The focus of this report is on highlighting the economic impact of unpaid care - specifically, lost income during working life and the longer-term reduction in accruing superannuation, which affects retirement savings. In economic terms this is called the ‘opportunity cost of caring’.

Informal, unpaid carers provide care to others in need of assistance or support, and are usually friends or family of the person in need. This report estimates the total value of informal care provided in Australia today and examines the implications of demographic trends and...

Carers report that the provision of care can be very stressful. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2012 data reveals that 50% of primary carers identified that caring has one or more negative impacts on their physical or emotional wellbeing.

This paper presents research that indicates it is becoming increasingly difficult to access aged residential respite care and suggests some policy solutions to make respite care more readily available to carers of older family members and friends.

This important research is the first to examine the geographic spread, age profile and social, health and economic wellbeing of carers in regional and remote Australia.