Australia's unpaid young carers deserve our support, and the Albanese Labor Government is committed to assisting them to engage in education and pursue their study goals while navigate their caring roles.
There are three million unpaid carers in Australia - 390,000 of whom are young carers aged 12-25, which equates to one young carer in every classroom.
Unpaid carers selflessly provide support and assistance to someone close to them, whether this is due to disability, a medical condition, a mental illness or frailty due to age.
For young carers in particular this is often done while trying to juggle school, tertiary education or part-time work. As a result, compared to their peers, young carers often experience poorer educational outcomes and higher levels of stress.
To assist, the Albanese Labor Government will provide a $19.8 million boost to the Young Carer Bursary Program.
The Bursary amount will be lifted to $4000 with 1600 bursaries to be available each year.
The funding boost will also see a one-off increase to the number of available bursaries in 2025 to meet additional demand and cost of living challenges. Close to 3000 bursaries will awarded to eligible applicants in 2025.
The Young Carer Bursary can be spent on things like school uniforms, textbooks, tuition fees, transportation to and from school or tertiary education and more.
The Government has also committed to extend the Young Carers Network to 2027 - which helps young carers share and connect so they don't feel alone, and also provides a suite of online youth-friendly resources and support.
These initiatives deliver on a priority action of the Government's National Carers Strategy Action Plan 2024-27, which was launched with the Strategy in December last year.
Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said through the National Carers Strategy the Government wanted to see carers "better recognised, respected, valued and supported, both in their caring roles and in their wider lives".
"For young carers, we know their caring responsibilities can have significant impacts on their education, employment and social connections," Minister Rishworth said.
"With this boost to the Young Carer Bursary Program, we are increasing the number and value of bursaries on offer to help young carers balance study and caring and meet current cost of living challenges."
"The value of this program to young carers is reflected in the influx of applications we receive. This funding is often a much needed lifeline for young carers and I'm proud our Albanese Labor Government is investing in this important program."
