Growing Up Too Fast: The Silent Struggle Of Australia’s Young Carers

In mid-2009, I was a 19-year-old at Melbourne Uni with little more to worry about than your average student: a rocky relationship, average grades, a boring job and being signed up to various dodgy uni clubs under the guise of free beer.

That was until mum was diagnosed with an inoperable and terminal brain tumour in July of that year. I had no idea what a ‘glioma’ was until that fateful day in 2009 — I still don’t, really — but long story short it meant mum (Erika) would lose her short term memory quickly, and would then slowly begin to lose her ability to move, think and communicate.

Immediately I was hit with some fairly saddening thoughts (mum not being around to see her children and grandchildren grow up), depressing concepts (‘what’s it going to be like to see mum die?’), and a few selfish moments (‘who’s going to correct my essays now??’). Little did I think about the extra roles that I and other members of my immediate and extended family would play in caring for mum over those next three years, and even less did I think about the services that could assist me and my family.

As many do, I thought ‘caring for’ or helping out a family member with an illness, disability, addiction or mental health condition, especially your mum, is just something you do when you’re asked to do it. The reality, for me and many young carers, is that the toll of caring cannot be underestimated. There are more than 390,000 young carers in Australia, and statistics on their mental health and wellbeing, education, and employment outcomes are alarming, to say the least.

Just 40 percent of young carers participate in tertiary education as opposed to 60 percent of non-carers. 60 percent of young carers aged 15 to 25 are unemployed or not in the paid workforce, as compared to 38 percent of non-carer young people. Young carers are less likely to complete year 12 or equivalent than non-carers, and only 4 percent of primary carers under 25 remain in education as opposed to 23 percent of the general population. Young carers are at increased risk of poor physical and mental health, as well as social isolation. All these trends are exacerbated for young people from Indigenous or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, who are more likely to have caring roles.

What makes these statistics more worrying is that a large number of young carers don’t identify to services as carers, excluding themselves from the many resources and support services that are out there. I can speak from experience because I didn’t know about them either.

Many of the duties I had as a carer weren’t particularly remarkable: reminding mum to take her medication, helping her move around the house and get to the shops, doing some extra chores, helping her to and from the bathroom, as well as just keeping her company (to name a few). Add to that the fact I grew up in a relatively financially comfortable household with a supportive family and some great friends, and I count myself quite lucky in the scheme of things.

However, the mental task of dealing with the person you love most dying before your eyes, coupled with the daily need to fulfil several extra (albeit menial) tasks, and the stress can build quite quickly. Eventually it did, and I had to remove myself from several commitments including work, volunteering, interning, and some classes at Uni. This helped a lot, and so did talking to more people about what I was going through.

Yet I fear for the wellbeing of many young carers who are not formally recognised by their schools, youth services, health care providers and others, and put in contact with the carer organisations that do exist. This is because many young carers don’t have family and friends helping out round the clock, don’t come from financially and emotionally stable homes,  and haven’t been through this before (my dad had cancer for several years earlier in my life).

While there are support groups, counselling services, bursary payments and scholarships that do exist (check them out at Carers Victoria and Young Carers), there is still a desperate need for greater investment in support for and awareness of young carers. The time has come to truly care for the people who take care of our most vulnerable.

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If you or someone you know 25 years or under is caring for a family member or friend with an illness, disability, mental health condition, drug or alcohol addiction, or who is frail or aged, get them to give a carer service (such as Carers Australia on 1800 242 636) a call or an email to find out what resources and services they could be making use of.

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Eddie Dunstan works at the Inner Eastern Local Learning and Employment Network (IELLEN) in St Kilda. He is passionate about young carers, youth employment, asylum seeker/refugee rights, and closing the gap. 

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Feature image via Carers Australia.