This year, National Carers Week 2018 will be celebrated throughout Australia from 14 – 20 October.
In caring for her 26-year old son Nick who is living with Down syndrome, Croatian-Australian Ljiljana Zruic juggles a busy week.
She says caring for him is a task that almost never stops.
At times, carers experience strong emotions and frustrations that can spill out into other relationships.
The challenges of caring for a disabled child or a frail relative are even greater for refugees, new arrivals and asylum seekers with limited English language.
As Australia has increased its annual intake of refugees to 18,750, the number of new arrivals needing care has also grown.
Karina Tran works for the Australian Foundation for Disability.
A career as a carer, says Karina Tran, is challenging but also very rewarding.
A first step in this direction could be a course in disability services at a TAFE college.
Carers play a crucial role in helping new arrivals learn some of the necessary skills to settle successfully in Australia.
Karina Tran says that some TAFE colleges have begun offering courses in disability services in a few community languages but more could be done.
Khanh Le agrees.
She is a facilitator of a carers’ support group with the Ethnic Community Services Co-operative of NSW.
“The carers that I’m working with are carers for family members from Vietnamese and also from Chinese backgrounds. They themselves find it difficult to attend information about caring for people with disabilities because of their language barrier.”
Khanh Le says being a carer can be exhausting.
To prevent burn-out, the Ethnic Community Services Co-operative places great importance on the wellbeing of carers.
“Our organisation, we run an information session about their rights and we also foster social inclusion. We encourage carers to attend wellbeing sessions and to go on outings to improve their well-being.”
Khanh Le says watching her team of carers and the people they care for form friendships and better relationships is her greatest reward.
To learn more about how to become a carer and how to access resources in your language, visit carergateway.gov.au
