Have your say: Help improve support for unpaid carers through Carer Gateway

You are invited to participate in a survey to help the Australian Government improve support services for unpaid carers.

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (the department) and project partner Nous Group (Nous) invite unpaid carers from across Australia to participate in the implementation of the National Carer Strategy

Unpaid carers are people who take care of someone, such as a family member or friend, without being paid. The person they care for might have a disability, medical condition or mental health challenges. They might be living with dementia or require some extra help because they are older.  

To inform the development of actions under the National Carer Final Strategy action plan 2024-2027, we have developed a survey to capture the voices of unpaid carers.

This survey has a focus on:

• how to improve counselling and mental health support
• exploring options to improve access to respite for unpaid carers
• ways to appropriately support unpaid carers from First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and LGBTQIA+ communities, carers with disability, carers of veterans, and young carers.

What is the survey about?

The survey asks what you think are the biggest opportunities to improve counselling and mental health support and respite for unpaid carers.

Nous has done some research into carers’ support needs, the challenges they face when trying to access support, and opportunities to improve these supports. This survey is focused on opportunities for improving support. 

The survey will ask you: 

• What you think could make the biggest difference for supporting carers.
• What better support for carers could look like. 

Insights from the survey will inform the development of improved support options. These will be co-designed with key stakeholders and unpaid carers, including those from six priority groups: First Nations carers, CALD carers, LGBTQIA+ carers, carers with disability, carers of veterans, and young carers.

The survey is open until 19 November 2025 11.59pm.

Who can take part?

You can participate if you provide unpaid care, support, or assistance to someone who has a disability a medical condition (including a terminal or chronic illness), has a mental illness or is frail and aged.

You may want to share the survey link with other unpaid carers who may be interested. We want to hear from as many carers as possible.

To learn more or complete the survey, visit: National Carer Strategy survey