are deeply connected to that person. That adds another layer of challenge and burden at times, because they are also anxious if they do try and take a break or do take a break and leave that person in the care of another. They fear that something might happen while they are away and then the guilt. I can speak from the mother guilt perspective. Mother guilt lasts forever. It never goes away, but I am sure many fathers experience that same sort of guilt if you feel like you are not doing the best for your child. The guilt of a carer is a similar thing. If something happened to your loved one while they were in the care of the other while you were taking a much-needed break, the guilt is enormous.

Some of the people cared for by their kin have complex needs, and thank you to the member for Rumney for raising Mary's story and recognising the challenges of Huntington's families. As a patron of Huntington's Tasmania, I deal closely with many families and it is a significant and challenging area and to ask another person to care for your loved one is difficult. Getting that break and time out is one of the hardest things to do and to do it guilt free is almost impossible. The aspect of that is immeasurable and the personal cost of that is immeasurable.

To hark back to that debate on Tuesday, that is one of the reasons the Government needs to ensure that there is suitably qualified and available respite for families, not just for people with Huntington's disease, but all sorts of other complex areas. When you do not have that you rely on someone coming into a home who may not be familiar with the home, might not have the equipment for lifting and assisting a person and inadvertently injury themselves or the person they are caring for. We do need the Government to invest in these sorts of facilities, particularly for Huntington's impacted families, but others as well. We do not have it with regard to Huntington's and I was disappointed with the response from the Government on that, they are just providing home care. That is not always the most suitable option for some families.

As other members have said, and as alluded to in the bill, as well as in other contributions, carers undertake the care of another for a range of reasons. It could be an illness which can be acute or it can be a chronic illness, it is can be a long lasting illness, it can be the result of a motor vehicle accident or crash, a fall, all sorts of reasons, or it could be a degenerative condition like motor neurone that has been referred to, Huntington's disease, a whole range of others. It could be because that person is getting older and more frail and unable to care for themselves. Or they have become unwell at the end of their life with a condition that limits their mobility and ability to care for themselves.

Usually, in those cases, if there is a surviving spouse, that person takes over the role. It can be the male partner, almost as often as it is the female partner, in some stages, in that situation. However, predominantly, as the member for Rumney rightly pointed out, and I have this noted for me to speak about, it is the gendered nature of caring. It is by and large women who carry this load.

I want to talk about the financial impacts of this. The member for Rumney went through the figures and I appreciate that. That is on the record about the lost income. When you think about older women, women over 50. Fifty is not old, but you are talking in this category where and certainly in their 60s and beyond, women did not have access to superannuation. They were already disadvantaged. They have probably lost income if they worked during their childbearing period. They probably lost income and lost opportunities for promotion, particularly from that age group. They are already behind because they did not have super. They are already behind because they have missed income and opportunity for higher rates of pay.

They have done what they can to build a bit of a nest egg to be able to have hopefully, a comfortable retirement. Suddenly, through no action of their own, it may be because as the member for Launceston referred to, a daughter was involved in drugs and alcohol and unable to care for the child, it could be that parent dies. They were killed in some sort of accident. Suddenly, here they are already financially compromised and now they are going to provide the care of a child or children with all the inherent costs that go with that.

Not only that - most of us are over an age where we expect to be having children - I know how tired I can get just having the grandchildren for a little while. You know, they are young, they are enthusiastic, they are running around and some of them do not sleep well. If you have them overnight for a few nights, it really does, but then you know you are going to be able to give them up and you can go back to a full night's sleep again. Not the case with carers.

They are financially disadvantaged, particularly women and they are also physically challenged themselves. Their health can often deteriorate and their lives may be shortened. These are the matters we really need to ensure the Government not only recognises, but actually puts in place support mechanisms to support. Yes, recognition is important, but so is other means of support.

As others have alluded, older people caring for grandchildren or younger children, or even caring for older people, often become very isolated. Their social networks start to shrivel up if they have such intense caring responsibilities that they cannot go out, go away on a trip with a group of friends, cannot become the grey nomads, cannot even go out to the movies easily with a group of friends or out for a meal easily. They become increasingly isolated and disconnected from their peer group. That too comes with its own social and emotional challenges.

I accept that this bill is to create a recognition for carers and the important role they do, but I think we need to really be sure there is a greater focus on actually meeting the needs of these people. Ultimately, we are saving, I think it was the member for Rumney who said, $2.2 billion if these carers were not in the system. There is some money we could put toward the support for these families.

The other thing not as well-recognised, and perhaps seen as the member for Mersey alluded to, is young people caring for their parents. School-aged children caring for their parents or another loved one. I have met with some these young people. They are incredible people. One young woman in particular comes to mind, looking after her mother in a single parent situation. Her mother had extremely high needs. This young woman started doing this in high school; it may have been primary school when she first started. She managed with support of her community in Wynyard - and Big hART had a part in this - helping her to manage to continue that, but also engage with her education as well as overcoming a range of barriers. She was a school leader at Hellier College. She is now at university in Melbourne. I think, wow! Whilst her mum still has caring needs, I do not believe her mum is as high-level care now as she was when this young woman was younger.

The member for Mersey talked about these young people are often in their senior college years - years 10, 11 and 12 - when there are enormous demands on them and somehow, they manage to do it. However, they need to ensure they have got the support they need. Often, they are invisible. Often, people do not even know what they are doing in their own home. They do not know they are going home to feed two or three little kids, perhaps their parent or parents. They just do it, because there is often a bit of shame attached with that. These are the sort of people who are involved in caring that we need to be very aware of, and look at ways to support them. I believe that means financial support, as well as the opportunity for those people to be able to have time out. For example, around exam time, in years 11 and 12, have time out to study and to hopefully do well; because otherwise their life opportunities are compromised as well. Then, that intergenerational poverty and intergenerational disadvantage becomes a very real thing.

Mr President, I appreciate the Leader organising the briefing. The funding that Carers Tasmania is provided by the Government and the federal government helps them to deliver these services and to support carers and to help them access resources. It also deals with the companion card, so a carer can attend a function or event for nothing, because it is a person you are buying the ticket for. That is really important because it can help reduce the social isolation. Not everyone can utilise those, depending on the nature of the condition of the person they are caring for. And, there is funding for kinship carers through the Department of Education, Children and Young People.

From what I see and hear in my community, it is not enough. There is far greater need out there then is being met through these current funding arrangements. If we are saving the state $2.2 billion - and I am not saying we have to put all of that into it - but we need to really look at supporting these people. Yes, they do it because they love the person and they mostly would not have it any other way. However, they should not do it at a cost to themselves that sees their health deteriorate and their financial position so compromised that they cannot do things they would normally want to do - things all of us would hopefully do in our old age in retirement. We should treat them better than we do.