Young Carer Stories

I am a carer to my older brother who has Down syndrome. Throughout my life I’ve always cherished having him as an older brother. Growing up we were like any other couple of brothers we would play together etcetera. Best of all my brother was keen to do everything that I was doing. So much […]

I became a young carer at the age of nine. My youngest brother was officially diagnosed with severe autism around that time. He is nonverbal. He cannot tell us when heʼs in pain, when heʼs hungry, or what he needs. And at nine, I became one of the people responsible for figuring that out. My […]

My name is Nick, I’m 21 years old, and I care for my wife who has ME/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), and her younger sibling who has ADHD and PTSD – they’re living with us in out-of-home care due to their mother’s various mental illnesses rendering her incapable of taking proper care of them. I’ve been […]

I am 16 years old and I look after my mum. Since we live by ourselves I have to look after her because of her medical conditions which can be hard to do so being able to go out with young carers is helpful by taking away all the stress I have. Being around other […]

Dad had a car accident when I was young. He can’t walk around much, and is on a lot of medication for the pain. It’s just the two of us. Being a carer isn’t something I chose. It’s something I’ve had to grow and learn to accept. A lot of the time I don’t really […]

Hi, my name is Katrine and I provide care for my my youngest sister and my mum. I have been a young carer for 10 years, my sister has a severe intellectual disability and severe autism; my mum has fibromyalgia. I provide care because I love my family and I don’t want to see them […]

Hi. My name is James and I am a young carer. I care for my older brother, who has autism spectrum disorder. My duties usually involve staying around the house with him to keep him entertained and give him company as he has no friends outside of home. I also have to take care of […]

My name is Ivona, I am 16 and live in New South Wales. One unique thing about me is that I am a twin. I have been caring for my brother for as long as I can remember. My brother requires care because he is a nonverbal boy with autism. I have to care for […]

I’ve been my mum’s carer since I was 15. But even before that, I remember late night emergency room visits, and feeling more pressured to take on household responsibilities. My mum has mental health issues, and as of February this year, was technically medically dead. See, for the past 18 months before February, mum had […]

Growing up you learn something new every day. Being the oldest child and only girl, it is evident that I should support my family. My dad had a very severe accident at work just under two years ago now. I help him all the time. It’s sometimes hard for me to juggle all this and […]