For professionals and service providers
Information and free resources for professionals and service providers who engage with young carers through their organisation or service.
Who are young carers?
A young carer is a child or young person aged 25 and under who provides care and support to a family member or friend living with a disability, mental illness, drug or alcohol dependency, chronic condition, terminal illness or who is frail due to age. They take on responsibilities that may include cooking, cleaning, managing medications, attending medical appointments, or providing emotional support.
Young carers are often not recognised by the adults in their lives and may not share or even realise they are a young carer, especially if they are accessing your service for reasons unrelated to their caring role. If you would like to know more about young carers in NSW, or how to support a young carer to reach their full potential, this page is for you.
Support and services for young carers
Carer Gateway – Practical support for all carers (including counselling, peer support, respite and more).
1800 422 737 (Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 5.00pm local time)
Young Carer Bursary – A bursary for young carers to assist with education needs and resources.
To check the full eligibility requirements, please see visit the Young Carer Network website.
If you need to talk to someone:
- Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14 (for anyone)
- Call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or webchat (for young people aged 5-25 years)
- Call 13YARN on 13 92 76 (to speak with a Lifeline-trained Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter)
- Call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat (between 3.00pm and midnight, every day)
This information is general in nature. Contact Carers NSW for tailored information and referral support.
Learn more about young carers
Free information sessions for your team or organisation
Carers NSW offers free, evidence-based information sessions to help professionals identify and support young carers.
Each session can be tailored to the needs of your organisation or service, but workshops generally run for 45-60 minutes. Sessions can be delivered in-person or online.
To arrange an information session for your team or organisation, phone Carers NSW or email youngcarers@carersnsw.org.au.
Learn about young carers from young carers
YC Bytes podcast
This podcast aims to raise awareness of young carers across New South Wales. Each episode features different guest speakers, including young carers, to bring lived experience and insights to the conversation. Listen below, or search for ‘YC Bytes’ in your favourite podcast app.
Carers NSW Young Carer Stakeholder Toolkit
The Carers NSW Young Carer Stakeholder Toolkit aims to provide schools and services with information and promotional materials to raise awareness of young carers and encourage them to access support.
The Toolkit includes practical resources that schools and services can use, such as social media content, newsletter articles, website copy, posters and more.
Resources and fact sheets
Young Carers Policy Statement and infographic flyer – An overview of young carers through a statistical and research-focused lens.
Young Carer Identification Guide – A booklet that provides information on who young carers are and what they do, the impacts of caring and some tips and tricks on how to identify a young carer.
Young Carer Research Project: Summary of findings – Findings from research conducted by Carers NSW with 28 young carers aged 16-25 from across NSW.
2024 National Carer Survey fact sheet – A fact sheet about young carers who responded to the 2024 National Carer Survey.
Young carer awareness poster – A poster designed for service providers and other stakeholders to raise awareness of young carers.
If there is a resource that you would like to suggest we develop, please email youngcarers@carersnsw.org.au.
Get involved
Participate in the Young Carer Inclusion Network
Would you like to work with us to improve young
carer recognition and inclusion in NSW?
The Young Carer Inclusion Network is a Carers NSW initiative that brings together service providers and professionals engaging with young people in NSW. The Network aims to improve the identification and support of young carers through identifying gaps, building sector capacity and capability, and streamlining access to support for young carers in mainstream service settings.
If you work with young people and you would like to participate in this network, click below.
For more information about the Young Carer Inclusion Network and what participation looks like, download the fact sheet below.
Connect with us
Get in touch with Carers NSW if you would like to know more about:
- Support available to young carers in NSW.
- Supporting a young carer to share their story or explore leadership opportunities.
- Opportunities and information for professionals supporting young carers.
1 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2024) Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 2022. TableBuilder Dataset. Canberra: Australian Government. Retrieved from www.abs.gov.au/tablebuilder