Support for young carers.
Get the help you need to improve your wellbeing and maintain your quality of life as a part-time, full-time or even an occasional young carer.
What is Carer Gateway?
Support for those who may not ask for help.
There are more than 62,400 young carers in Victoria and over 234,000 young carers Australia-wide. However, these figures are likely to be underestimated as young carers are hidden in the community – if you are under 25 and care for someone, this might include you.
Carer Gateway is a program funded by the Australian Government that offers a free and diverse range of short-term services to help you to improve your wellbeing and manage your caring role with your social life, work life or study.
Uniting is one of the seven providers that delivers the Carer Gateway Program across Victoria.
Uniting supports carers in:
- The Eastern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne
- Gippsland
- Goulburn North East
- Albury (NSW).
Am I a young carer?
You can access Carer Gateway as a young carer if you are under 25 years old and provide unpaid care to people with a:
- Disability
- Chronic medical condition
- Mental health diagnoses
-
Ageing related conditions such as dementia or mobility issues.
All caring situations are different. The person you care for could be your parent, guardian, sibling, grandparent or someone not related to you. Some young carers look after another person 24 hours a day, while other carers help with specific tasks, such as housework, transport or shopping.
Here at Uniting, we welcome and assist carers of any age. We encourage you to reach out to us for assistance to support your caring needs.
What short-term support is available?
To make life easier, services are provided in ways that suit your situation. You can choose from in-person, online or over-the-phone support. As a young carer you can access a range of supports tailored to your needs – including:
- Carer support planning - A tailored assessment of your needs as a carer. This planning is completed before any services are put in place
- Carer Coaching – You can talk to a trained coach to reflect on how you're coping, your needs, identify any goals you have and create a plan on how you can take steps towards achieving them. This service is offered face-to-face or over the phone
- Peer/Carer Support Groups - You might like to meet and connect with others in similar caring situations and share stories, knowledge and experience. These groups can be available in-person or online
- Online skills courses - Develop your skills as a carer and improve your wellbeing through free, online workshops
- Support with education or employment pathways.
- Carer counselling - Counselling with a professional counsellor if you feel stressed or overwhelmed within your caring role. This is offered face-to-face or via telehealth
- Tailored support packages* - This can be one-off practical support for items and services for up to 12 months
- Respite* - This allows you to take a break. This can be in home, residential or emergency respite, whereby if you suddenly find you can’t provide care, for example if you become ill or injured. Service providers will find ways to look after the person you care for while you recover
- School holiday programs and fun social events with other young carers
*We cannot guarantee funding approval for the Tailored Support Packages or Respite service. Funding and availability are allocated depending on the individual assessment. There may be wait times to access certain types of supports, please call to find out more.
Frequently asked questions
If you have any other questions, please get in touch with us – no question is a silly question!
Using Carer Gateway services will not affect services delivered through My Aged Care, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Centrelink, Carers Payment or Youth Allowance.
'Respite’ or ‘respite care’ is when someone else takes care of the person you care for, so that you can have a break or so that you can do an activity/something you enjoy away from your caring role. When you are a carer, it’s important to regularly take time for
yourself to rest and recharge.
How Carer Gateway helped me
Hannah and Sandra’s story.
The support from Carer Gateway has been invaluable in helping her juggle her carer’s role, school and work commitments.
Get in touch
Let us become part of your support circle.
Call Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm or ask someone to email or call you back at a convenient time.