This report examines how Australia's care infrastructures, encompassing welfare, housing, food and community support systems are fraying and increasingly failing to meet the basic needs of those on low- or no- income. The report documents the labour-intensive and precarious work required to piece together fragmented supports amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis.

This report presents the First Nations responses to the Australian National Carer Survey from 2020 to 2024. It focuses on First Nations carers’ economic and social needs, caring relationships, carers’ experiences accessing services, and their health and wellbeing. Findings show that many services do not meet First Nations carers’ needs to support their wellbeing.

This report provides an overview of national findings from the 2024 National Carer Survey regarding carers’ economic and social needs, caring relationships, carers’ experiences accessing services, and their health and wellbeing as well as diverse caring experiences. The findings indicate that many carers are living in acute poverty and need urgent support.

This paper investigates an underexplored trade-off in policy design: how measures encouraging work among the older population can unintentionally impact their offspring’s fertility rates. It finds that the unintended impact on the birth rate is comparable to that observed with the introduction of paid parental leave policies.

The strategy highlights the social and economic contributions of Australia's 3 million informal and unpaid carers, emphasising their need for greater recognition, support, and empowerment. It provides a framework for co-designing, developing and delivering actions to improve the lives of carers. Next steps for the strategy are laid out in the accompanying action plan.